THE secretariat of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in a statement issued on December 30, has strongly condemned the criminal compromise of the safety in the coalmines under Eastern Coalfields Limited that has led to the death of more than six workers and serious injuries to many more. The Lalmatia mines under the ECL of Coal India in Godda district of Jharkhand are being operated by Mahalakshmi Company Private Limited, a private company.The accident took place in the dark hours between 7 and 8 pm on December 29, 2016.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on December 29, has denounced the retrograde decision of the union cabinet to wind-up two public sector drug companies – IDPL and RDPL and to privatise two more -- Hindustan Antibiotics Ltd and Bengal Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals Ltd (BCPL).The most dubious is the game plan of selling the huge land assets at prime locations at the disposal of IDPL and RDPL which could be utilised for funding the revival and revamping of the long ailing sick PSUs like IDPL and RDPL.
THE Karnataka Prantha Raitha Sangha (affiliated to AIKS) organised Red Gram/Arhar Dal Growers' Convention at Gulbarga on December 27, 2016. The convention was inaugurated by Vijoo Krishnan, AIKS joint secretary. Dr Lokesh from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Maruti Manpade, KPRS president, Bhimsi Kaladgi, KPRS vice president and others addressed the convention. It was attended by about 300 delegates representing the arhar/tur growers in the state.
AIDWA, Delhi state committee held a demonstration outside RBI on January 5, to protest against its refusal to exchange old notes in spite of their own assurance and the government notification in this regard.People have been queuing up at different offices of Reserve Bank of India only to face refusal from the apex bank. Right in the capital yesterday a poor domestic worker was not only refused by RBI but was forcefully removed from the RBI entrance by the police.
THE All India Kisan Sabha, in a press statement issued on January 2, has condemned Prime Minister Narendra Modi for making a mockery of the plight of the peasantry and poor in his address on December 31, 2016. The peasantry which was reeling under an acute crisis were further pushed into distress by the demonetisation decision. They have suffered severe income losses as well as yield loss due to the decision. Sowing has been delayed and the area sown has fallen in wheat which is bound to have adverse impact on productivity.
The constitution of India provides for Hindi as an official language of the Indian Union. There is also a provision that parliament may, by law, provide for the use of the English language even after a period of 15 years after the promulgation of the constitution. At the same time, one or more languages can be declared as the official language of a state by the legislature of that state. Is this a fair language policy?S Sekhar, BengaluruThe CPI(M) is for a democratic language policy keeping in view the fact that India is a multilingual country. The cornerstone of such
THE basic concern of the majority verdict of the seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on the appeal of religion in the election process was to uphold secularism and to assert that religion can have no place in elections and that appeals to voters on the grounds that religion, caste, community or language cannot be allowed.
“I have never imagined that we have to appeal for communal amity in Bengal, which was regarded as outpost of peoples’ unity. Entire country revered Jyoti Basu’s Bengal as the example of communal harmony.”CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury expressed his anguish in these words while addressing a public meeting in Dhulagarh in Howrah district.Dhulagarh has been affected by serious communal strife, instigated by the TMC and the BJP. Many homes, shops were destroyed or burnt; families attacked, people forced to flee.
CPI(M) Delhi state committee condemns the coercive measures used by the DDA, Delhi Police and other paramilitary forces to force residents of Kathputli Colony in central Delhi to move to a transit camp in Anand Parvat. Heavy police presence is there in this colony since the last ten days and people are being forced to sign on the ‘parchis’ stating their agreement to shift to the transit camp.