And They Want To Teach...Democracy!

EARLY voting for the presidential elections in the US is already on, though officially the election is scheduled for November 8. We are witnessing in the US a bitter and ugly campaign, often with personal insinuations crossing the limits of political decency. Wild accusations, with little concern for facts and truths are hurled at each other by both the Democratic and Republican parties and between the chosen candidates of the two parties – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

KERALA Saffron Brigade and the Congress

THE Congress and the UDF is not only trying to white-wash the deeds of RSS and its political face the BJP, but they are also attempting to join hands with them in an effort to defeat the LDF. What we saw in the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation during the election to the District Planning Committee is the most recent manifestation of that. The corporation is run by the LDF which has the most number of councillors in the 100-member council. However, the UDF aligned with the BJP which has 35 members and got two people elected to the committee, one each from the BJP and the UDF.

Japan: Imperial Dilemma

PRIME Minister Shinzo Abe and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) have further consolidated their political gains after the latest round of elections to the upper house of the Diet, held in the third week of July. The LDP will now have the brute majority in both the lower and upper house that will help the government to pass controversial legislation relating to the constitution and other important issues. Though the upper house is not as powerful as the lower house, it has the power to block legislation.

Claiming Victory in Defeat: The Spectrum Auction Fiasco

THE government is in a complete denial on its spectrum auction fiasco. Only Rs 65,000 crore worth of spectrum – or 11.6 percent of the expected price of Rs 5.6 lakh crore – on the block was sold. Out of this, the government would get only Rs 32,000 crore this year, leaving a gaping hole in its revenue projection of Rs 98,994.93 crores in the budget for this year, as 'other communications services', the bulk of which is expected to be spectrum fees.

Developing “Infrastructure”

THE term “infrastructure” covers all sorts of things, from ports to roads to canals to bridges to building railway lines. Because it covers such a range of things, many of which appear to be useful, most people look upon “infrastructure” development as an indubitably desirable thing under all circumstances.

Indian Diplomacy Missed the BRICS Plot in Goa

THIS year has been controversial for India’s ‘multilateral diplomacy’. The SAARC summit, which was originally scheduled for November in Islamabad, got scuttled, thanks to India’s boycott.Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have since clarified that they too sought postponement of the summit in Islamabad, but for reasons other than ‘terrorism’. So has Afghanistan. Nepal regrets the postponement of the summit and wants an early re-scheduling. Maldives keeps silent.

Perfidious Drive of BJP in Tripura

ON October 16, the people of Tripura took to the streets roaring against the heinous attempts of some BJP miscreants to raid the chief minister’s residence in Agartala on the previous day. The pretext it manufactured was the so-called attack on its state president Biplab Deb.

WEST BENGAL: Ruling Nexus Fails the Communal Acid Test, Ismail’s Sewing Machine Endeavours

MUHAMMAD Ismail Ansari, owner of a small tailoring shop was robbed of all the seven sewing machines he had. Just about 100 metres away from there, Dilip Shaw’s grocery shop was set afire and burnt to ashes. The same happened to the shops of Akhter Hussain and Sirajuddin Ansari. Gita Devi’s home was ransacked and adjacent to it Mani Jaiswal’s shop also got robbed off. The vicinity of Hajinagar market in Naihati had all the charecteristic wounds and bruises of a communal riot.Dilip Ghosh, state BJP leader posted in his social media page that he had done his duty which was bestowed upon him.

AIDWA Supports Abolition of Arbitrary Triple Talaq

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on October 18, has extended its unequivocal support to the demand of Muslim women for an abolition of the instant arbitrary triple talaq. In its own campaigns, AIDWA has seen overwhelming support of Muslim women for this demand.It has strongly disapproved of the retrograde position taken by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board in this regard in its petition to the Supreme Court.

MAHARASHTRA: AIDWA Holds State Workshop for Muslim Women Activists

A STATE level workshop for the Muslim women activists of AIDWA was held on October 15-16, 2016 at Belapur in New Mumbai. Over 50 women from nine districts participated.

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