THE government has once again tom-tommed that it would be spending Rs 1.64 lakh crore to revive BSNL. This second revival package was announced on July 27, 2022. The government had already announced a similar revival package for BSNL and MTNL on October 23, 2019, in which the government had promised to spend Rs 70,000 crore for the revival of both the public sector telecom companies. A loud message is being sent to the general public of this country that the government is squandering a huge amount of tax payers’ money, for the so called revival of BSNL.

THOUSANDS of people came into streets demanding the sacking of Partha Chatterjee, minister for industries in West Bengal after his arrest in massive corruption. Chatterjee, former education minister has been arrested by the ED in school teacher recruitment scam involving hundreds of crores of rupees. The scam has already been exposed in the courts, which directed the CBI and ED to investigate.That the TMC ministers and top leaders were involved was a known fact to the people of the state.

TAMIL Nadu is witnessing an increase in domestic violence, according to the recently released National Family Health Survey-5. Concerned over this problem, the CPI(M) Tamil Nadu state committee organised a convention against domestic violence to draw the attention of the state government as well as the general public to it. In order to find remedies to this malady, the convention brought a wider section of social activists under a platform to evolve a plan of action. The convention held on July 19, 2022 had a big participation of activists from various spheres.

THE Shimla town committee held a strong protest demonstration outside the deputy commissioner’s office at Shimla on July 23, 2022, against the incessant price rise of essential commodities and the recent increase in GST values on food items.The speakers lambasted the Modi government for levying tax on essential food articles. They said in the history of 75 years of India’s independence for the first time tax is being levied on items like atta, paneer, rice, milk, curd, gur etc.

A LARGE contingent of activists of Kerala Karshaka Sangham, the affiliated unit of the All India Kisan Sabha marched towards Parliament Street, New Delhi and sat in a day-long dharna on July 26, 2022, to bring a very sensitive and dangerous issue of human-animal conflict in the state of Kerala to the attention of the union government.  Nearly 150 farmers and tribals from Kerala joined the dharna. P Krishnaprasad, finance secretary, AIKS gave the welcome address, while Valsan Panoli, secretary of the Kerala Karshaka Sangham chaired the meeting.