JUNIOR Minister for Rural Development in the central government, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, ruled out in parliament any increase in the amount of monthly pension given by the centre to the elderly under the National Social Assistance Programme (The Telegraph, August 22). The amount currently being given to each beneficiary under this programme is a princely sum of Rs 200 per month for persons between ages 60 and 79, and Rs 500 per month for persons of 80 years and above!It is a shame and a disgrace that the central government offers such an utterly paltry sum to aged citizens.

AS a tsunami of crocodile tears engulfs Western politicians, history is suppressed. More than a generation ago, Afghanistan won its freedom, which the United States, Britain and their “allies” destroyed.In 1978, a liberation movement led by the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) overthrew the dictatorship of Mohammad Dawd, the cousin of King Zahir Shar.

A PUBLIC convention was held against the growing attacks on the democratic rights of citizens, against the repeal of black laws like UAPA, for the release of political prisoners and against the loot of natural resources like water, forests, land and minerals.

THE Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEFCC) last week filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court conveying that it has now given the go-ahead for seven controversial hydro-electric projects in the Upper Ganga region of Uttarakhand.  These projects include the 512 MW Tapovan-Vishnugarh hydro-electric project on the Dhauliganga which was almost completely destroyed in the massive floods of February 2021, killing more than 200 people including  over 150 workers and others whose bodies are probably still interred in the ruins of the project which is now proposed to be re-bui

THOUSANDS of people participated in the 10-kilometre human chain along the National Highway-16 from Aganampudi to Akkireddypalem in Visakhapatnam on August 29 to protest Modi government’s move of strategic sale of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant. In response to the call given by the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, which is spearheading the agitation, hundreds of Steel plant workers, displaced persons and their family members, and the general public joined hands to form the human chain.The participants held placards and stood on one side of the highway from 8 am to 10 am.