US President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion rescue package is one of the most ambitious measures to revive the US and, with it, the world economy. Coming on the heels of Trump’s $2 trillion package last year and a further $900 billion package announced in December 2020, it seeks not just to provide relief from the pandemic but to start a new boom in the US which, it is expected, will have spill-over effects for the world as a whole, notwithstanding the protectionist measures against imports introduced in the US under Donald Trump.

THE election to Assam Assembly was held in three phases—March 27, April 1, and April 6. The turn out was massive, around 82.04 per cent and the election was by and large peaceful.After the Lok Sabha election in 2019 where BJP won nine out of 14 seats in Assam, the urge for unity against BJP slowly gained ground. The election results of 2016 Assam Assembly election and Lok Sabha election in the state in 2019 show that the combined vote share of non-BJP Parties was greater than the vote share of BJP and its allies. In the 2016 Assembly election, BJP and its allies AGP and BJP got 86 seats.

THE All India Kisan Sabha, in a statement issued on April 8, has condemned the decision of the Narendra Modi led BJP government to allow fertilizer companies to hugely hike the prices of chemical fertilizers. The price of DAP (18-46-00) which was Rs 24,000/MT in 2020 has now been increased to Rs 38,000/MT or an increase of Rs 14,000/MT. Farmers who were paying Rs 1200 for a 50 kg bag have to now pay Rs 1900. The prices of NPK complex fertilizers have also seen an exorbitant rise.

VETERAN Communist and a three-time MLA, Comrade Kunja Bojji (95) passed away on April 12, at a private hospital in Bhadrachalam. Comrade Bojji was born on February 10, 1926. He became a member of the CPI(M) in 1951.Comrade Bojji worked as a courier in the heroic Telangana Armed Struggle.  He represented the Bhadrachalam constituency for three consecutive terms in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh, from 1985 to 1999. He led many struggles of adivasis on the issues of land, tendu leaves, forest rights etc for decades.

THE Delhi Union of Journalists once again drew attention to the repeated attacks on journalists in states across the country. In a statement issued on April 5, it deeply regretted the growing antagonism towards media persons who are simply doing their job.  Kashmiri photojournalist Qisar Mir who was covering a gunfight, along with other journalists, near Pulwama on April 2, 2021 was kicked from behind by a police constable. Another pointed a pellet gun at the journalists. The incident was captured on video by a journalist.