THE GST Council, in its 37th session on September 20, 2019 in Goa, chaired by the union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by the finance ministers of all states, has taken urgent steps in slashing down the tariff rates in starred hotels to encourage hospitality industry and tourism, particularly foreign tourism.

THE recent notification of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmadabad(IIM-A) for the PhD programme in management, 2020 is the typical case where there is no provision to implement reservations for historically marginalised social groups. In the official notification, it had no provisions for an SC/ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) quota. This is in violation of the reservation mandated by the Constitution of India that makes it obligatory for all central educational institutions to reserve seats for each course and branch of study.

Below we publish the statement issued by the AICWF on September 25                                                         NO FDI, No outsourcing, No commercial mining – the coal workers of the country have paralysed the entire coal industry with these slogans on September 24, 2019. The strike was called by coal workers’ federations affiliated to five central trade unions – CITU, AITUC, HMS, INTUC and AICCTU. All most all trade unions functioning in coal industry have supported the strike.

STUDENTS and teachers of Jadavpur University rose in unison to resist BJP-ABVP attack on the campus and another saga of protest has begun.The ruckus started with union minister Babul Supriyo entering the university to attend a ‘seminar’ and ‘fresher’s welcome’ organised by the ABVP. The programme, ultimately held, was not attended by Jadavpur University students but by BJP activists of different areas, and of different ages too. As the union minister entered the campus, students held a peaceful protest against him, some showing black flags.

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on September 26, has strongly condemned the force arrest and harassment of the victim in the Chinmayanand case and demanded immediate withdrawal of the alleged extortion case lodged against her. It condemns the role played by the SIT and Uttar Pradesh Police under pressure from the Yogi government. The rape case against Chinmayanand was filed on August 27, 2019 but the accused was arrested only after 14 days after a public outcry. The sections under which Chinmayanand has been arrested have also been diluted.