The Peopling of South Asia and the New Genomic Evidence

SLOWLY, but surely, the story of the peopling of South Asia is being unravelled, using genetic data and their analysis. The latest in this series, is a preprint of a paper by David Reich, Vagheesh Narasimhan and others in biological archives, The Genomic Formation of South and Central Asia in www.biorxiv.org.

Save Independence of Judiciary

ON March 21, Justice J Chelameswar, the most senior judge of the Supreme Court and a member of the Collegium, wrote to the Chief Justice of India to convene the full court on judicial side to discuss the matter of government interference in the appointment of judges to high courts.

Condemn Police Firing on Protestors

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 2, 2018THE response to the call for a Bharat Bandh by various dalit organisations has been widespread in states like Punjab, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Uttar Pradesh. This shows the anger against the Supreme Court’s decision to dilute the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.The Polit Bureau condemns the brutal police firing which has led to the death of four people in Gwalior, Bhind and Morena in BJP ruled Madhya Pradesh.

Dilution of SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act: Murder of Social Justice

ELEVEN of our brothers were killed on April 2. It seems they were ‘misled’ by some ‘vested interests’ to participate in the protests. Protesting for dignity and equality, they gave up their lives. To desire to live a dignified life and an egalitarian life, is natural. To detest any attack on such desires is natural. To participate in a protest against any such attack is human nature. It is these natural feelings that motivated the protesters and not any ‘vested interests’.

Right to Contest Elections

THE National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD), in a statement issued on March 31, has said that it extends its wholehearted support and solidarity to the protest being conducted by disabled persons owing allegiance to various disability rights organisations in Tamil Nadu against the willful violation of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, whose core principle is equality and non-discrimination.the last four days hundreds of disabled persons have been arrested in Chennai and kept under detention by the Tamil Nadu police for staging a protest against the rejection

MAHARASHTRA: Kisan Long March: A Remarkable Struggle

IT was truly an amazing struggle, the like of which has not been seen in Maharashtra in recent times. It caught the imagination of the peasantry and the people, and received their unstinted support, not only in the state but all over the country. It received the backing of parties and organisations all across the political spectrum. For the week from March 6-12 that the Long March of nearly 200 Km lasted, it became the centre of attraction for the entire national and state media, both print and electronic, and also the social media.

Kerala Observes Strike against Centre's Employment Policy

A 24-hour strike was observed in Kerala on April 2 against the central government's anti-worker decision to amend the Industrial Employment (Standing Order) Central Rules 1946 to allow businesses to hire fixed-term employees, which will eventually threaten job security in all sectors.The CITU, INTUC, AITUC, STU, AHMS, UTUC, HMPK, KTUC, INLC, TUCI, AICTU, NLO and ITUC led the protest against the move.Public service vehicles remained off the roads. Shop owners stood in solidarity with the protest by closing their shops. Even auto-taxi sector restrained from all activities.

Modi Govt’s False, Misleading Statements on Job Creation

IN the Union Budget for 2018-19, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made one false and one misleading statement in respect of employment generation. In point number 78 of the written copy of his speech, he stated, “An independent study conducted recently has shown that 70 lakh formal jobs will be created this year.”Jaitley’s statement of “independent study” was false. The study was initiated, designed, guided and approved by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Journos Call for Vigilance Day Next Week

SEEING the government’s withdrawal of the I&B ministry’s punish journalist directive as a temporary reprieve and a damage control exercise, the National Alliance of Journalists and Delhi Union of Journalists, in a statement issued on April 4, have called for a vigilance day next week . This is taking into account the fact that the Press Council is toothless and a democratic all-encompassing Media Council of India is the need of the hour. The statement followed the government withdrawal announcement on April 3.

CITU General Council: Surge in Toiling People’s Struggles

THE meeting of CITU general council, held in Kozhikode from March 23-26, analysed the impact of the policies of the BJP led government on the conditions of the workers in the country and chalked out concrete tasks based on its analysis.The presidential address delivered by Hemalata, president of CITU and the general secretary’s report placed by Tapan Sen, general secretary of CITU put the organisational and movemental tasks to be taken up by the general council, in the context of international and national situation.The presidential address linked the conditions of the workers in our countr

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