FOR more than eight months since the then chief minister of Tamil Nadu J Jeyalalithaa was hospitalised in late September 2016, the state of government in Tamil Nadu has been nothing short of disastrous for the people of the state. Following the demise of Jeyalalithaa and the subsequent split in the AIADMK, the rival factions of the AIADMK have been far more preoccupied with the struggle for the capture of the AIADMK and the survival of the government than with anything else.

THE Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 were published on May 25, 2017, just days before the commemoration of the third anniversary of the Modi government. Through these rules, the government has effectively dealt a blow to small producers and the farmers who sell their unfit animals to traders and commission agents in the livestock markets. Further, the foundations of meat export industry are also steeped in informal supply lines and trading networks which supply cattle to ‘modernised slaughter houses’.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on May 27. THE notification of the ministry of environment, forests and climate change that bans sale of cattle for slaughter is an atrocious attempt by the Modi government to give legal cover for its wholly communal and divisive agenda to impose a diet code on the country.It will destroy the livelihood of crores of farmers involved in animal husbandry, eliminate traditional cattle fairs, put an unfair burden on farmers to care for useless cattle.

Below we reproduce the text of the letter written by the chief minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan to the prime minister’s office on May 27.THIS is to bring to your attention the recent Government of India’s gazette notification imposing restrictions on cattle trade, which would have serious impact on the livelihoods of millions of Indians.It may be noted that the notification issued by the ministry of environment, forest and climate change regarding the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Regulation of Livestock Markets) Rules, 2017 mandates that cattle can be traded only by those

IT has been some time since visiting international heads of state offered to mediate on the Kashmir dispute while on official visits to India. The president of Turkey, no doubt took New Delhi by surprise when he politely suggested in an interview the need for India and Pakistan to calm down the volatile situation in Kashmir and offered his good offices to mediate between the two countries. Erdogan fancies himself as the pre eminent leader of the Muslim world. He has been outspoken about the treatment of Muslim minorities in other countries.