KARL Marx had once said that all criticism must begin with the criticism of religion. Paraphrasing Marx one can say in the current economic context that all criticism must begin with the criticism of the GDP. This conceptually and statistically dubious measure cannot cognize the phenomenon of exploitation. For instance, it looks at the income of the Mughal emperor and his aristocracy as a return for services rendered by them and adds it to the total production of the country in a...
THE climate summit COP29 at Baku, Azerbaijan, once again demonstrated the dominance of global capitalism led by the US over the international negotiations process under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG), especially carbon dioxide, emissions and bring under control resultant climate changes. These are already posing large-scale threats to people and ecosystems and are now on the brink of possibly irreversible changes and even greater dangers ahead...
THE 18th State Conference of the Himachal state committee of the CPI(M) was held in Shimla from November 28-30, 2024. The conference began with a protest rally that focused on critical issues, including rising inflation, unemployment, and the unfulfilled promises of the central and state governments. The main speakers at the rally included Polit Bureau members Tapan Sen, Vijayaraghavan, and Subhashini Ali,...
A NATIONAL convention was organised by the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) and the Centre for Adivasi Research and Development (CARD) on December 1 in New Delhi on the important though less discussed issue of exclusion of adivasis from jobs. The convention was attended by 300 delegates from 15 states.
PROFESSOR Amiya Kumar Bagchi who passed away on Thursday the 28th of November was an outstanding economist and public intellectual of our time, who played a stellar role in exposing the operation of imperialism both historically and in the contemporary era. Born in a village near Behrampore in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, he was a brilliant student who went to Cambridge University, UK, on a Government of West Bengal scholarship after his Masters in Economics at Presidency College...
WHEN religion is mixed with politics in a country's mainstream political atmosphere, it poses a serious challenge to democratic environment, freedom of the press, and the security of minorities and human rights in general. This is as relevant to Bangladesh today as it is true for our country and our state. People's struggle against fundamentalism and authoritarianism is inseparable from their struggle for...
Hundreds of mid-day meal workers from 14 states gathered at Jantar Mantar on December 3, under the banner of the Mid-Day Meal Workers’ Federation of India (MDMWFI), affiliated with the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU). The protest ‘March to Parliament’ demanded regularisation of employment, a minimum wage of Rs 26,000 per month for 12 months a year, social security benefits, and pensions for mid-day meal workers.
THE Modi-Yogi led ‘double engine’ Uttar Pradesh government, arrested more than 300 farmers at Prerana Sthal on the Noida-Delhi border on December 3. The arrests were made as farmers from Greater Noida, protesting under the banners of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), demanded fair compensation for land acquisitions, updated land valuation rates, and enforcement of the Land Acquisition Act,...
THE National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) conveys its greetings to the entire disabled people in the country on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on December 3. In its message last year the NPRD had sought to draw attention to the impact of the ongoing genocide in Gaza on people with disabilities there. A year since, their numbers have swelled. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, of...
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has called upon Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Jairam Gadkari, to roll back the steep penalties introduced under the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019. In a formal letter addressed to the Minister on December 3, the CITU highlighted the severe financial strain these penalties have placed on auto-rickshaw drivers, small lorry owners, and other...
