Implications of the Gurdaspur Attack

THE Gurdaspur attack by an extremist squad crossing over from Pakistan is a first of its kind in Punjab. The three-member group is reported to have crossed the international border a few kilometers from the site of attack in Dinanagar. Two similar attacks by Lashkar –e-taiba squads had taken place in Jammu earlier this year.

The terrorist attack killed seven people altogether, three of whom were civilians. The extremists ended up in the Dinanagar Police Station where they were finally killed by the security forces after a 15 hour gun battle.

Yakub Memon: Miscarriage of Justice

THE execution of Yakub Memon is a miscarriage of justice. There is no other way to describe the hanging of a man when there were strong mitigating circumstances to commute his sentence. Yakub Memon was certainly guilty of a crime – involvement in the conspiracy which led to the heinous bomb blasts in Mumbai which took the lives of 257 persons. But his role and the nature of the offence did not warrant capital punishment. The ends of justice would have been served if he had been awarded a life sentence, just as the ten others whose death sentences were commuted to life.

TRIPURA CM AT THE NITI AAYOG MEETING

At the second meeting of the governing council of NITI Aayog held on July 15, Manik Sarkar, chief minister of Tripura made the following observations in his speech on the amendments proposed in the Second Ordinance, 2015 to The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 (LARR 2013).

46th Session of Indian Labour Conference to Government: Talking is Fine, but Start Doing

THAT was the strong message given to the government of India by the 46th session of the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), through a unanimous recommendation. The 46th session of the ILC was held in Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi on July 20–21, 2015.

Modi Govt's Foreign Policy

AS the travel logs show, Narendra Modi has been spending considerable time in foreign climes. On his many visits abroad, he has steadfastly refused to take the external affairs minister, Sushma Swaraj along. Important foreign policy decisions now seems to be exclusively formulated within the confines of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). This trend had started during the tenure of the previous government after it had gone on overdrive to secure the US-India nuclear deal. But in those days, the foreign office at least provided serious inputs that were acted upon.

Warm Welcome to Yechury in London

A PUBLIC reception was organised in Southall of west London on July 12 to welcome newly-elected CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury to the UK. The Association of Indian Communists and the Indian Workers’ Association (Great Britain) organised the event at the Dominion Centre, in collaboration with the Friends of CPI and other Left groups. More than 200 people attended the programme defying torrential downpour.

DoT's Report: Lip Service to Net Neutrality, But Backing Telecom Companies

THE Department of Telecom (DoT) Report on Net Neutrality, though better written than the shoddy consultation paper TRAI produced last March, ends up by ducking controversial questions and contradicting itself on what constitutes net neutrality. While endorsing net neutrality, on the issue of Zero Rating services, such as Airtel Zero and Facebook-Reliance Internet.org, the report refers them back to TRAI.

Greece for Sale

LET us forget for a moment that even the IMF, which happens to be one of Greece’s major creditors, has now publicly recognised that it is unrealistic to expect Greece to pay back its entire debt. Let us assume that Greece cannot be given any debt relief, but must pay back its debt, a certain amount each year. Even then however there are two ways to make Greece pay back this debt.

Vyapam: A Massive Scam and Suspicious Deaths

THE Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh is a massive admission and recruitment scam involving key politicians, senior officials and businessmen. The Madhya Pradesh Professional Board (MPPEB), popularly known by its Hindi acronym “Vyapam”, is a government body responsible for conducting several entrance tests in the state. These entrance tests are for recruitment to government jobs and for admission to educational institutes. The scam involved a collusion of undeserving candidates, who bribed politicians and MPPEB officials through middlemen, to secure high ranks in these entrance tests.

Peaceful & Joyous Eid in Shri Ram Colony

TENSION mounted in the Muslim-majority Shri Ram Colony in North Delhi as RSS karyakartas stumped away with their clubs after a daily shakha. Fear filled the air as they raised communal slogans like “Ab Hamara Hindustan, Mulla Bhago Pakistan (Hindustan is now ours, Muslims flee to Pakistan)”. Provocations were there too as the RSS cadres issued opened threats and crowed about their invincibility under a BJP-led government at the Centre, and attempts were made to disrupt the annual Eid celebrations.

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