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CORONA CRISIS: Working Class Rises to Support its Brethren in Distress

THE first one week of the lockdown in India, out of the declared three weeks, has once again displayed the callous and lackadaisical attitude of the BJP led Modi government towards the poor workers of the country. The sudden announcement of the lockdown, giving hardly a few hours’ time for the people to prepare themselves for it, and without the needed preparation by the government to minimise people’s, particularly the poor unorganised and migrant workers’ sufferings, led to utter chaos in many states.

One Week of the Lockdown

THE country has experienced one week of the lockdown and a few things can be noted. The first is that citizens of India have been  responsible, by and large,  following government instructions. In spite of great hardship caused by the sudden announcement of lockdown, people have united to play their role in taking the required steps to prevent India from going into the third stage, which is that of community transmission. Across the country, in every state, people have rallied round.

Changes in Crop Insurance Scheme - For Whose Benefit?

THE central government has made major changes in crop insurance scheme. The scheme is now going to be ‘voluntary’ for all farmers. Changes have also been made in the way of determining the amount of compensation. The states have been given freedom in respect of providing more protection to farmers. The union agriculture minister Narendra Kumar Tomar claims that this will enable farmers to face risks involved in production of crops; that famers’ income will be stabilised and insurance claims will be properly settled due to the speedy and accurate method of assessing production.

Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev: 90th Year of Martyrdom: Significance of Observing Martyrdom Day

THE CC of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), at its meeting in Thiruvananthapuram in January, had given a call for a door-to-door campaign to be conducted in the month of March explaining to the people why they should not answer any question in the forthcoming exercise of enumeration for the National Population Register (NPR), between April 1 and September 30.  This campaign was to culminate on March 23, the martyrdom day of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev.  Subsequently, the Left parties also gave a similar call.  The choice of the martyrdom day was to highlight the struggle of the

Modi Regime: Independence of Judiciary in Peril

IT seems that Modi regime has perfected an art of taming the judiciary by interfering with its independence by appeasement, browbeating, surveillance and harassment. Nomination of Ranjan Gogoi to Rajya Sabha is latest of its ploy in this regard. It is yet another fatal jolt to Indian judiciary made by Modi regime. The nomination of Gogoi not only impinges credibility, integrity and independence of the judiciary and public faith and confidence in it, but also reflects the present nature, position and stature of judiciary.

How close are we to the SDGs

THE fiscal crisis of 2008 struck wounds deep into the system. It shook the pillars of the world capitalist system and the sustainability of such a socio-economic system became a challenge. Compounding to it was the crisis of the environment and the sustainability of the planet, which continues to pose a serious challenge. The carbon emissions, if not checked, shall become disastrous to the eco-system itself. The five Ps i.e., people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership were conceived as the goal and targets under the sustainable development goals(SDGs) in 2015.

Budget belies hopes of Farmers

IF one combines allocations for agriculture and allied activities, fertiliser subsidies, irrigation, rural development and land resources, one finds that the revised estimates(RE) for the current year is almost 25 thousand crore rupees  less than what was originally budgeted for this year. In fact, the budget documents show that the REs for almost every scheme of the ministry of agriculture and farmers' welfare has been reduced in the current year, and that these cuts are maintained for the coming year.

Jai Bhim a new recital Katha in Kanpur

KANPUR Dehat district is just a few kilometers from Kanpur city, with its factories—though many of them are closed—and its malls and urban glitz. Kanpur city can lead people to believe, sometimes, that we have reached the 21st century. Kanpur can also breed the realisation of still being in the 20th century. And it has places, which can take us back to the 19th century. But yes, overall, the winds of the 21st century have started blowing in Kanpur.It is after you leave the city limits and enter the countryside that the previous centuries surround you on all sides.

Will the 74th CAA get resuscitated?

SOME of the studies done on decentralised urban governance have shown that the cities, barring a few states like Kerala and West Bengal, where the Mayor in Council governed the city governance, in majority of the states, the cities are considered mere adjuncts of the state governments.Twenty-five years have passed since the 74th constitutional amendment was brought out. There are 18 functions that were supposed to have been transferred to the city governments under the 12th Schedule of the Constitution.

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