Woman Sweeper Raped, Killed in Congress Office

IN what has come as a shocking incident, unheard of in the history of Kerala, a woman sweeper working in the Congress block committee office at Nilambur in Malappuram district was found dead in a pond in Chulliyod, near Nilambur. Two persons including a staff member of Aryadan Muhammed, the state minister of electricity, were arrested in connection with this barbaric incident. The victim was identified as Nilambur Kovilakathumuri Radha (49) who was cruelly raped and then strangled to death.

Workers on Struggle Path across State

EVEN as the Delhi maneuverings to decide on the bifurcation issue reached a feverish pitch, the working people of all three regions of Andhra Pradesh are unitedly on struggle path centering around their genuine demands. The 1.8 lakh strong Anganwadi workers and helpers in the state are conducting indefinite hunger strikes demanding hike in wages. At the same time in support of over 60,000 outsourced sanitation workers in municipalities, nine workers’ unions undertook a five-day long strike across the state demanding hike in wages.

Japan: Back to Militarism!

AFTER regaining the prime minister’s post in 2012, Shinzo Abe has been rarely out of the news. An avowed right wing nationalist, Abe has been trying to make dramatic changes in the country’s domestic and foreign policies. Unlike his immediate predecessors, Abe has not shirked away from identifying the neighbouring China as Japan’s main rival in the region.

Developments in Cooperative Banking Sector

RURAL credit cooperatives were born more than a hundred years ago and have been decisive in providing agricultural credit, especially to small and marginal farmers and to agricultural workers. As on March 31, 2013, the short term credit cooperative structure (STCCS) comprised 92,432 primary agricultural credit cooperative societies (PACS), 370 district central cooperative banks (DCCBs) and 31 state cooperative banks (StCBs).

AIIEA Holds Conference: Challenging the Challenges

THE All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA), organised its 23rd general conference at Nagpur from January 20 to 24, 2014. While the historic city of Nagpur has been home to many a progressive movement, the AIIEA conference added yet another glorious chapter to the history of this great city. The conference met in the background of tremendous achievements secured by the organisation in the last three years.

Curbs Demanded on Pulse, Sugar Imports

DEMANDING remunerative prices for pulses and seeking curbs on import of pulses as well as sugar, a delegation of farmers from Karnataka met the prime minister on February 7, 2014. The delegation was accompanied by Basudeb Acharia, leader of the CPI(M) group in Lok Sabha, and Vijoo Krishnan, joint secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS). Maruti Manpade (president, Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha), Basavaraj Ingin (president, Karnataka State Red Gram Growers’ Association) and Moula Mulla (leader of the AIKS, 4 Windsor Place) too were part of the delegation.

Unending Amnesia over Hindutva Terror

ASEEMANAND’S “description of the plot in which he was involved became increasingly detailed. In our third and fourth interviews, he told me that his terrorist acts were sanctioned by the highest levels of the RSS — all the way up to Mohan Bhagwat, the current RSS chief, who was the organisation’s general secretary at the time. Aseemanand told me that Bhagwat said of the violence, ‘It’s very important that it be done. But you should not link it to the Sangh.’

Unemployment is on Rise, So is Youth’s Anger

* Among the 16,000 applicants who were interviewed for 21 posts of court peons in Chandigarh, there were 40 jobless post-graduates who had applied for those posts that required formal education of up to only the eighth class.
* 240 graduates, including B.Techs, had applied for sweepers’ jobs at a municipal corporation.
(Recent news reports from Hindustan Times)

Devil is in the Detail

BJP’S prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi addressing a meeting in Kerala has said, “I continue to be a victim of untouchability.”

Two- day Nation-wide Bank Strike Successful

TEN lakhs employees and officers of commercial banks - both public sector banks and private sector banks - and one lakh employees and officers of regional rural banks were on 48 hours strike from 6 am on February 10, 2014 to 6 am on February 12, 2014 demanding immediate and fair wage revision and opposing the so-called reforms of the banking industry. The strike call was given by UFBU (United Forum of Bank Unions) an umbrella organisation consisting of five unions of employees and four unions of officers.

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