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Budget Belies hopes of Urban People

THE union budget placed by Nirmala Sitharaman, the Finance Minister, pecks growth of the economy to 8 per cent. The target is to reach a GDP figure of $ 5 trillion ($ 5 lakh crore) by 2024. It will be a leap by 100 per cent to the current GDP figures, which is about $ 2.5 trillion. The moot point is how India achieves this growth.One of the important sectors to ensure growth in the country is by investing in the cities. The cities presently contribute about 66 per cent to the GDP and about 90 per cent of total government revenues are generated from them.

Modi Govt’s Second Surgical Strike on Adivasis

WHILE the tsunami waves that hit the coasts of India in 2004 took some lives on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the adivasi population of Jarava, Onges adivasis that have inhabited the islands for thousands of years managed to walk safe out of the disaster. These adivasis have always been living a primitive life, with almost no contact with the outside world. While the whole world was astonished at their survival in face of the disaster, researchers have theorised that just like animals and birds, tribals too might have sensed the danger of tsunami beforehand.

NUPF: Another Knee Jerk Reaction

NATIONAL Urban Policy Framework (NUPF) is the new paradigm policy shift which the previous BJP government had proposed in 2018. The draft of the NUPF was uploaded by the ministry of housing and urban affairs on its website and suggestions, comments were sought from the people.There was widespread resentment amongst the urban practitioners, including civil society organisations, mainly those who are working amongst the urban poor on the following grounds.

Agrarian Distress and Signs of Old Patriarchal Economic Order

THE NSSO Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), 2017-2018 was released one day after the new government assumed office. It confirmed the earlier ‘leaked reports’ that the unemployment rate in the country had reached an all time high of 6.1 per cent. In fact the opposition campaign had been predicated on the fact that the fast track reforms and the pro-corporate policies of the government had unleashed an unprecedented employment crisis.

EVM: Struggle for Secrecy, Transparency and Verifiability should Continue

After the protracted elections came to a grinding halt on May 19, the nation waited with bated breath for the results. 23rd May was the D day. However, the post poll interregnum was not quiet. The unprecedented acrimony and the divisiveness had marked these elections with most of the exit polls and the corresponding rollercoaster in the share market led to another round of heated argument in the television studios. Since the campaign was hotly contested, this was not surprising.

Modi Campaign: Venomous Communal Polarisation

WHILE the working people the world over express their solidarity with each other in their struggles to end exploitation on May Day, the BJP and Narendra Modi are preoccupied with disrupting such unity and solidarity through their venomous campaign of communal polarization.The first three phases of the 17th general elections saw the electorate voting in 302 seats out of the 543 Lok Sabha seats. The ruling BJP has 113 sitting MPs from these constituencies.In the next four phases ending on May 19th, the electorate will vote for the remaining 241 seats.

Marx and Politics Today

MAY 5, 2019 marks the conclusion of the year-long observance of the 200th birth anniversary of Karl Marx, who was born on May 5, 1818.The 200th birth anniversary was observed worldwide, including in India. Conferences, seminars, discussions, and a host of publications regarding Marx and Marxism marked the year.What these diverse activities established was the abiding relevance of Marx and his thought in the contemporary era, that of the 21st century.

Modi’s Desperation Peaks Midway

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi betrays a sense of desperation in the shrill campaign that he is conducting in these general elections.  Earlier, in a speech at Latur in Maharashtra, he called for people to vote for the BJP in the name of the Pulwama martyrs.  The Election Commission’s action against this speech is still awaited. On April 21, the last day of campaigning in Gujarat, Modi said, had Pakistan not returned the Indian Air Force pilot, then it would have been a qatal ki raat (night of slaughter).

Election Campaign in Kerala – Living Mass Contact

KERALA voted on April 23 to elect its 20 representatives, as part of the seven-phase general elections to the parliament. The CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front (LDF) is leading the fight against both the Congress led UDF and the BJP in these elections. The strong presence of the CPI(M) and the Left in the state has ensured that the election campaigning in the state is intensely political.

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