POLITICS over iftar was the hot topic for discussion in Bihar, leaving behind the pressing problems faced by the common people. The local print, electronic and social media are agog with reports of new political alignment in the offing. Two iftars organised by the RJD and Kumar’s JD(U) have added fodder to the rumour mill. The bonhomie shown between Nitish Kumar and the family members of Lalu Prasad provided further grist to the chattering mill. Will Nitish Kumar rock the NDA boat?Nobody can answer the puzzling question immediately.
IN a sudden move, Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb tendered his resignation to the governor on May 14. On the same day, a batch of central BJP leaders flew to Agartala, arranged a meeting of their legislature party to formally elect a new leader.
NATIONAL women’s organisations – All India Democratic Women’s Association, National Federation of Indian Women, All India Progressive Women’s Association, Pragatisheel Mahila Sangathan, and the All India Mahila Sanskritik Sangathan – sent a memorandum to Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, chairperson, Parliamentary Standing Committee, on May 17 regarding the Proposed Amendment of Age of Marriage 2021.The women’s organisations expressed deep concern about the implications of the proposed amendment of age of marriage for women from 18 to 21.
THE All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO) organised a protest demonstration at Connaught Place, New Delhi on May 13, condemning the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by the Israeli military forces. AIPSO demanded an impartial enquiry into the killing and exemplary punishment for those responsible for this brutal assassination. It is to be noted that the secretary general of the UN too condemned this brutal killing and called for an independent probe.Shireen Abu Akleh, a US citizen, is considered as an ‘icon of Palestinian coverage’.
THE 12th Convention of the All India Coordination Committee of Working Women, AICCWW(CITU) which was scheduled to be held in April 2020 but had to be postponed due the pandemic, is now being held on May 21-22, 2022 at Ranjana Nirula Nagar, Nisha Roy-Shibani Sengupta Manch, Tagar Dey Hall, Binani Bhawan, Kolkata, West Bengal. Nearly 300 working women from various sectors and the CITU state presidents/general secretaries will attend the convention.CITU in its founding conference in 1970 itself, has took upon the task of organising women workers and take up their problems.
FOR over two years now, the world has been facing a pandemic the like of which has not been seen for a century, and which has already taken 15 million lives according to the WHO, without being anywhere near an end.
A NEW report comes out with a troubling headline: that annual global expenditure on weapons has gone over $2 trillion. The United States leads the pack, with its spending greater than that of the next ten countries combined. If you add in the US intelligence budget and the money that the United States spends on its nuclear arsenal, then US annual military spending by itself is above $1 trillion.
ON May 5, 2022, a large delegation of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) once again visited Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, and met the families of the victims of the ghastly massacre and also of the farmers who have been unjustly arrested for murder charges.The SKM visit took place in the background of the recent re-arrest of Ashish Mishra Teni after the Supreme Court cancelled his bail.