IN the entire region of the terai in and around Gorakhpur, in the adjoining districts of Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajgunj, Gonda, Basti, every water body, small and large, is surrounded with small brick structures made during the Chhat puja when devout fasting men and women stand all night in the water, pray to the rising sun for the longevity of their children.  This occurs at the end of the monsoon, after Japanese encephalitis has taken yet another toll of infant life in the area.  The small brick structures seem to be memorial shrines to the dead infants.  The faith of the devout in the S

THE 10th conference of the Kerala State Construction Workers Federation (KSCWF) was held on August 6-7 at EMS Memorial Hall in Cochin.KSCWF president K P Sahadevan hoisted the red flag of the CITU. Leaders and delegates paid floral tribute at the martyrs’ column.CITU’s Kerala state president Ananthalavattom Anandan inaugurated the conference. In his speech, he referred to the increasing unemployment in the country. Now robots are taking over the job of workers. Robots need no rest, they do not need food, they will not be unionised.

THE Independence Day speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a piece of propaganda remarkable for its disconnect with reality and reeked of hypocrisy in certain matters.This stood out most with regard to Kashmir. His exhortation that the problem will not be solved by “gaali” and “goli” but by embracing Kashmiris was the most hypocritical of them all. The Kashmir valley has been in turmoil and the use of force is the only distinctive approach of the centre to deal with the unrest among the people.

IN a statement issued on August 4, Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of CPI(M) has said that an extraordinary circumstance has arisen due to the inhuman decision of the Madhya Pradesh government to implement the Narmada Valley authorities’ decision to close the gates of the Sardar Sarovar dam which will lead to submergence of 192 villages and eviction of 40,000 families in Madhya Pradesh.  There was an agreement that before closing the gate, rehabilitation work should be completed.  The Supreme Court upheld this decision.

INDEPENDENT India is a young country, which is 70 years old. Demographically too, ours is a young country, boasting of an average age of just 28 years. The youth of our country have many dreams about their future. Today, the generation that had fought for our independence is slowly disappearing. As a result, many among the youth do not have the direct experience of interacting with those who had fought against the British colonial rulers. With BJP government’s efforts to distort history, there is every chance that they might be forced to be ignorant of facts.