Industrial Accidents in India & Impunity Corporates Enjoy

INDIA has witnessed a number of industrial accidents recently -- toxic gas leak at LG Polymers factory in Visakhapatnam, boiler explosion at Yashashvi Rasayan Private Limited in Gujarat’s Dahej, two boiler explosions in Tamil Nadu, toxic gas leak at a paper mill in Chhattisgarh, and boiler explosion at a Lucknow chemical factory. In addition, the coal mining sector has reported some accidents. These accidents have killed or injured many workers and exposed communities to toxic chemicals.

Enslaving Labour

THE three labour laws passed in Parliament at the fag end of the truncated monsoon session constitute a grave assault on the working class of the country. The Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and the Social Security Code, along with the Code on Wages adopted last year, were ostensibly meant to simplify and modernise the host of laws related to labour. However, the entire exercise was aimed at fulfilling a vital element of the neoliberal reforms, which is to usher in a regime of hire and fire, labour flexibility and removal of all prote

Brutal Gangrape & Murder of Dalit Girl

THE Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch, in a statement issued on September 30, has strongly condemned the brutal gangrape and murder of the young dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh by upper caste goondas. Shockingly the local police delayed the registration of FIR for days and she was not given adequate medical care. Finally public pressure led to her transfer to Delhi but it was too late. In a most objectionable statement, the district SP denied that she had been raped and said that her tongue had not been cut but she had bitten it herself.

Democracy at Crossroads

THE BJP-led NDA government at the centre is leading the common people into an eventual bankruptcy with a plethora of anti-people measures. What is being pushed into circulation by the centre, is the rhetoric of jingoistic nationalism and communal agenda that dubiously hides the plight of toiling masses.

Defence Offsets: CAG Review and Govt’s Latest Changes

VIRTUALLY on the last day of the budget session of parliament while it was in turmoil, the Comptroller & Auditor General (CAG) tabled its Report No.20 of 2019, which is a review of the defence offsets policy all the way from its inception in 2005 till the present time. While a summary statement was released by CAG to the press, the detailed report has unfortunately not been posted on either the CAG website or on the websites of either house, restricting access of the public to this important report and the information contained in it.

Historic Response to Pratirodh Diwas against Anti-Farmer Bills

Total Bandh in Punjab and Haryana, Widespread in Rajasthan and Karnataka

Highways and Rail Lines Blocked, Effigies of Modi Burnt in Many States

Workers and Different Sections Unite in Support of Farmers

AIDWA Condemns Naming of Brinda Karat in Chargesheet

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), in a statement issued on September 26, has strongly condemned the naming of its patron, Brinda Karat, in two disclosure statements filed with a chargesheet by the Delhi police obviously at the behest of the BJP government at the centre and specifically the home ministry. The naming falsely and preposterously seeks to make her also responsible for the communal violence in North East Delhi.

Throttling Democracy

THE truncated monsoon session of parliament has been, in every sense, the worst session of parliament ever held, except probably the one during the emergency in 1976 that adopted the 42nd constitutional amendment meant to facilitate an authoritarian regime.

What happened in the Rajya Sabha, when two of the bills related to agriculture were being considered, was a mockery of parliamentary democracy. After a curtailed discussion, the deputy chairman railroaded through the two bills violating all parliamentary procedures and rules.

Bhagat Singh and Today’s Youth

COME September 27 (September 28 according to some), India will be commemorating the birth anniversary of Shaheed-e-azam Bhagat Singh. An eternal youth icon, Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary should be an occasion for us to look at the status of youth in our country, the relevance of Bhagat Singh’s ideas, particularly in today’s socio-economic and political situation.

Even with Vaccines, It is a Long and Rocky Road to Immunity

AS the pandemic marches through the world, a number of countries seemed to have given up the fight against Covid-19, and are now waiting for a vaccine to stop the pandemic. With cases exceeding 32 million, and more than a million dead, the world economy has taken a bigger hit than at any other time in the last century.

Countries like the US and India are now showing the highest numbers in terms of total and new cases. They are not even talking about how to stop the pandemic, and are only focussing on re-opening; or as India calls it, ‘unlockdown’.

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