AT a time when the entire officers and workers of BSNL are engaged in continuous struggles against the pro-Reliance Jio and anti-BSNL steps being taken by the government, BSNLEU, the biggest trade union of BSNL, has conducted its 9th all India conference at Mysuru. The conference which was held from December 17-20, 2018, has taken many important decisions to defend BSNL and the future of the employees.INAUGURAL SESSIONThe four-day conference got kick-started with a colourful cultural programme, followed by the hoisting of the national flag and the union's red flag.

THE All India Lawyers Union, in a statement issued on December 22, has strongly condemned the draconian measures by the central government in authorising ten central agencies to intercept and monitor all data contained in any computer. This is an intrusion in the right to privacy.Justifying the order, the government cites earlier similar order of 2009 issued by the then government.

AS we reach the end of 2018, it will go down as the year in which the all-round failure of the Modi government on the economic front and the consequent burdens on the people became glaringly evident; the year also sharply brought out the cronyism and corruption of the regime; it also exposed the disruptive agenda of the Hindutva forces in seeking to subvert the constitution and the fundamental rights of citizens. The greatest failure of the Modi government was in dealing with the economy.  The agrarian crisis deepened causing widespread distress for the farmers and the rural poor.

IN a press conference held on December 17, at Delhi, to brief the decisions of the two days Central Committee meeting of the CPI(M), Sitaram Yechury, general secretary, said the effort and the initiative is to change the narrative of the political discourse for the ensuing parliamentary elections from “Hindu-Musalmaan” to “Kisan-Naujawan”.   He said the last 4.5 years of Modi rule has completely exposed the hollowness of his promises and the danger that his communal politics.There is a two-pronged attack on the people.

THE Supreme Court Judgement by a three-member Bench on the Rafale Deal has become controversial even before the ink on the judgement has dried. Indeed, accepting notes in sealed covers, acceptance of governments arguments at face value, puts the court’s reputation at risk.The scope of judicial review was whether a) the defence procedures laid down were violated in the Rafale deal, and b) whether the Indian people have a right to know the price of defence deals.