THE United States and India have decided to formalise a Logistics Support Agreement (LSA).  This was announced after talks between the US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar in Delhi on April 12.The two sides announced that the logistics sharing agreement will be named as the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA).  This is intended to distract attention from the fact that for all practical purposes, it is the LSA. The two ministers announced that the text of the agreement would be ready in a few weeks time.

EVEN as the police resorted to repressive measures on students and others who participated in the ‘Chalo HCU’ programme on April 6, demanding resignation of vice chancellor P Appa Rao, the latter had to face heat in the meeting of academic council where several members protested against his chairing the meeting and his continuation as VC of the University of Hyderabad.  On the call of the Joint Action Committee of the students’ unions, leaders of different students’ unions, mass organisations and JAC of Osmania University and students coming from different parts of the state turned out on a

RECENTLY, the government had to retract its proposal to tax withdrawal on provident fund deposits. Apart from sharp criticism and opposition from labour unions, there was also an overwhelming opposition from the employed sections, both government and private, who were not organised, to this proposal. A petition opposing taxing of EPF went viral and social media platforms were abuzz with witty criticisms against the government on the above two issues.

What is your stand on the slogan of “Bharat Mata ki jai” which is a nationalist slogan?  Rajat Ghosh, HowrahTHE CPI(M) is very clear that there can be no imposition on any Indian citizen as far as slogans and greetings are concerned.  Every citizen is free to raise slogans of his or her choice and this right cannot be infringed upon in the name of carrying out ‘patriotism tests’.

WITH severe drought conditions prevailing in several districts in Telangana and no relief measures forthcoming from the state government, to assess the field level situation, a team of leaders of the CPI(M) led by its state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram conducted a padayatra on April 3,  in Mahabubnagar district, the most severely drought-affected area in the state. The team conducted padayatra in five mandals of Kalwakurthi, Vangoor, Achhampet, Balmur and Telakapalli, demanding drought relief measures and prevention of migration.