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-...
TWO months ago, two articles were published here on the Ebola outbreak unfolding in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) about the forgotten frontline and global consequences. Back then, the tally was brutal enough: 896 confirmed cases, 232 dead. As of 17 August 2026, we are staring at 4,945 cases and 2,325 deaths. It is already past the 2,299 who died in the 2018–2020 outbreak. The virus is not remaining confined. It has now spread to 54...
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 CPI(M) staged a major protest in Agartala on August 17 against abnormally high electricity bills, steep tariff increases and the forced installation of smart meters, warning the Tripura government that people would not tolerate the use of technology to mislead or exploit consumers. Addressing a protest meeting outside the headquarters of the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited at Bhuturia, former...
A violent confrontation in Karishunda village in Indas block of Bankura district has cast a harsh light on the deteriorating state of government education across West Bengal. The brutal assault on 24-year-old education activist Abdul Hafiz and the subsequent death of his father, Sheikh Mohammad Mafik — a landless farm labourer — has ignited...
In August, right-wing billionaire Abelardo de la Espriella took office as Colombia’s president and vowed to move an agenda of the far right even though he won by less than a percentage point over the left-wing candidate Iván Cepeda. It is characteristic of the far right of a special type to adopt any mandate and pretend that they have the authority to transform their society into a toxic swamp. Of the 20 states generally thought of as being...
The Modi government’s move to impose charges on UPI (Unified Payments Interface) transactions is an attack on ordinary people. On August 6, the government passed the bill in the Lok Sabha to allow charges on payments made through UPI apps. This bill was passed without hearing the views of the opposition and without any debate. It was pushed through by voice vote in an authoritarian manner. Through this amendment, the government is punishing ordinary people by...
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 |
