THE 23rd Assam state conference of the CPI(M) was held from February 15-17, at Silchar in Cachar district. It may be noted that after 35 years, a state conference was held in Barak Valley in an enthusiastic atmosphere. 313 delegates and observers from 27 districts participated in the conference. Among the delegates Rishad Bhuyan was the youngest (21 years) and Hemen Das was the oldest (91 years) and 52 were women.The three-day conference was attended by CPI(M) Polit Bureau members Manik Sarkar, Brinda Karat and Nilotpal Basu.
A SAMPLE survey on rural non-agricultural workers was conducted by the CITU state committee in Telangana. This has given a valuable experience and necessary information to understand their conditions and to decide future activity among them. Six small villages were selected from six districts – Sangareddy, Medak, Siddipet, Nizamabad, Narayanpet, and Bhadradri Kothagudem. Among them Kashipur, Devulapally, Ramsagar, Ambam and Kathanpally are common villages and Anjubaka is an adivasi tribal village.Two types of questionnaires were prepared.
INDIA has seen an increase in anti-minority far-right narratives in recent years. The country's top lawmaking body itself has become an apparatus that fundamentally operates against Muslim/Christian and dalit citizens, reinforcing their state of otherness and fostering communalism. Many parts of the country have witnessed incidents of lynching in the name of religion. Worryingly, in most of these cases the culprits are getting acquitted and even laws are being reframed in favour of such vigilantes.
THE Kerala government has written to the central government proposing amendments to the constitution to give powers to the state governments in the appointment or recall of governors. This has been done in response to the recommendations made by the Justice Punchhi Commission on reforms in centre-state relations. The stand taken by the Kerala government reflects the longstanding need felt for change in the role of the governor who, at present, is appointed by the centre and hence acts as an agent of the central government. The Kerala government has also asked for an amendment to Article 1
IN 1999, Fidel Castro of Cuba travelled to Caracas, Venezuela, to deliver an important speech at the central university. The USSR had collapsed, Fidel said, and the ‘extremely powerful empire’, the United States and its global tentacles, mounted a ‘ceaseless ideological battle with all their resources’. Structures of globalisation weakened the national projects of many states, whose agendas were increasingly set by the International Monetary Fund and by transnational corporations. We are a ‘people armed with just ideas’, Fidel said, ‘endowed with a great political consciousness’.
ANGANWADI workers and helpers' strike in Haryana from December 8, 2021, has crossed 80 days. Shamelessness and repression of BJP raj continue. But thousands of workers and helpers are in the movement with strong determination, putting their jobs at stake.UNPRECEDENTED WOMEN'S STRUGGLEThis is a historic movement. Widows constitute about half of the workers and helpers working in ICDS. In the state, a worker gets Rs 11,448 and a helper gets Rs 6,045 as an honorarium. Even this amount has not been paid to them for the last three months.
CRYPTOCURRENCY has been a hot topic of discussion in our country for quite a few years. Those who support cryptocurrency argue that the transactions of this virtual currency are done through blockchain technology and are therefore well protected. They say that it is very easy to invest; one can start investing even with Rs 100 and is a safe investment. The first decentralised cryptocurrency was created by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
THE DMK-led Secular Progressive Front(SPF) swept in the ‘local bodies elections’(city and town governments) held on February 19, which was held after a gap of 10 years in the state. The SPF has secured a majority in all the 21 municipal corporations in the state. Likewise, the DMK-led front has secured more than 70 per cent of seats in the municipalities and town panchayats in the state. As reported earlier, in alliance with DMK, the CPI(M) contested 66 seats in municipal corporations of which it won 24.
IN yet another brutal attack, a CPI(M) activist from New Mahe near Thalassery in Kannur district was hacked to death by RSS goons. 54-year old Haridas, a fisherman from Punnol was attacked in the early morning on February 21, when he was on his way back home after work.
THE recent wrangle between the prime minister, chief minister of Telangana and union power minister exposes one of the false narratives the central government has been building, even while putting spotlight on how crony capitalism is appropriating yet another human endeavour to save mother earth, for its ugly profiteering.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that his government was supplying power at the rate of Rs 1.10 per unit to states was squarely challenged by chief minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao and he called it a lie.