IN continuation of protests by the Left parties and various mass organisations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a convention was organised on January 12, at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Hyderabad. CPI(M) secretariat member D G Narasimha Rao gave the keynote address.The convention declared the formation of ‘Forum for Protection of Constitutional Rights’ that was formed with 200 organisations and groups. Shanta Sinha, champion of child rights, was elected its chairperson. A committee of 180 members was formed by the forum.

CPI(M) West Bengal state committee member and former editor of Ganashakti, Comrade Avik Dutta passed away on January 14. He suffered severe brain haemorrhage in December 2018 and was under treatment for the last one year. He was 57.Comrade Avik Dutta joined in the communist movement through the student movement in Howrah district. He was a district secretariat member of the SFI. He was a brilliant student and passed his MA in journalism from Calcutta University, where he stood first. He joined Ganashakti when the Party daily became a morning daily in 1986.

THE BJP has suffered a major New Year setback in the elections to four of the six zilla parishads (ZP) – Nagpur, Akola, Washim, Palghar, Dhule and Nandurbar – and in tehsil panchayat samitis (PS) in those six districts. Elections to these were held on January 7, 2020 and the counting was held a day later. In all these elections, each party fought independently on its own strength.The BJP got its biggest shock in Nagpur in the Vidarbha region.

THE seventh state conference of AP Girijana Sangham, a constituent of Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch(AARM) was held on January 10-11. The conference began with a colourful rally and huge public meeting at Parvatipuram in Vizianagaram district. AARM's national convener, Jitendra Chaudhury and national president, M Babu Rao addressed the gathering. They vociferously condemned the Modi government's sinister design to further marginalise the adivasi people in the country by curtailing their rights and means of livelihoods, along with all other socially backward sections and the poor.

INDIAN passenger carriers flying the highly troubled Airbus 320/321 neo (new engine option) family of aircraft with US major Pratt & Whitney 1100G engines have been given a reprieve by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulator and safety monitors.