THE Indian grid was tested as no grid in the world has ever been by PM’s 9-minute at 9 pm lights off call, on April 5. An unprecedented load reduction to the tune of 27 per cent or 32 Giga Watts took place and came back again, all within a span of 10-12 minutes. No grid in the world has ever seen a plunge and surge of load of this magnitude, so it was indeed a trial by fire for the Indian grid authorities, both state and national, and the generators.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, Revolutionary Socialist Party and the All India Forward Bloc have issued the
following statement on April 3.

THE country has entered the second week of the 21-day lockdown to contain the community spread of Covid-19 pandemic. Many problems have surfaced in a sharp manner which need to be resolved urgently. Many of these were anticipated but unfortunately no remedial action was taken before the announcement of the lockdown.

THE current pandemic has brought to the fore, and with exceptional clarity, the fundamental contradiction underlying contemporary globalisation, namely, the contradiction between the interests of finance and thoseof the people. Indeed this contradiction, which characterizes the era of globalisation as a whole, has now come to a head.

Below we publish the points raised by Elamaram Kareem, CPI(M) MP in the All Party Meeting called by the Prime Minister on April 08.

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) demanded the central government’s intervention to prevent firms from sacking its employees and to ensure payment of salaries during the coronavirus lockdown in the country.

As part of its relentless efforts to safeguard the rights of the workers in the country, the union had written the fifth letter in a row, on this issue to the secretary of the ministry of labour and employment.