-IANS   Raghubar Das' style of working proved costly for BJP Ranchi: The perceived dissatisfaction with the style of functioning of Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das and his bid to copy Lalu Prasad in running the government apparently led to BJP's defeat in Jharkhand. Das, though, has many records to his credit; one of them is that he was the first non-tribal Chief Minister who survived full tenure of five years. In a state...

-The Hindu Kolkata too Witnessed road blockade and disruption in traffic movement over the last few days. Violence continued in West Bengal on Sunday despite repeated appeals by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for peace. From parts of Howrah, Murshidabad and adjacent areas of Kolkata, the protest spread to Nadia, North 24 Paraganas and parts of Bardhaman. Internet services were stopped in six districts. Officials said the violence was “largely sporadic”, confined to...

-The Telegraph AASU anchors anti-bill chant Assam is seemingly moving towards days of non-stop agitation Witnessed over three decades ago during the anti-foreigner Assam Movement (1979-1985), as it continues to simmer over the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill. While the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU), the sentinel of the Movement in the eighties, announced non-stop protests against CAB from Saturday, many others, including civil society groups, have been hitting the streets in protest against the...

-Press release by National Alliance of Peoples' Movements  dated 28 November, 2019 In yet another of its egregious legislative misadventures, the BJP Government with support from some other parties, passed the regressive 'Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights)' Bill, in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, despite wide-spread opposition by members of the transgender, intersex and gender non-confirming communities, seeking referral of the Bill to a Select Committee. We have all been Witness to...

  A high maternal mortality ratio (MMRatio) indicates low status of women in the society apart from poor functioning of the health services delivery system. Recently released data by the Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletin indicates that for the country as a whole the MMRatio has steadily declined from 398.0 in 1997-98 to 122.0 in 2015-17, which is a fall by -69.3 percent. Table-1 shows that India's MMRatio was 398.0 in 1997-98,...