Lynch Mobs: What WhatsApp Will not Do and BJP Won’t Ask

LAST week, we had written on the rise of lynch mobs, the spreading of hate and false rumours through social media, and the complicity of the government. This week I will look at a particular feature of the WhatsApp platform that helps in spreading hate, and why the BJP government is not asking them to change this feature.At the heart of the problem with WhatsApp, which is now owned by Facebook, is the feature that anybody’s mobile number can be put in a WhatsApp group, even without the consent of the owner.

KERALA: News of CPI(M) Observing Ramayana Month is Baseless

CPI(M) Kerala state secretary, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, in a statement issued on July 11, has stated that the rumours about CPI(M) observing a “Ramayanam Masam” during Karkidakam, a month in Malayalam calendar, are baseless.RSS has been exploiting the Ramayanam celebrations during the month of Karkidakam for advancing their communal agenda.

The Institute of Human Virology honoured Kerala's Chief and Health Minister for effective control of Nipah virus

KERALA has received international recognition for its effective prevention measures against Nipah virus outbreak. The Institute of Human Virology in Baltimore honoured Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister K K Shylaja for the government’s efforts in curbing the outbreak.Noted bio-medical scientist and co-founder of the institute Dr Robert C Gallo presented awards to the chief minister and the health minister.Dr Robert Gallo, who was part of the scientific team that discovered the HIV, along with other scientists in the institute held talks with the Kerala delegation.

Karnataka: Seminar on ‘Science and Future of Agriculture’

CERTAIN leaders of the central government are making efforts to turn science into forum for nationalistic and religious grandstanding, much like what they have earlier done in Art, History, and social sciences. If present trend of attack on science and technology (S&T) is allowed to continue, future of India is in great peril, warned S Ramachandra Pillai (SRP), vice president of All India Kisan Sabha(AIKS) and CPI(M) Politburo member.

Has There Been an MSP Hike for Kharif Crops?

MUCH has been written by now exposing the fraudulence of the government’s claims of a “historic” rise in the minimum support price for kharif crops. It has been pointed out for instance that while the Swaminathan Committee had recommended that the MSP should be fixed at 50 percent above the cost of production C2 which includes rental on own land, a recommendation that the BJP in its 2014 election manifesto had promised to implement, the current MSP still falls way below that level.

August 9 Jail Bharo Programme of AIKS

‘KISAN Sabha in every village, all kisans in Kisan Sabha’ was the clarion call given at the 34th conference of the All India Kisan Sabha. Farmer-activists are engaged accordingly and are meeting the peasants in villages, taking the Kisan Sabha’s message to villages and for the expansion of the organisation. To intensify the process, in the office-bearers’ meeting on July 25, it was decided that our primary units should plan to visit maximum farmer households in their area to build contact with the rural masses.

DELHI: Workers Denied Minimum Wages for 15 months, TUs to strike on July 20

MORE than a year since the government failed to implement minimum wages in Delhi, members of eleven trade unions including major ones like CITU, AITUC and INTUC have decided to go on strike on July 20 pressing for their demands. A formal notice was given to the chief minister and the lieutenant governor of Delhi on June 27.While the minimum wage of workers in Delhi is declared to be Rs 13,896 by the government on March 3, 2017, it has not been implemented yet. Most of the workers are denied minimum wage even as they are forced to work for more than 12 hours a day.

Public meeting of Indo Canadian Workers Association

A PUBLIC meeting of Indo Canadian Workers Association (ICWA) of Canada was organised in Surrey, Canada on June 30, 2018. Tikender Singh Panwar former deputy mayor of Shimla and member of the CPI(M)’s PD/Lok Lahar unit was the chief guest and the key note speaker. This public meeting was attended by near 100 people from different walks of life.

ANDHRA PRADESH: CPI(M) Protest against Harassment of Minorities

CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh state committee has organised a protest on July 12, against the illegal arrest of young men belonging to the minority community in Guntur. The CPI(M) activists including the state secretary P Madhu, who were on their way to visit the families of the arrested were lathi-charged and arrested by the Guntur police.

Historic Betrayal of Farmers: BJP Govt Denies Promised C2+50% & Assured Procurement

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP had generated high hopes and got the support of farmers in 2014 elections by promising the implementation of the Swaminathan commission recommendation of fixing MSP according to the formula C2+50 percent. It has betrayed them yet again by announcing MSP for the Kharif crops based on A2+FL costs instead of the promised more comprehensive C2 costs. Also no steps have been taken to ensure assured procurement. Without assured procurement any such announcement is only notional and will not accrue to the cultivating peasantry.

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