THE emphatic electoral victory registered by the incumbent president of Iran, Hassan Rouhani in the third week of May is proof that the vast majority of the Iranian people still repose great deal of trust in him and his reformist policies. The voter turnout was exceptionally heavy with young voters coming out in larger numbers than before. Rouhani won 57 per cent of the votes. More than 70 per cent of Iran's 56 million voters cast their ballots despite calls from opposition groups based in western capitals for a boycott of the polls.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on June 23. THE CPI(M) strongly condemns the communal attack on a Muslim family in a local train on the outskirts of Delhi leading to the death of Junaid, a 15 year old student and serious stab injuries to his brother 22 year old Shakir. The third brother Hashim was also injured. The men who led the slogan shouting mob attacked them with large knives.These young men boarded a local train at Delhi around 5 pm for Ballabhgarh, Haryana.

IN an incident which rips apart the BJP’s stand on black money and fake currencies, a prominent BJP leader in Thrissur district has been arrested by Kerala Police, on June 22, for making fake currencies. Fake currencies of Rs 1.37 lakhs and materials for making fake currencies were also seized from the residence of Rakesh Erasseri, leader of BJP and Bhartiya Yuva Morcha in Mathilakam near Kodungallur. The seized materials are fake currency machines, ink, papers, colour printer and a computer. Rakesh’s brother Rajeev who is also an active BJP worker is now absconding.

IN a letter written to the chairperson of the National Commission for Women on June 22, Jharna Das Baidya, Rajya Sabha MP from Tripura, brought to her notice the most deplorable, unlawful and unscrupulous activity of Sushma Sahu, member of the National Commission for Women which is a statutory and prestigious autonomous body established under provision of the Indian constitution.Sushma Sahu while on an official visit to Tripura as a member of the National Commission for Women, was accommodated in the state guest house as a state guest on June 19, 2017.

IT is an acknowledged fact that the huge NPAs (non-performing assets) are the fundamental cause for the deep rooted maladies afflicting PSBs (public sector banks)out of which the contribution from the large borrowers (loan exposure of Rs 5 crores and above) is more than 90 per cent.The entire energy and attention of the PSBs should be focused in recovering the NPAs from the large borrowers without any write off or sacrifice.