NCW Member’s Deplorable Role during Visit to Tripura

IN a letter written to the chairperson of the National Commission for Women on June 22, Jharna Das Baidya, Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura, brought to her notice the most deplorable, unlawful and unscrupulous activity of Sushma Sahu, member of the National Commission for Women which is a statutory and prestigious autonomous body established under provision of the Indian constitution.Sushma Sahu while on an official visit to Tripura as a member of the National Commission for Women, was accommodated in the state guest house as a state guest on June 19, 2017.

Towards Agricultural Self-Sufficiency & Prosperity: A People’s Alternative Model from Kerala

OURS is a country in which around 50 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Yet, we see that the perils of those who are working in this sector are increasing day by day. To get a real sense of the desperation that our agricultural sector is experiencing, it would suffice to simply look at the number of those who have abandoned agriculture and those who have committed suicide as agriculture became unviable. Since 1991, when India took the devious turn to neo-liberal reforms, 15 million main cultivators have left agriculture.

Superficial Way of Tackling Corporate NPAs

IT is an acknowledged fact that the huge NPAs (non-performing assets) are the fundamental cause for the deep rooted maladies afflicting PSBs (public sector banks)out of which the contribution from the large borrowers (loan exposure of Rs 5 crores and above) is more than 90 per cent.The entire energy and attention of the PSBs should be focused in recovering the NPAs from the large borrowers without any write off or sacrifice.

AIKS PIL Against Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

THE All India Kisan Sabha has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court on June 28 for adequate protection to the cause of the farmers, agriculturists and cattle traders etc, representing all who are not in a position to approach the Supreme Court for protection of their rights guaranteed under the Constitution. A brief summary of the petition is given below:That Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1960 is an Act to prevent the infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering on animals.

Artificial Intelligence and the Threat to Our Humanity

STEPHEN Hawking had warned a few years back that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could spell the end of human race, a threat echoed by Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, Bill Gates, and many others. This is the apocalyptic vision that the robots we create, may decide we are an obsolete model deserving “retirement”. The truth, a more banal one, is that, are we letting machine algorithms take over what were human decisions earlier, decision making of the governments, the businesses and even ours.

Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch National Conference

THE third national conference of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) was held in the steel city of Visakhapatnam from June 20-22, 2017. 359 delegates from 15 states and its 16 affiliated units participated in the conference. The conference venue in the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant Town was named as Dr Nilmoni Debbarma Nagar, veteran leader of Tripura Gana Mukti Parishad.

A Note on the Goods and Services Tax

THE Indian constitution had erected a financial federal structure as a complement to the political federal structure. The constitution had been aware that if the states were reduced to the status of mendicants approaching the centre for resources, then that ipso facto would entail a subversion of the federal polity.

Modi in Trumpland

THE fifth visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the United States, this time for his first official meeting with President Donald Trump, has confirmed the subordinate role that India plays in the US-India strategic relationship.This visit of Modi to the White House was being viewed with some apprehensions in the Indian establishment. These misgivings arose from the unpredictable and negative stance that President Trump has taken on various issues affecting India’s interests.

Yechury Writes to PM on Farmers’ Issues

IN a letter written by Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary and leader of the CPI(M) group in Rajya Sabha to the prime minister on June 15, he demanded introduction and passing of a legislation in the forthcoming parliament session which not only confers on farmers the right to sell at MSP but also guarantees an automatic annual review of the MSP, which will be, at least, 50 per cent more than production costs.

Qatar Crisis

THE attempt by Saudi Arabia and its allies in the region to isolate and undermine the Emirate of Qatar, seems to be failing. The American military establishment, despite President Donald Trump's repeated tweets supporting the Saudi position, seems to have decided against regime change in the Emirate. The evidence of this is the signing of a $12 billion deal by the Americans to sell 36 F-15 fighter jets to Qatar. Even within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Oman and Kuwait are not supporting the Saudi move for regime change in Qatar.

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