IT had been a hectic couple of years for the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman or MBS as he is now popularly known, since he became the de facto ruler of the kingdom. He started by imposing a war on Yemen two years ago that has devastated the country, the poorest in the Arab world. Then he decided to do regime change in neighbouring Qatar. He has failed in achieving his goals in both Qatar and Yemen.
IN the long awaited bypoll to the R K Nagar assembly constituency to be held on December 21, the Tamil Nadu state committee of the CPI(M) has decided not to be in the fray but to support DMK from its own platform in order to defeat AIADMK and to expose the nefarious designs of the BJP in the state.A year ago, the AIADMK supremo Jayalalitha died after 75 days long hospitalisation and since then the events unfolding in Tamil Nadu shows how her ministerial colleagues and close friends are running helter skelter to save their skins by toeing the BJP diktats thereby sacrificing all the long held
THE Petroleum and Gas Workers’ Federation of India, the largest federation of oil trade unions, has strongly opposed the action of the central government for handing over 15 oilfields of ONGC and OIL to private parties in the name of marginal oilfields auction. The government, under a policy adopted on September 2, 2015 after closing the New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP), selected 67 oilfields for auction.
THE finance minister held Pre-budget 2018 discussion with the representatives of central trade unions on December 5, 2017. Representatives of all the central trade unions attended the meeting. CITU was represented by its president, Hemalata.The meeting, as every year, appeared to be not more than a ritual. The ‘consultative meeting’ with the 12 trade unions that were called, lasted for around one hour. The trade union representatives were requested to give their opinions in 3-4 minutes.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on December 7, 2017THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the decision of US President Donald Trump, to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and to shift the US Embassy there from Tel Aviv.This action goes against the United Nations’ and the international community’s stand that East Jerusalem is an occupied territory by Israel since 1967. An independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital is the internationally accepted position. The United States has taken the formal step of legalising the illegal
THE six-year devastating Syrian war is reaching a conclusive stage. The eighth-round of UN-mediated talks between the government of Syria and the opposition that began in Geneva on November 28, signify a decisive phase in the nearly six years of Syrian War. These talks are to continue till December 15 and widely expected to bring the curtains down on the war that had led to the killing of over 3,30,000 citizens and the displacement of millions of people.
THE rhetoric of ‘crusade against corruption’ now stands exposed. Prime Minister Modi’s lieutenant Amit Shah admitted it as much. The Rs 15 lakh bonanza from the black money stashed in foreign bank accounts will never reach. Shah accepted that this was unadulterated jumla. From demonetisation to digitalisation and the GST; these dramatic initiatives were pitched as grand narrative against corruption. But this cleansing operation is empty hoax. All the extinguished currency has safely returned to the financial system. Counterfeits are microscopically small.
THE National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has come out with its ritual annual report. And the statistics are grim. Like the prices of vegetables, crimes in our country too have a tendency only to rise up, up and above. If only these statistics become weapons, can we see a change.Let’s recount our achievements as detailed by the NCRB. Data shows that cases under Crime against Women have reported an increase of 2.9 per cent in 2016 over 2015. Delhi once again, being the national capital city, does not disappoint. It ranks first in terms of the crime rate against women.
THE ancient International Nalanda University in its new incarnation has started functioning from 2014 in a new campus in picturesque town of Rajgir, which happens to be a tourist spot and seat of Buddhism and Jainisim in Bihar.The peasants of the surrounding areas have been forced to part with their multi-crop land for the construction of Nalanda University and the Bihar government had promised to provide jobs to their wards and announced that the all round development of the 14 villages adjacent to the university campus, will be ensured.Subsequent developments have belied the hope of the
IN a letter written by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat to Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on December 5, 2017, she brought the issue of non-payment of compensation announced by him to the next of kin of Junaid, to his notice.Junaid, son of Jalaladuddin, resident of Khatauli village, Faridabad, Haryana, was brutally stabbed to death by a communally motivated group, on June 22, 2017.On June 29, the papers carried the statement of the chief minister of Haryana, condemning the murder. He also declared a compensation of Rs Ten lakhs.