THE decision of Arvind Kejriwal's government in Delhi to have the accounts of the three distribution companies (discoms) subjected to a CAG audit has had immediate repercussions. The three discoms are moving the courts against a CAG audit and the two Reliance Anil Ambani Group discoms – BRPL and BYPL – have also threatened long power cuts as they claim they have no money to pay NTPC its outstanding dues. The matter has escalated with the Delhi government asking DERC, the Delhi Electricity Regulator to revoke their licenses under section 19 (d) of the Electricity Act, 2003.

THE last session of the parliament before the forthcoming 15th general elections to the country has begun as we go to press. The manner in which this session has been conceived and structured, created apprehensions at the outset about the government's intentions to use this session more as a launch pad for its election campaign, rather than to transact business to implement important, long-standing, pending legislations, particularly those aimed at providing relief to the already beleaguered vast mass of the people.

ON January 21, the Dehradun district unit of the Students Federation of India (SFI) took out a procession in the city, the capital town of Uttarakhand, in protest against the brutal murder of Comrade Saifuddin Mollah of the SFI in West Bengal, and burnt an effigy of the Bengal chief minister Ms Mamata Banerjee in the DBS College grounds. It was the Trinamool goons who attacked Comrade Mollah with sticks and clubs and thus murdered him.

FROM January 20 to 24, the Lal Jhanda Punjab Bhatha Mazdoor Union staged a five-day dharna in front of the district commissioner’s office at Ludhiana. The action received support not only from the CITU but from many other unions, like those of the MGNREGA workers, mid-day meal workers, Reta workers, Bharat Nirman workers and others, who took part in this protest programme of the brick kiln workers.