ARTISTS and creative community of India are aghast at the vandalism proposed against the artwork of one India's greatest artists by a representative of the BJP government in Guwahati. A statement issued by SAHMAT on August 11 said Ramkinkar Baij pioneered the modern movement in mid-twentieth century India. He was dedicated to the person and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi, as he was to the adivasi communities and subaltern figures in the ethos he inhabited. He sought to find a form for this in several smaller sculptures of the Mahatma.

IN the entire region of the terai in and around Gorakhpur, in the adjoining districts of Deoria, Kushinagar, Maharajgunj, Gonda, Basti, every water body, small and large, is surrounded with small brick structures made during the Chhat puja when devout fasting men and women stand all night in the water, pray to the rising sun for the longevity of their children.  This occurs at the end of the monsoon, after Japanese encephalitis has taken yet another toll of infant life in the area.  The small brick structures seem to be memorial shrines to the dead infants.  The faith of the devout in the S

Below we publish an open letter written by MB Rajesh, CPI(M) MP from Kerala to Arun Jaitley, union minister for finance and defense, on August 6. RESPECTED Arun Jaitley,I appreciate the fact that despite being a senior cabinet minister, in charge of two very important portfolios – finance and defense – you have taken the pain to travel to the southern tip of our country.

The following is the statement issued by the Polit Bureau on July 27.WEST Bengal state secretariat of the Party had requested that Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Party, be re-nominated for the Rajya Sabha from West Bengal on the completion of his term. The Polit Bureau had discussed this matter in its meeting of June 6 and 7, 2017.

Demands: ·       Loan waivers for the kisans·       MSP at one and a half times the production costs  and a central legislation ensuring this·       Implement BJP’s electoral promise of creating two crore jobs every year.·       Stop the large-scale privatisation of public sector and public services.·       Immediately legislate the Women’s Reservation Bill as promised by the BJP in 2014 elections. ·        Conduct anti-communalism programmes all over the country during the month of  September·       Protesting against the growing attacks on dalits and Muslims, campaign for