The Vishwaguru that Failed

The Modi-Shah duo are criminally responsible for the havoc caused by the Second WaveTHE Covid-19 cases crossed over 2,34,000 on April 17, the very day Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Asansol, West Bengal, where he congratulated the people for coming in large numbers and declared that he had not seen such crowds in a rally before. This callous politics endangering the lives of thousands of people exemplifies the criminal responsibility of the Modi-Shah duo for the havoc caused by the raging pandemic.

Gyanvapi Mosque: Court Order Violates Law

CPI (M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 9THE order of a civil court in Varanasi for a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque by the Archaeological Survey of India to ascertain whether a temple existed at the spot is violative of the extant law in the matter.The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act enjoins the maintenance of status quo in all such religious places of worship.The higher judiciary should immediately intervene to nullify the lower court order.

Assert Indian Sovereignty: Quit the Quad

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 10THE American Seventh Fleet warship’s intrusion into India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) waters off the coast of Lakshadweep is a gratuitous challenge to India’s sovereignty.The statement of the Seventh Fleet makes it clear that this operation was for “challenging India’s excessive maritime claims”.The United States is being blatantly hypocritical. It has not signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Seas, of which India is a signatory, but claims it is acting as per international law.

Yet Another Rafale Exposé

THE French investigative web-portal Mediapart released a three part series of articles last week containing much dramatic new material on touching on the controversial Rafale deal. The material once again brought into focus murky dealings, possible shady transactions, and evasive as well as non-cooperative responses by supposedly independent investigative agencies and top government and corporate officials in both India and France.

US Navy in Lakshadweep: Gunboat Diplomacy Masquerading as Freedom of Navigation

HAVING endorsed US Freedom of Navigations on the South China Sea, the Indian government had a rude awakening. It discovered, from a US Seventh Fleet announcement on its website, that the US had conducted a similar Freedom of Navigation Operations in India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) around Lakshadweep on April 7. This was done without requesting India’s prior consent.

MNREGA Wage Hike of Less Than Four Per Cent is Cruel to Rural Workers

THE central government has announced new wage rates for the people working under MNREGA for the year 2021-22. According to the revised rates announced by the Ministry of Rural Development on March 15, the enhancement is from Rs 0 to Rs 23 in different states. At the national level, the hike is than four per cent which is unfair towards the poor rural workers, majority of whom are dalits, tribals and poor rural women. While the prices of essentials are skyrocketing, the government is reluctant to increase the wages.

Kerala: Unholy Nexus of Congress-IUML & BJP

AN unholy and surreptitious alliance between the Congress-led United Democratic Front and the BJP is not uncommon in the electoral history of Kerala. An undercover mutual understanding between them was found explicit exactly three decades ago when elections to the Assembly and Lok Sabha were held simultaneously in the summer of 1991.Leaders of the UDF and the BJP campaigned separately for their common candidates in Vadakara Lok Sabha seat and Beypore Assembly seat.

Farmers Block KMP Highway

TENS of thousands of farmers from the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders, led by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), blocked the Kundli Manesar Palwal (KMP) Highway and the Kundli Ghaziabad Palwal (KGP) Highway at several points for 24 hours on April 10-11, 2021. All traffic on this crucial artery that connects the borders of Delhi and is a bypass for all the outer cities, ground to a halt. Huge public meetings were held along with songs and cultural programmes.

Subverting the Election Commission

THE subversion of constitutional bodies under the Modi regime is proceeding apace. Nothing exemplifies this more than what has happened to the Election Commission of India (EC).The EC’s stand on the elections for three vacant seats from Kerala in the Rajya Sabha has brought out the stark fact that the Commission is bending to the will of the Modi government.

CITU Supports Indefinite Strike by KSRTC Workers

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on April 14, has extended full support to the ongoing strike by the state transport workers in Karnataka (KSRTC) demanding immediate settlement of their long-overdue wage revision. The workers and their unions made all efforts to resolve the issue through more than a year long persuasion with the concerned authorities and the state government.

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