IT WAS a rainy afternoon.  Two student rallies withstanding heavy rain, culminated at Dumdum, the very locality where the seeds of SFI were sown,  in August  1970 through  the formation a preparatory committee.  SFI president, V P Sanu hoisted the white flag of Independence, Democracy and Socialism, marking the beginning of the golden jubilee celebrations of SFI.

On August 13, Tribal Youth Federation of Tripura organised a special convention at Agartala Town Hall with ten-point demands to the state and central government to resolve the matters of employment and jobs for youth, demands regarding education policies and livelihoods of the people.

THE 11th death anniversary of Comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet was observed in Chandigarh on August 1. The meeting was organised by the Punjabi daily Desh Sewak and Virsa Sambhal and Prasar Kender. Speaking on the occasion, Nilotpal Basu, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) called upon the Party workers and sympathizers to intensify the fight against communalism to protect the social fabric of the country from damage by the fundamentalist forces in the name of Hindu Rashtra and their efforts to convert India into a majoritarian  state.

THE 10TH state conference of AIDWA resolved to build a stronger movement of the women in the state of Madhya Pradesh. This conference was held on July 16-18 in Kanha Resort in Morena city of MP. The city was named after late Comrade Leela Srivastava, who was treasurer of the organisation. The stage was named after Comrade Shanti Patel, who was the founder of AIDWA in Gwalior.The conference was conducted by a presidium comprising Vidya Sagar, Sandhya Shelly and Santosh Prajapati and was attended by 106 delegates. Mariad Dhawale, general secretary of AIDWA was present all the three days.

JUST recently, the Arvind Kejriwal government in Delhi has welcomed the decision of the ministry of housing and urban affairs (MoHUA) to regularise 1,797 unauthorised colonies (UAC) in Delhi. There is a wave of cheer in the city amongst the residents in these UACs, but there is also deep scepticism. The residents are aware of the history of such decisions taken in the past, some of which were partly implemented, some decisions taken only during elections and never implemented.