THE second part of the budget session of parliament started from March 14. In Rajya Sabha, Jharna Das Baidya took part in the discussion on the development of north eastern region. Though several rural development programmes are underway in the northeast, there are still major challenges and gaps in the poverty and livelihood sector. The project will have three-pronged approach to livelihood strengthening for achieving sustainable development. These are: social empowerment, economic empowerment and partnership and linkages.

Below we reproduce the verbatim address of Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami whilst addressing a press conference in Srinagar. He was referring to the venom being spread in the guise of a film-‘Kashmir Files’, released recently. Some of the words he used are in Urdu which continues to remain in the text, however with an English translation.

APPEAL of the first Kashmiri who was displaced: Now stop it; everyone who died was a Kashmiri, stop dividing people’s tears and cashing on their tragedies.

A THREE-DAY (March 21-24) ‘Peoples Alternative Budget Session’ was held at Freedom Park, Bangalore. It was organised by Samyukta Horata Karnataka – a coordination committee of peasants, workers, dalits, students, youth, and mahila organisations.  Ruling party governments do not have any pro-people orientation. No discussion or debate takes place on any vital issue concerning people in the budget session of Karnataka legislature.

THE National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), in a statement issued on March 22, has strongly condemned the arbitrary detention of hundreds of disabled persons while they were proceeding to Chennai from different parts of Tamilnadu to participate in a demonstration before the state secretariat demanding an enhancement in the amount of disability “pension” at the call of the NPRD affiliate, the Tamilnadu Association for the Rights of all types of Differently Abled and Caregivers (TARATDAC).Reports of police forcibly de-boarding disabled passengers holding valid tickets from tr

“NOBODY has a right to force a girl to wear or not to wear a headscarf. Let girls and their parents decide.” said Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member at Mangalore, Karnataka. She was addressing a well-attended ‘Harmony Convention’ (Souhardata Samavesha) on March 21 at Kudmal Rangarao Bhavan (Townhall) organised by CPI(M) state  committee.Brinda Karat expressed her sadness and anger at the condition of girls, who are breaking barriers to get education in Karnataka, but are being deprived of the universal right to education by a government order.