THE French investigative web-portal Mediapart released a three part series of articles last week containing much dramatic new material on touching on the controversial Rafale deal. The material once again brought into focus murky dealings, possible shady transactions, and evasive as well as non-cooperative responses by supposedly independent investigative agencies and top government and corporate officials in both India and France.

THE ongoing farmers’ struggle in India is an integral part of the class struggle by the producing classes - the peasantry and the working class- the world over against the imperialist globalisation.Declining purchasing capacity of the two major producing classes has paved the way for enormous recession and related massive unemployment and price rise.  The trade unions and organisations of the peasants, youth and students have built massive struggles and its natural consequence is mounting people’s fury on the Congress that had initiated imposing LPG policies on the people.   In the due cour

THE revised Public Sector Policy announced in the budget 2021-22 is fully oriented towards total privatisation of central public sector undertakings. It is no longer mere “divestment of equity” of CPSUs. Now it is whole-hog privatisation.  The Congress (I) government led by P V Narasimha Rao with Manmohan Singh as finance minister started divestment of equity through IPO. With the NDA led by Vajpayee in power, the attack of divestment coupled with outright privatisation was doggedly intensified, so much so, a full-fledged ministry of disinvestment was established.

AS on March 1, 2021, India has a huge buffer stock of food grains of 9.2 crore tonnes (including unmilled paddy) which is three times more than the mandated buffer. In 2019-2020 when the buffer stock was slightly less, according to the annual report of the FCI, the carrying costs of the buffer stock was over Rs 12,000 crore.

AMIDST the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent series of sporadic lockdowns, the loss of lives and livelihoods in West Bengal have exposed the inherent economic crises that the state’s economy is undergoing. The massive influx of poor migrant workers returning back to the state, seeking help and support from the authorities, has become an unfortunate reality in recent times.