THESE columns have covered many issues of environmental damage and systematic dilution or dismantling of environmental regulations in India under the present dispensation at the behest of corporate interests, all spuriously in the name of “development.” The question raised through these cases has been, not the hackneyed one of, do we want development or environmental conservation, but the fundamental one of, when the environment is damaged irrecoverably, when it can no longer sustain natural life or livelihoods of people dependent upon it, can this still be called “development?”About a fort
ANDHRA Pradesh came to a standstill on March 5 in response to a bandh call given by the Vizag Steel Plant Protection Committee. People from all walks of life opposed the central government’s move to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) known as the pride of the Telugu people.The workers of the plant who have been relentlessly staging protests at the Plant for over a month now, have received support from all major political parties except the BJP and its ally Janasena.
1. Sorbhog - Manoranjan Talugdar2. Rangia - Dr Bhagaban Dev MishraManoranjan Talugdar is a member of the State Secretariat, while Bhagaban Dev Mishra is a popular medical doctor in Rangia
THE Texas grid failure impacted millions with no electricity and no heating in sub-zero temperatures for days. It has not only caused scores of deaths and injuries, but also economic havoc in the state. Even after two weeks of the blackouts, life is far from normal as the citizens deal with frozen and burst pipes, denying people access to safe water and causing extensive damages to the houses.
TAKING a wow to defeat the unholy and anti-people alliance of AIADMK-BJP in Tamil Nadu, the CPI(M) state committee has made elaborate arrangements to take this message across the people of the state. As part of its plan, the Party has organised a series of public meetings and hall meetings in various centres across the state.
TILL the year 1969, all thebanks except State Bank of India and its subsidiaries were in the private hands. During this period more than 500 private banks collapsed due to bankruptcy with the result the people lost their considerable portion of their money deposited in these banks. Remaining banks were in the hands of a few corporates who used the banks’ funds for the improvement of their own business. These banks did nothing either to improve the economy of the nation or to improve the standard of living of the common people.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on March 6, 2021THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the Customs Authority’s attempt to falsely implicate Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, three other ministers and the speaker of the assembly of Kerala in an alleged dollar smuggling case.The customs have cited an affidavit by one of the accused, who is in judicial custody in the gold smuggling case, for this purpose. The fact that this tutored statement was recorded some months ago and presented after the elections were announced shows the politic
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on March 5THE Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) action of registering a case against the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) is a blatant misuse of the agency as a political tool by the BJP government at the centre.The finance minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, while addressing a BJP election meeting in Kerala made unfounded allegations against the KIIFB and the LDF government. Following this, the ED has taken this totally unwarranted action.The ED had registered a case of violation of FEMA norms and s
THE notification for elections to the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), which had been pending since March last year, was finally issued by the State Election Commission on March 4. After the expiry of the tenure of the elected Left Front Council in May last year, the state government, taking advantage of the Covid-19 situation, was keen to reign in the TTAADC through appointment of an administrator. But following a Tripura High Court verdict, the government was compelled to hold elections to the council.