PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that there had been no discussion on a countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) is not correct, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has said. Talking to the media in Hyderabad on December 28, Yechury said, “In 2014, answering to my question, the home minister said that NPR (National Population Register) will be started and on the basis of which the process of NRC will begin in all the states. Since then the announcement of NRC made for eight times. This is on record.
THE decade ends with two major threats to humanity: global warming and the threat of a nuclear war extinguishing our civilisation. We have dealt earlier with global warming and the refusal of advanced countries, particularly the US, in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The US is also leading the charge for a nuclear armageddon, dismantling all nuclear arms control treaties.
THE idea is an old one, but the Hungarian economist Janos Kornai clearly conceptualised it, by drawing a distinction between a “demand-constrained system” and a “resource-constrained system”. A demand-constrained system is one where employment and output in the system are what they are because of the level of aggregate demand is what it is; if the level of demand increases then output and employment in the economy will increase, with very little increase in the price-level.
THE year 2019, which has ended, saw the imposition of a full-fledged Hindutva authoritarian regime in the country, a rapidly deteriorating economic situation and a continuing assault on the constitution and the democratic rights of citizens. The end of the year witnessed a spontaneous and powerful protest movement in defence of the constitution and against the assaults on secular-democracy.The BJP won the Lok Sabha election of May 2019 riding on the back of an orchestrated “nationalist” campaign in the wake of the Pulwama terrorist attack and the retaliatory Balakot strike. The return of
IN a united move against the divisive agenda of the RSS backed central government, the Kerala legislative assembly became the first state legislative body to pass a resolution against Citizenship (Amendment) Act. A resolution passed in a special session of Kerala legislative assembly demanded the repeal of CAA. In a concluding remark after a detailed discussion, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the central government should scrap the bill through an ordinance, considering the concerns of the people of India.
THE Narendra Modi government has planned a ‘trishul’ attack against the constitution. The Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), National Population Register and National Register of Citizens are the three points of this trishul. All three are interconnected and a single package. These cannot be separated, warned CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat while addressing a seminar organised by the Tamil Nadu Platform for People's Unity in Chennai on December 26.After a cat-and-mouse game with the city police, the seminar against “anti-Tamil and anti-Muslim” CAA started with a packed house.
TAMIL NADUAS waves of protest arose in the country against the draconian Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) over the past week, Secular Democratic Front (SDF) led by the DMK had organised a rally in Chennai to join the cause and to expose the subservient role of the ruling AIADMK to the BJP in the centre, which has supported the Act.Chennai police had denied permission to the rally on flimsy grounds and a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was also filed before the Madras High Court to prevent the rally.
The Left parties – Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation, All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party – have issued the following statement on December 26, 2019• Against the assault on our Constitution: CAA/NRC/NPR• Against mounting miseries on the people due to economic recession• Solidarity with the working class: All India General StrikeTHE Left parties will conduct a programme of solidarity campaigns to extend support to the All India General Strike
OPPRESSION and killing innocent people has become a gauntlet of Yogi rule in UP. On the one hand rapists, rioters and murderers aligned to the BJP are allowed to roam scot-free, on the other, tremendous repression is mounted on the dalits, backwards, women and especially the Muslim minority in the state of UP. There is no limit to the hate against the Muslims and the protesters who were protesting against the CAA and the proposed NRC.The initial protests in the state took place in Aligarh Muslim University(AMU).
THE demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination in November 2016 suddenly brought a large amount of cash to the coffers of the banks. Since the banks had to pay interest on the deposits that the public was forced to make with them, they also had to use this cash in a manner that would earn them some income; otherwise its lying idle in their tills would erode their profitability.