THE union cabinet decided to completely privatise the Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) at its meeting on November 2. Subsequently, the government formed an inter-ministerial group on November 22 to speed up the privatisation process. CITU general secretary and Rajya Sabha member Tapan Sen wrote a letter to the prime minister on the same day, opposing the privatisation of the DCI. On December 4, a permanent employee of the corporation, N Venkatesh, committed suicide near Vizianagram in Andhra Pradesh.

The logo for the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), scheduled to be held from April 18-22 , 2018 in Hyderabad was released by state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram, who is also the general secretary of the Reception Committee. Along with him on the dais are Ch Sitaramulu, Central Committee member, B Venkat, treasurer of the Reception Committee and state secretariat member, Jyoti and Sunnam Rajyam, MLA, both state secretariat members and secretaries of the Reception Committee.

ON November 30, when the cyclone Ockhi struck, it was for the first time in 100 years that such an incident had occurred in Kerala’s seas. Thousands of fishing workers were then out in the sea. State government and various agencies were able to jointly carry out the rescue operations in an efficient and timely manner. This has helped to save the lives of hundreds of fishing workers.Despite the cyclone warning being issued only in the noon of November 30, the same day when it hit us, we were able to rescue around 400 workers and bring them back to land.

OFFICERS and employees of the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) observed a two-day strike on December 12-13, seeking pay revision and protesting against the formation of a subsidiary tower company.As per the recommendations of the Third Pay Revision Committee that have been approved by the Union Cabinet, the employees of BSNL are not eligible for pay revision, with effect from January 1, 2017.

RANI Rasmoni Avenue, one of the busiest roads in Kolkata, turned into a sea of yellow as more than 12,000 disabled persons gathered at the call of Paschimbanga Rajya Pratibandhi Sammilani, the West Bengal affiliate of National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD). This was in response to the call given by the NPRD at its second conference held at Virudhunagar in September 2017 for nationwide action on December 4 demanding the speedy implementation of the Rights of Persons with Disability Act, 2016.