Observe Rohith Vemula’s First Anniversary, Appeal Mass Organisations

In a statement issued on December 21, 2016, the Republican Party of India, Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, Bharatiya Khet Mazdoor Union, All India Agricultural Workers Union, National Coordination Committee on Dalit Rights, Rashtriya Dalit Manav Adhikar Andolan and the All India Dalit Rights Federation have jointly appealed for observing Rohith Vemula’s first anniversary on January 17, 2017. One year ago, on January 17, Rohith Vemula who faced caste discrimination and harassment in the University of Hyderabad, killed himself.

Appointments BJP style

THE Modi government is going about making appointments in key positions of the government and the state which are controversial and liable to inflict damage on the institutions concerned. Lt. General Bipin Rawat has been appointed as the chief of Army Staff. The government has selected him by superseding the most senior general, Lt. General Praveen Bakshi. The next in line in seniority was Lt. General P M Hariz.

Report on Impact of Demonetisation on the Economy of Kerala

THE committee to study the impact of demonetisation on the state economy of Kerala appointed by the Kerala State Planning Board on November 23, 2016, submitted its interim report to the chairman of the board, Pinarayi Vijayan, chief minister, government of Kerala on December 20, 2016.Professor C P Chandrasekhar (Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru University) is the chairperson of the committee.

Triple Talaq and Question of Equality of Rights of Women

AN organisation of Muslim women has moved the Supreme Court with an appeal for banning the custom of ‘Triple Talaq’ or the practice of divorcing one’s wife by uttering thrice the word ‘talaq’. This case, the Law Commission’s view and the Centre’s opinion have generated a debate across the country. Our time is a time when the value of gender equality has been socially and legally upheld, thanks to the advancement in the fields of knowledge, science, thought and technology. Little wonder that a Muslim man’s right to divorce his wife by uttering ‘talaq’ has been questioned in many corners.

‘Abolishing Import Duty on Wheat is Anti-national’

THE general secretary of the CPI(M) and leader of the CPI(M) group in Rajya Sabha, Sitaram Yechury characterised the government decision to abolish the import duty on wheat as anti-national. He had given a notice under rule 267 for a discussion on the subject. When he appealed to the chair to accept the notice, the BJP members tried to stop him by raising a din. This was opposed by Anand Sharma of the Congress, Satish Chandra Mishra of BSP and Sharad Yadav of JD(U).Yechury said that abolition of import duty on wheat is shameful.

CP Vietnam Polit Bureau Member Visits India

CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and central secretariat member Hari Singh Kang, met Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Polit Bureau member of Communist Party of Vietnam and chairperson of the National Assembly of Socialist Republic of Vietnam and discussed various issues of mutual interest. Nguyen Thu Kim Ngan is on a four day official visit to India from December 8 to 11, 2016.On behalf of the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Thu Kim Ngan extended an invitation to Sitaram Yechury to visit Vietnam next year.

‘Major Defense Partner’ of US tag compromises India’s Sovereignty, Strategic Autonomy: Yechury to PM

SITARAM Yechury has written to the Prime Minister raising concerns over the finalisation of ‘Major Defense Partner’ designation to India by the US.

SFI Condemns ‘Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyaan’

THE central executive committee of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) in a statement issued on December 8 has noted that the ministry of human resource development (MHRD) has shamelessly directed all higher educational institutions to launch campaigns in the name of ‘Vittiya Saksharta Abhiyaan’ using students and faculty members to campaign in favour of demonetisation from December 12- January 12.

Four Global Cities to Ban Diesel Vehicles by 2025

WITH the worst of the winter pollution crisis in Delhi and other northern cities having subsided for the moment, the episodic clamour in the media, the judiciary, government agencies and among the public at large has also quietened down. No doubt it will flare up at the next peak in air pollution. Forgotten, it seems, are the short-term fixes furiously discussed then. And, in the days of instant media, nobody has the patience to discuss long-term solutions.Efforts to obfuscate the nature of the problem, and hence the determined steps required to tackle it, continue as usual.

Victory for AIPEF: SC Disallows Reliance Power from Recovering Rs 1,050 Cr from Discoms

IN a victory for the All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF), the Supreme Court has disallowed Reliance Power-owned Sasan Power Limited from recovering Rs 1,050 crore from several state-owned andprivate distribution companies.A bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton F Nariman on December 8 set aside the order of the Appellate Tribunal of Electricity (APTEL) asking the discoms to pay the dues to Sasan Power Limited for supply of electricity from its plant in Madhya Pradesh. Sasan Power had argued that discoms that procured electricity must pay from 31 March, 2013, when the

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