THE CPI(M) has written a detailed note to the prime minister, with a copy marked to the HRD minister on July 25, on the proposed Higher Education Commission of India (HECI) Draft Bill.The NDA-II government has repeatedly targeted public-funded higher education and research in the last four years.

THE publication of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam has caused widespread consternation as over four million (40 lakh) persons who had applied have not found a place in the Register.The updating of the NRC of 1951 constitutes part of the implementation of the Assam Accord of 1985.  As per this Accord, March 24, 1971 was fixed as the cut-off date for determining those who came after that date to be illegal migrants. The decision of the Supreme Court in 2014 to get the updating of the NRC underway was generally welcomed by all sections of the people in Assam; by the Asam

THE CPI(M) Assam state committee, in a statement issued on July 31, has said that the final draft of National Register of Citizens (NRC) is published on time as stipulated by the Supreme Court (SC) . As stated by NRC authority, out of a total 3.29 crore applicants 2.89 crores are included in the final draft. It means around 40 lakhs are not included in the draft. It is noticed that there are a lot of anomalies in the preparation of the draft NRC. A large number of women are left out from the draft who had submitted panchayat certificate as the linkage document.

AT the joint call of Delhi units of 11 central trade unions (CTUs), a strike was observed on July 20 by unorganised sector workers in Delhi and adjoining areas of Noida and Ghaziabad in NCR over their various demands including enforcement of notified minimum wage of Rs 13,896 for unskilled workers and fixation of minimum wage at Rs 20,000.Their demands included common wage board for the entire NCR region; safety measures at work places; regularisation of contract workers; registration and welfare benefits to construction workers; stopping the removal of street vendors; constitution of all l

KERALA model of development has been acclaimed the world over for achieving human development indices that places it at par with several developed countries. A few years back Kerala was mentioned by the UN as the only state in India which lies at the very high in Human Development Index (HDI).A UNDP working paper titled 'Human Development in India: Costs of Inequality', estimated losses in human development due to inequality in different dimensions across Indian states. The loss was highest with respect to education (43 percent), followed by health (34 percent) and income (16 percent).