PERHAPS the most consequential legislation in post-independence India was passed by Parliament on August 23, 2005 and came into force on February 2, 2006. It was the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, later to be renamed Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act that was enacted by the UPA-I government under Left pressure (since the government depended on Left support). It differed from all similar legislation in the past, such as the Food-for-...
ON August 7, the US Senate passed a bill, by a large majority (86-11), permitting the US Administration to impose up to 100 percent tariff on countries that import substantial amounts of oil from Russia in violation of the US-imposed unilateral sanctions against that country. The five countries which import substantial amounts of oil from Russia and are targeted by this bill are: India, China, Hungary, Slovakia and Azerbaijan. The argument...
AUGUST 13, 2026, was a day when Cleo, muse of history, wept. For one of her greatest devotees, Professor Sumit Sarkar, foremost of the eminent historians of modern India, breathed his last. Eighty-seven years old, Prof. Sarkar lost his long battle with illness on that day. He is survived by his wife, eminent historian Tanika Sarkar, and his son, Aditya Sarkar. The loss of Prof. Sarkar...
IN a capitalist system, development spells ruin for the poor. A defining characteristic of capitalism is the absence of words like compassion, mercy, and justice from its lexicon; its vocabulary revolves entirely around profit. In this system, "development" signifies nothing more than the expansion of profits. It conveys a clear message to the poor, the exploited, and the marginalised: they are destined to endure further deprivation. Like an ox yoked to...
THE ecology of Assam is characterised by a large network of rivers and tributaries originating from the hills of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, and the neighbouring country of Bhutan, which join the Brahmaputra and Barak rivers to form a highly dynamic and complex river system. The Brahmaputra and its tributaries, together with the Barak river system, inundate large areas of the...
“We, the People of India…” These opening words of the Constitution embody the founding principle of the Indian Republic. It underlines that sovereignty belongs to the people and that citizenship is not a privilege but the constitutional basis of membership in the Republic, carrying with it equal rights, equal dignity, and an equal say in the democratic process.
FOR more than three decades, the United States has treated Middle Eastern diplomacy as an exercise in writing the terms for others. Iran’s emerging regional strategy is challenging that privilege. The immediate evidence is emerging in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran and Oman are negotiating an arrangement under which Tehran could oversee vessels entering the Gulf while Muscat manages outbound traffic. The proposal remains...
THE BJP's defeat in Datia is being attributed solely to sabotage (bheetarghat) by Narottam Mishra. He has remained the focal point of discussion before, during, and even after the election. However, this is a calculated move by the BJP-aligned media. It is an attempt to mask the failures of the BJP government and the Chief Minister, as well as a ploy to divert attention from the fundamental reasons behind the...
Sahmat condemns, in the strongest possible terms, the manner in which the Delhi police and the “security establishment” has begun to operate as agents of various outfits of the Hindutva brigade. The latest evidence of this surrender to the Sangh Parivar was on display this morning (14th August 2026) in Delhi at Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, run by the Gujarat Education Society and named after the first Home Minister of India.
The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) condemns the brutal murder of three marginal farmers from Thomayyapalya village, Hanur Taluk, Chamarajnagar district, by Karnataka forest department officials. Anthony Swamy (45), John Rose Peter (42), and Sebastian David Kumar (35) were shot dead by forest officials in the wee hours of Independence Day August 15 in the Chikkalluru Reserve Forest area, under the Holemuridatti patrol...
Polit Bureau StatementsCPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statements
Condemn BJP Government’s Disgraceful Position on Venezuela |
