IN continuation of protests by the Left parties and various mass organisations against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC), a convention was organised on January 12, at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Hyderabad. CPI(M) secretariat member D G Narasimha Rao gave the keynote address.
THE Disability Rights Organisations, on January 12, released a joint statement declaring their unequivocal opposition to the discriminatory NPR, NRC and CAA.
CPI(M) West Bengal state committee member and former editor of Ganashakti, Comrade Avik Dutta passed away on January 14. He suffered severe brain haemorrhage in December 2018 and was under treatment for the last one year. He was 57.
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on January 9, has condemned the retrograde decision of the central government to promulgate ordinance to amend further the Mines & Mineral Development (Development & Regulation) Act and Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Act (MMDR Act and CMSP Act) with the purpose of ending the very concept of captive mining of coal to meet the raw material needs of certain crucial industries like steel, power, aluminum, fertilizers etc for which coal is an essential raw material.
THE BJP has suffered a major New Year setback in the elections to four of the six zilla parishads (ZP) – Nagpur, Akola, Washim, Palghar, Dhule and Nandurbar – and in tehsil panchayat samitis (PS) in those six districts. Elections to these were held on January 7, 2020 and the counting was held a day later. In all these elections, each party fought independently on its own strength.
Below we publish the press statement issued by the Bank Employees Federation of India, on January 15, on the mooted Financial Sector Development and Regulation (Resolution) Bill (FSDR) 2019 by the government of India.
THE seventh state conference of AP Girijana Sangham, a constituent of Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch(AARM) was held on January 10-11. The conference began with a colourful rally and huge public meeting at Parvatipuram in Vizianagaram district. AARM's national convener, Jitendra Chaudhury and national president, M Babu Rao addressed the gathering. They vociferously condemned the Modi government's sinister design to further marginalise the adivasi people in the country by curtailing their rights and means of livelihoods, along with all other socially backward sections and the poor.
ECONOMIC distress continues to rise as people are now squeezed by mounting prices, especially of food items, amidst raging unemployment and stagnating wages.
INDIAN passenger carriers flying the highly troubled Airbus 320/321 neo (new engine option) family of aircraft with US major Pratt & Whitney 1100G engines have been given a reprieve by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the aviation regulator and safety monitors. This is a high-risk move by DGCA which has put the airlines’ interest before that of the safety of air passengers who will now have to fly on problem-prone Airbus 320/321neo aircraft for several months more.
THE Indian economy is in dire straits. The government has projected a growth rate of GDP of 5 per cent for 2019-20, a full 2 percentage points less than what was assumed in the budget presented in July 2019. The actual outcome may be worse, with the State Bank of India projecting a growth rate of 4.6 per cent. But the story of the Modi disaster on the economic front does not end here.