THE All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), in a statement issued on June 11, has welcomed the judgement of the Pathankot sessions court which has convicted three main accused of rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir on January 10, 2018 to life imprisonment. Sanji Ram, one of the main convicted is the priest of the temple where the crime took place. He has been supported by the Hindu Ekta Manch which has the backing of the BJP in Jammu and Kashmir.

THE NSSO Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), 2017-2018 was released one day after the new government assumed office. It confirmed the earlier ‘leaked reports’ that the unemployment rate in the country had reached an all time high of 6.1 per cent. In fact the opposition campaign had been predicated on the fact that the fast track reforms and the pro-corporate policies of the government had unleashed an unprecedented employment crisis.

THE golden jubilee celebrations of CITU, began in Sundarayya  Vignana  Kendram  on May 30. Chukka Ramulu, the Telangana state president of CITU, presided over the meeting. In this context B V Raghavulu, former secretary of CITU of the combined state said that the building of socialism is possible only by working class and the present defeats are only temporary. He was speaking on the topic “world economic crisis and contemporary socialism”.

THE Students Federation of India(SFI), through a press statement released on June 2 has responded to the proposed draft National Education Policy released by the HRD ministry. It has opposed the idea of the imposition of three-language formula from primary level of school education. The SFI does not stand as pro or anti to any language as the multi-linguistic nature of India should always be exercised and celebrated. The SFI has stated that it wants the government to step forward to preserve and care for each and every regional language to celebrate the linguistic diversity of India.

THE official Gross Domestic Product data have just been released, which show that the growth rate in the fourth quarter of 2018-19 (January-March) over the fourth quarter of 2017-18 was 5.8 per cent. This is the lowest quarterly growth rate in five years. The media coverage of this event however has only been concerned with India’s rivalry with China, i.e., with the fact that India has lost the position of being the fastest-growing economy in the world to China.