IN the long awaited bypoll to the R K Nagar assembly constituency to be held on December 21, the Tamil Nadu state committee of the CPI(M) has decided not to be in the fray but to support DMK from its own platform in order to defeat AIADMK and to expose the nefarious designs of the BJP in the state.A year ago, the AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha died after 75 days long hospitalisation and since then the events unfolding in Tamil Nadu shows how her ministerial colleagues and close friends are running helter skelter to save their skins by toeing the BJP diktats thereby sacrificing all the long held

THE finance minister held Pre-budget 2018 discussion with the representatives of central trade unions on December 5, 2017. Representatives of all the central trade unions attended the meeting. CITU was represented by its president, Hemalata.The meeting, as every year, appeared to be not more than a ritual. The ‘consultative meeting’ with the 12 trade unions that were called, lasted for around one hour. The trade union representatives were requested to give their opinions in 3-4 minutes.

THE six-year devastating Syrian war is reaching a conclusive stage. The eighth-round of UN-mediated talks between the government of Syria and the opposition that began in Geneva on November 28, signify a decisive phase in the nearly six years of Syrian War. These talks are to continue till December 15 and widely expected to bring the curtains down on the war that had led to the killing of over 3,30,000 citizens and the displacement of millions of people.

THE National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has come out with its ritual annual report. And the statistics are grim. Like the prices of vegetables, crimes in our country too have a tendency only to rise up, up and above. If only these statistics become weapons, can we see a change.Let’s recount our achievements as detailed by the NCRB. Data shows that cases under Crime against Women have reported an increase of 2.9 per cent in 2016 over 2015. Delhi once again, being the national capital city, does not disappoint. It ranks first in terms of the crime rate against women.

IN a letter written by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on December 5, 2017, she brought the issue of non-payment of compensation announced by him to the next of kin of Junaid, to his notice.Junaid, son of Jalaladuddin, resident of Khatauli village, Faridabad, Haryana, was brutally stabbed to death by a communally motivated group, on June 22, 2017.On June 29, the papers carried the statement of the chief minister of Haryana, condemning the murder. He also declared a compensation of  Rs Ten lakhs.