THE Dalit Shoshit Mukti Manch (DSMM), in a statement issued on March 28, has called upon all its units throughout the country to observe protest day on April 2 against the dilution of the provisions of the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act because of the ruling of a two member bench of the Supreme Court. The DSMM supports the demand to include the PoA in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. This will effectively protect the PoA from any dilution.

CENTRAL to liberalism is a distinction between two spheres, the sphere of the market (or more generally of the economy) where individuals and firms interact to exchange their wares; and the sphere of public discourse where individuals interact as citizens of a polity to debate and determine the actions of the State. The importance that liberals attach to this second sphere was underscored by Walter Bagehot, the nineteenth century British essayist of liberal persuasion, who had lauded democracy as “government by discussion”.

STARTING with the Channel 4 exposé of Cambridge Analytica, and now the NaMo app that sends data to Clevertap.com, we are beginning to realise the impact of big data on elections. If we combine this with fake news – the recent MIT report that shows how fake or false news travels faster, deeper and wider than real news – we realise the danger of uncontrolled use of new technologies.

OVER 200 eminent scientists all over India have endorsed the call by the All India Peoples Science Network and other organisations to “March for Science” in India on April 14 in as many centres as possible.

FRIENDS of Latin America-India – (FOLA-India) has organised a seminar titled “Women in Socialist Movements” on March 19, at JBMRC Auditorium in Kolkata. The seminar was organised jointly with the Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta. The official message from the collective of the Cuban Embassy in India on the occasion of the seminar was read at the beginning of the seminar.