International Conference on Food Sovereignty and Peasants Rights

A THREE day international conference on ‘Food Sovereignty and Peasants Rights’ was organized at Kathmandu, Nepal by ‘National Farmers Commission’ Government of Nepal, on March 10-12, 2019. 350 delegates attended the conference representing kisan and agricultural workers organizations, experts, government officials, ministers and peoples representatives of Nepal.

Second List of Seats to be Contested by the CPI(M) in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

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Imperative to Defeat BJP and its Allies

THE country has entered into the electoral battle for the 17th general elections. This is not an ordinary election where the ruling party of the day is judged on the basis of its delivery of its promises made at the time of the last general elections alone. The balance sheet of its betrayals is often the main issue of electoral discourse. These elections, however, are the most crucial one in the history of independent India. Why is it so?

Attacks on Kashmiri People; Government Remained in Slumber

PULWAMA fedayeen attack killed more than 40 personnel of the CRPF on February 14. There was widespread condemnation in the country at the ghastly killing. However, the ‘sangh’ and its outfits were more concerned at targeting the Kashmiri people, who either are students or work in different parts of the country, by attacking them, abusing them. There were series of attacks and intimidation of Kashmiri people in the country, more than 44 incidents were reported. Students hailing from Kashmir were commented upon in different parts.

Beed Drought: Plight of Agricultural Workers, Burdens on the Women

(Part 2)AS reported in the earlier article, if the plight of kisans in drought-hit Beed is serious, then that of agricultural workers who comprise around 35 per cent population and especially women workers is much worse and should be of grave concern.According to the District Disaster Management Plan published by the collector, the per capita income in this district is in any case very low compared to other districts in Maharashtra. Whereas the state average is Rs 95,339, in Beed it is Rs 55,139.

Beed District: Drought and Govt Policies

PART 1- PLIGHT OF KISANSBY January this year, 300 districts across India had already been declared drought hit by various state governments. Among these districts is the district of Beed in Maharashtra. It was declared drought affected in October of last year, but even three months later, in mid January when I accompanied a district level team of the CPI(M) and Kisan Sabha to meet hundreds of affected people from around 25 villages in different talukas, there was absolutely no drought relief work in sight.

Interim Budget Makes Mockery of Informal Labour’s Plight

AFTER its election in 2014, the Modi government had promised to create 20 million jobs in five years. However, the recent debate on the job creation data shows that unemployment is at its peak at the end of the five year term of the Modi government. Curiously the current government has rubbished this data, without releasing any of its own statistics. The argument being made by the spokespersons of the BJP is that this data does not represent the true picture as most of the livelihood has been created in the form of self-employment and is largely in the informal sector.

Crony Capitalism in the Telecom Sector

AFTER the entry of Reliance Jio in September 2016, the entire telecom sector has undergone a sea-change. Telecom biggies like Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and BSNL have gone into loss and are facing a serious financial crisis. Smaller telecom companies like Aircel, Tata Teleservices, Anil Ambani led Reliance Infocomm, Telenor, etc., have either closed down, or have got merged with bigger companies. Vodafone, a multinational giant, is unable to run its business in India and has got merged with Kumarmangalam Birla’s Idea.

Desperation of BJP all the More Evident

PM MODI is clearly rattled by reading the writing on the wall concerning the outcome of the 2019 general elections. As a result, he is doling out various excuses and reasons in order to portray the efforts for unity, that is emerging among the secular opposition for the ouster of the BJP from government, as an act of either opportunism, an act of money bags getting together or an act of sheer desperation; that it is Modi versus the rest in the forthcoming elections.

Disfiguring CBI-Brazen Authoritarian Assault

THE recent attack on the CBI, once again, reconfirms our understanding of the character of the Modi government. This government is hell-bent to undermine all constitutional institutions in the country. Their autonomy is a hindrance to the attainability of a full fledged ‘hindu rashtra’, (the pernicious fascistic ideological project of the RSS) despite the BJP being in government with a majority of its own. This requires the transformation of the existing secular democratic republic into the RSS vision.

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