Spying on Net Activity?
Browsing has become slow because the browser hangs, for minutes at a time, on "Waiting for 203.94.243.63...". That is an MTNL server in Mumbai which has nothing to do with the sites I try to reach. Its job could be to inject unwanted messages from MTNL, or, as a friend said, maybe someone is keeping an eye on my Net activity.
Mukul Dube,
Delhi

Gurgaon to Gurugram
The change of name of Gurgaon to Gurugram is shocking as the government announcement defended the change in the name of Guru Dronacharya. There could not be worst humiliation of Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar, a Dalit icon on his 125th birth anniversary. Guru Dronacharya was the Guru who deceitfully deprived thumb of a lower Caste fine archer, Ekalavya, by asking his thumb as 'guru dakshina' so that he could not compete with Guru's high Caste Kaurav & Pandav students. It shows brazen insensitivity of RSS/BJP rulers to the Dalit sentiments on Dr Ambedkar's very birthday.

This change also means that history attached with Gurgaon will be erased. It is to be noted that Gurgaon and its adjacent areas played immensely heroic role during 1857 Rebellion. This area was the place from where maximum martyrs of 1857 hailed under the leadership of Rao Tula Ram. These all narratives will be lost to the future generations.
Shamsul Islam,
Gurgaon

Striking Garment workers
Agitation by the workers of the garment industry-majority of whom are women workers, revives the hope that the working-class can save the situation from the neo-liberal onslaught of the corporates. Their agitation re-affairms the fact that working class is capable of not only championing its own causes but also the causes and interests of the toiling people in general.

The strike initiated by the knit wear and garment sector workers of Tamilnadu in Tirupur on April 4th demanding for the roll back of the amendment made to the EPF law restricting the freedom of the contributor workers to withdraw their own hard earned PF savings, has sparked the fighting spirit among the workers.

The undeterred resolve of striking workers of Brandix Garment ASE2 at Vizag to not to fall prey to the machinations of the management and state government officials is highly laudable.

Now it is the women workers of garment industry, that have kick-started the fighting spirit among the workers' movement in India, which went long-back into despondency under the leadership of the traditional established central trade union leadership.
Viswam,
General Secretary,
CPI (M-L)

Negative News
Apparently "negative news" will be "tracked and countered" by the government. This is an irrational reaction to criticism. The rational thing to do is to react positively by improving the implementation of governmental schemes and by making good new schemes to deal with the problems of the people. But this government seems to have no interest in listening to the voice of the people. Its sahabs see themselves as above criticism.
Mukul Dube,
Delhi

Frontier
Vol. 48, No. 44, May 8 - 14, 2016