THE All India Lawyers Union, Delhi unit condemned the heinous attack on its president, a well known senior lawyer and former mayor of Kolkata, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya by the Trinamool Congress cadre in West Bengal on April 1.The targeted attack, AILU leaders said, was because of his stellar role in exposing the Saradha Scam and Narada Scam. Ironically he was attacked while he was on his way to the village where the victims of the unjust land acquisition were protesting and he was to render legal aid and legal advice to them.

THE outcome of the Indo-US nuclear deal is now in total disarray.  The nuclear deal was used to cement the strategic alliance between the United States and India.  At the heart of the deal was the promise of full civilian nuclear cooperation extended to India and the quid pro quo was the military alliance coveted by the US which included the purchase of US arms.

THIS article is an attempt mainly to assess the direction of the Union Budget for 2017-18, whether it will help the peasantry to come out of the present systemic crisis and end rising peasant suicides. This is important especially in the context of substantial increase in the rate of peasant suicides in the over two years of the NDA government.

THE Rajya Sabha took up short duration discussion on electoral reforms. Speaking on this, Sitaram Yechury said there is a need to fine-tune the electoral process. Because of money power and other such things, democracy is at stake. These infirmities need to be corrected. The government, in the Union Budget for 2017-18, has made two proposals -- the cash donations to political parties would now be restricted to Rs 2,000 each person and the introduction of electoral bonds. These are a mere eyewash. It is a mockery.

THE TRS government in Telangana has been continuing its autocratic measures and repression on democratic protests against its failures of commission and omission. The police arrested hundreds of leaders and workers of the Left parties, including the CPI(M), and mass organisations at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram and foiled their attempts to conduct two kilometre run protesting against the KCR government’s undemocratic decision to shift the dharna chowk from Indira park to the outskirts of Hyderabad.