An Authority with Unfettered Rights

INTERNATIONAL Financial Service Centre Authority bill, 2019 has been introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019 and passed. This bill was earlier introduced in Rajya Sabha in the month of February 2019. Now this has been withdrawn and introduced in Lok Sabha as money bill, the obvious reason being to skip its passage in Rajya Sabha where the ruling combination does not enjoy comfortable majority. The very aim of this bill is to “enable Indian corporates easier access to global financial markets” as has been admitted by the “statement of objects and reason” of the bill.For the past

2.5 years passed by, Gudiya still screams for justice

IMAGINE if the Hyderabad style of justice was delivered to the accused in the Gudiya rape and murder case in Shimla by killing him, a gross violation of human rights would have happened. The revelations made in the Gudiya case exhibits serious lapse in the investigation by CBI and contradiction between the Himachal Pradesh Police(HPP) and the CBI.GUDIYA CASEGudiya case resolved! So said the CBI in 2018 and bursted the claim of the Himachal Pradesh Police(HPP) for falsely implicating five ‘innocent’ people, as according to the CBI, it was not a gang rape.

Water Nexus and its testing

RECENT revelations made by Ram Vilas Paswan, union minister of consumer affairs that the water quality in Delhi and in other 20 cities is not fit for drinking, made everyone apprehensive of the systems that are responsible for providing water, and as normal reaction were curious to find out what is in depth.According to the press conference held by Paswan, the samples from different locations were lifted and sent for testing as per Indian Standard 10500-2012(specification for drinking water) as set by the BIS(Bureau of Indian Standards).

Electoral Bonds threat to Parliamentary Democracy

IT has been doing the rounds. The surreptitious strike, which transformed the funding of political parties by the corporates, was of such far-reaching consequence, that the controversy has already reached the hallowed portals of the Supreme Court.Three quick amendments to Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, the Finance Act of 2018 and amendments to the Companies Act had established a new instrument called the electoral bond by bulldozing them through the Lok Sabha and making the Rajya Sabha redundant by converting the key legislative proposal as a `Money Bill’.What was the sum and subst

Apple Crisis in Kashmir Valley

THE plight of apple growers in Kashmir is awful, says Zahoor Ahammed, a farmer from Kulgam. “We have heard of farmer’s suicide in Maharashtra; if the existing situation persists, apple growers in Kashmir will also be compelled to commit suicide,” said Ahammed while speaking to the AIKSCC delegation that visited Kulgam on November 14, 2019. The delegation representing the All India Kisan Sangharsh Co-ordination Committee (AIKSCC), the largest umbrella platform of around 250 peasant and agricultural workers organisations working across the country visited Kashmir valley on November 13-15.

OSHWC Code: A Design to Impose Modern Slavery on Working People

THE BJP government, since assuming office for a second term in May 2019, has been working overtime to take away the rights of workers through codifications of labour laws, a euphemism for corporate unbridled process of profit maximisation. Accordingly, the labour minister introduced the Code on Wages and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions (OSHWC) Code in the Lok Sabha on July 23. The Code on Wages was passed by Lok Sabha on July 30 and got the Rajya Sabha nod on August 2. The president gave his assent on August 8.

Telangana: Historical strike of Telangana Road Transport Workers

TELANGANA State Road Transport Corporation workers have been on a historic strike since October 5 demanding solution to their long-pending demands, including merger of the corporation with the government, pay revision and recruitment to various posts. Instead of addressing the workers’ demands, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, in a sudden and disastrous move, announced dismissal of 48,000-odd protesting employees, out of a total 49,190 workforce of the corporation. Even the High Court has refused to declare the strike as illegal.

Ayodhya and the consolidation of Hindu Nationalists, 1855-1992

THE Ayodhya verdict is finally out and as expected, it displays the influencing of the Hindu right on the judicial system to legalise a long history of illegal encroachment by powerful ‘Hindu interests’ over a mosque that was demolished on December 6, 1992.

Supreme Court Failings

THE Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Ranjan Gogoi, retired on November 17. Justice S A Bobde has taken over charge as the new chief justice of India. This is an appropriate time to look at what is happening to the highest judicial court of the land. The Supreme Court is entrusted with the duty of ensuring that the laws adopted by Parliament are in conformity with Constitution and that the constitutional rights of citizens are safeguarded. Unfortunately, over a period of time, there are disturbing signs of the Supreme Court failing to live up to its responsibilities and to act as the c

Economy is in Virtual Recession: Modi Government in Total Denial

ON the first day of the winter session of Parliament, the finance minister has stated that though the economy has slowed down, it is well on the target of reaching a $5 trillion economy by 2025. At the current rates of growth, notwithstanding all the data fudging and efforts to show the economy is recovering, the reality is that India’s growth rate is declining steadily and dangerously. The NCAER has now projected the current growth rate at below 5 per cent(4.9 per cent). The PTI had filed a story on October 31 reporting a US think tank (Centre for Global Development) assessment that “Ind

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Peoples Democracy

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