IN yet another brutal incident of violence RSS goons in Alappuzha district have stabbed a 15-year-old SFI worker to death.  Abhimanyu, a class tenth student of Amritha School in Vallikunnam was killed by a group of RSS workers. The incident occurred during a Vishu festival at Vallikunnam Padayanivattam Temple. Abhimanyu is the seventh victim of UDF- RSS violence in the last ten months. The attack occurred at 9.45 pm on April 14th. A sharp weapon was pierced into his body, which left a big hole in the belly.Abhimanyu was to appear for the SSLC examination on April 15th.

THE Covid-19 pandemic shows no sign of slowing down in the country, with figures touching 2,75,000 on April 18th. Hospitals are running out of beds, ICU capacity and even oxygen. Consequently, the death toll is also rising, with reports of dead bodies piling up in mortuaries, crematoriums and burial grounds.India's numbers have far outstripped countries like the US and Brazil, which have been the poor performers till now. Worse, the flattening up of the curve is still some time away, as new states and cities are getting affected.

THE national leaders of Samyukta Kisan Morcha and trade union leaders of Visakha Ukku Parirakshana committee addressed a huge rally called ‘ Rytu Karmika Sankharava Sabha’ (farmer worker clarion call meeting) against privatisation of Vizag Steel on April 18th on the beach of Visakhapatnam. Thousands of farmers, workers, employees and their family members attended the meeting.

The Modi-Shah duo are criminally responsible for the havoc caused by the Second WaveTHE Covid-19 cases crossed over 2,34,000 on April 17, the very day Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Asansol, West Bengal, where he congratulated the people for coming in large numbers and declared that he had not seen such crowds in a rally before. This callous politics endangering the lives of thousands of people exemplifies the criminal responsibility of the Modi-Shah duo for the havoc caused by the raging pandemic.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 10THE American Seventh Fleet warship’s intrusion into India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters off the coast of Lakshadweep is a gratuitous challenge to India’s sovereignty.The statement of the Seventh Fleet makes it clear that this operation was for “challenging India’s excessive maritime claims”.The United States is being blatantly hypocritical.  It has not signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, of which India is a signatory, but claims it is acting as per international law.