ON Monday, February 8, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued its regulations barring differential pricing of data based on content. This has been welcomed widely as a step forward in keeping the internet free from capture by an emerging alliances of global internet monopolies and telcos. Indeed, TRAI's decision goes beyond what Federal Communication Commission (FCC) in the US had decided on net neutrality. Currently, the FCC is enmeshed in a variety of what are called zero rating cases, and hearing them on a case to case basis.

AFTER over two years since the tenth bipartite settlement became due, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the form of minutes was exchanged between the Indian Banks Association (IBA) representing the managements of various banks and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) representing close to ten lakh bank employees and officers with five workmen unions and four officers unions as its constituents on 23 February 2015 in Mumbai. Two other unions namely NUBE and Karmachari Sena also inked the MoU separately.

Below is the text of the speech delivered by Manik Sarkar, chief minister of Tripura at the first meeting of the governing council of National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog on February 8, 2015 at New Delhi.

NITI Aayog, which has replaced the Planning Commission, should not push India towards a market-driven economy and privatisation in all spheres. Public resources should not be put at the disposal of the private sector and the market forces.

MORE than 40,000 people marched in Solapur on December 24, 2014 under the banner of the CPI(M), demanding that the state government immediately sanction the proposed housing projects for the poor, along with the necessary budgetary allocations. This march started from the CPI(M) office at Datta Nagar and culminated at the district collector's office. Thousands of members of the housing projects participated. A huge number of them were women. The march was led by CPI(M) Central Committee member Narsayya Adam, ex-MLA.

THE BJP which had promised the creation of jobs as its prime election slogan has openly declared war on MGNREGA, the only demand driven legal guarantee for employment of at least 100 days a year per family in rural India. The legislation, though poorly implemented, had brought some relief to the unemployed and underemployed rural poor. According to the Economic Survey presented by the BJP finance minister Arun Jaitley in June this year, under this legislation 4.5 crore households had been provided an average of 45 days work in 2013-2014 at an average daily wage of Rs 132.