Withdraw Order on Suspension of PcPNDT Rules: AIDWA

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on April 7, has strongly opposed the unjustified move of the Department of Health and Family Welfare suspending rules 8,9 (8) and Rule 18A under the PcPNDT Act, ostensibly due to the coronavirus pandemic. This suspension goes against the main purpose of the Act to stop sex selection by means of certain basic and vital compliances that genetic labs and clinics etc have to follow in keeping records and submitting these for scrutiny to the appropriate authority and for re-registration.

KERALA: Pinarayi Demands PPE for Nurses Working Across India and Abroad

KERALA chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked prime minister Narendra Modi to ensure that personal protection equipment (PPE) is provided for hundreds of Indian nurses working across the country and abroad. He made the demand after a whopping 46 Malayalee nurses working in Mumbai have tested positive for Covid-19.As many as 345 people in Kerala have been tested positive for Covid-19 as on April 8 and nine new cases were reported on the day. Pinarayi said that 212 people from the state had attended the Tablighi meeting in Delhi and 15 of them have tested positive for Covid-19.

The Week in Parliament

IN Lok Sabha, A M Ariff took part in the discussion on budget for the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The central government has presented an annual budget of Rs 1.01 lakh crore for the union territory for the financial year 2020- 21. By this decision of allocating this much of an amount of money for the UT, the government is giving a message to other states in the country that if every state became a union territory, then the development of the state and unemployment issues will be sorted out by the central government.

Stop Communalising India’s War against Covid-19

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 2IT is a matter of serious concern that a large number of those who attended the meetings of the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi and who dispersed to different parts of the country have been found infected with the coronavirus. It was irresponsible on the part of the Jamaat leadership to have organised the meeting in mid-March when restrictions were already in place about size of gatherings.

Bypassing PMNRF & Setting Up a New Fund Unnecessary

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 1THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) considers the setting up of a separate fund to meet the Covid-19 pandemic called the “PM Cares” as unnecessary.The Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) has been in existence since 1948. This fund has reportedly an unspent balance of Rs 3,800 crores. The accounts of the fund are transparent; audited by the CAG; and auto-generated receipts are given to the donors. Given this, many questions are being raised on why a new fund has been created.

A Joint Open Letter from World Political Parties

Below we publish the statement initiated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) and signed by world political parties, on April 1.

India’s Testing Strategy Has to Change

AS I write this column (April 2), Covid-19 is crossing a million infected cases in the world and nearly 50,000 dead. In India, the total infected cases are more than 2,000, with 51 deaths. It is clear that all countries are affected. It is a matter of time before a set of clusters or hot spots form and Covid-19 takes off in the country. Once it takes off, we are in exponential growth with a doubling rate that very soon makes the numbers look frightening. This is where Wuhan was six weeks ago, Italy entered about 3-4 weeks back and the US is in now.

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.

Self-Reliance in the Time of Covid-19

IT is now more than a week since the hastily announced and ill-prepared nationwide lockdown was imposed by the central government.

WEST BENGAL: Left Activists Stand by People in the Time of Crisis

LEFT parties and mass organisations in West Bengal are busy fighting corona disaster and its fall outs, in a courageous and energetic manner. While abiding by the restrictions imposed through lockdown, they are out to help the needy in multifarious ways.CITU has opened up helplines for tens of thousands of migrant workers, working outside the state. They are mostly stranded in different states. CITU has contacted respective state centres and extended whatever help they could do. A central helpline has been opened at the CITU state centre. The phone rang practically all through the days.

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