ON November 30, when the cyclone Ockhi struck, it was for the first time in 100 years that such an incident had occurred in Kerala’s seas. Thousands of fishing workers were then out in the sea. State government and various agencies were able to jointly carry out the rescue operations in an efficient and timely manner. This has helped to save the lives of hundreds of fishing workers.Despite the cyclone warning being issued only in the noon of November 30, the same day when it hit us, we were able to rescue around 400 workers and bring them back to land.
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), in a statement issued on December 11, has condemned the barbaric murder of an innocent migrant worker Afrazul in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan on December 6, by axing and burning him alive and videographing and uploading the episode in social media as an act of bravery against the purported ‘love jihad’.
OFFICERS and employees of the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) observed a two-day strike on December 12-13, seeking pay revision and protesting against the formation of a subsidiary tower company.As per the recommendations of the Third Pay Revision Committee that have been approved by the Union Cabinet, the employees of BSNL are not eligible for pay revision, with effect from January 1, 2017.
THE BJP government, it appears, cannot remain content without inflicting irreparable damage on the institutions of the Indian economy. Its latest move in this direction is the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill which was introduced in parliament on the last day of the winter session and is now with a select committee.
RANI Rasmoni Avenue, one of the busiest roads in Kolkata, turned into a sea of yellow as more than 12,000 disabled persons gathered at the call of Paschimbanga Rajya Pratibandhi Sammilani, the West Bengal affiliate of National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD). This was in response to the call given by the NPRD at its second conference held at Virudhunagar in September 2017 for nationwide action on December 4 demanding the speedy implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016.
PRESIDENT Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has met with universal opposition and concern. All the major European allies of the United States, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have spoken out. All Arab countries have opposed the step. In the United Nations Security Council, all the fourteen members apart from the US, deplored the decision.
THE Gujarat election campaign has witnessed the lowest levels of vituperative communal rhetoric and scare-mongering targeting Muslims. The main culprit for this base campaign is Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. The election speeches of Narendra Modi were marked by a string of allegations and canards which were meant to create a communal imagery of Muslims and link them to Pakistan. Rahul Gandhi becoming Congress president would usher in `Aurangzeb raj’; some obscure Kashmiri Muslim Congress worker is accused of casting a slur on Narendra Modi’s parentage; it was alleged that some ret
MODI’S foreign policy is in doldrums. It suffers from fixity syndrome. It refuses to jettison the Cold War mindset. As in the mid- 1950s, New Delhi’s only agenda is to counter China and present itself to the West as a credible competitor to Beijing. It has got into a rat race with China and is splurging money on overseas projects merely to offer a counter to Chinese investments.