THE singular feature of the completion of four years of this BJP central government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the near complete reneging of the promises made to people in 2014, on which basis, this government assumed office through a majority of their own in the Lok Sabha. The country was promised `achhe din’. The country was promised development and prosperity.

THIS note on behalf of the CPI(M) is to record our opposition to the main thrust of the Draft National Forest Policy 2018 which is to privatise and commercialise forests.  We see the policy document as a continuation of the unjust and pro-corporate process established by the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act (CAFA). This highly flawed law had eliminated the rights of tribal communities, other traditional forest dwellers and gram sabhas for access and management of forests and their produce.  The draft policy takes this approach even further.

THE adoption of the Draft Political Resolution for the 22nd Congress of the CPI(M) by a majority vote in the Central Committee meeting held in Kolkata on January 21, has raised a lot of comment in the media and political circles.Even before the Central Committee meeting, when it became known that there is a Polit Bureau draft resolution and a minority draft resolution to be presented before the Central Committee, a lot of reports appeared in the mainstream media.

THE 199th birth anniversary of Karl Marx fell on May 5 this year. It is a precursor to the 200th birth anniversary of Marx which is going to be celebrated worldwide.It may be asked, what is the relevance of a nineteenth century philosopher, Karl Marx, who also wrote a book called Das Capital, to the people living in the twenty-first century?Karl Marx was born 200 years ago and the first volume of Capital, a comprehensive study of capitalism, appeared 150 years ago in 1867.