SOON after Modi government came to power at the centre in 2014, the union ministry of petroleum and natural gas under Dharmendra Pradhan submitted a petition before Delhi High Court pleading for rejection of the complaint petition of the government’s own Navratna company ONGC against Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for illegitimately drawing thousands of crores of rupees worth of natural gas from the ONGC’s block in KG basin.The ministry’s pleading said that the ONGC’s complaint was ‘frivolous’ and ‘belated’.

The country witnessed a massive strike by the working class across the country on September 2, 2016, the largest ever strike against the impact of the neo-liberal policies. The entire country was brought to a grinding halt. Millions of workers came out on to the streets and blocked the highways and railways to vehemently express their resentment and anger against the BJP government’s anti-worker and anti-people policies.

The BJP had just concluded its week-long 'tiranga yatra' that was started on the Independence Day. The stated purpose of the yatra is to instill a 'fresh bout of nationalism' among the people. This is a blatant attempt to appropriate the 'national flag' to serve its parochial nationalist designs. National flag is a product of our anti-colonial freedom struggle, in which the BJP or its mother organisation – the RSS, played no role.

THIS 13th August, we will be celebrating the 90th birthday of one of the living legends of our times – Fidel Castro Ruz. Fidel Castro was born on August 13, 1926 in a relatively well-to-do family and studied in various religious schools for the wealthy, before graduating in law from the University of Havana. For many, this would have provided the perfect platform to pursue conservative politics. But not for Fidel, as he is fondly called. He chose a different path, to become one of the greatest and finest revolutionaries.

THE Central Committee of the CPI(M), in its last meeting, reviewed the Party’s performance in the Assembly elections in five states. It concluded that the electoral tactics in West Bengal of having an understanding with the Congress party was a departure from the political-tactical line of the Party and that approach should be rectified. This decision of the Party has evoked some discussion in political circles. Some Left and liberal intellectuals have voiced their disagreement with the Party’s stand that there should be no alliance or understanding with the Congress party.