Contesting Dual Power – March 1917

THE February Revolution ushered in dual power in Russia – the provincial government versus the Soviets of Workers’ and Soldiers’ Deputies.

On Niti Aayog’s Three Year Action Agenda

WITH the replacement of the Planning Commission by the Niti Aayog, the Fifteen Year Vision, Seven Year Strategy and Three Year Action Agenda process is to come in place of the original Five Year Planning one. While the first two are still being developed, the NITI Aayog released some time back the final version of Three Year Action Agenda (TYAA) for the period 2017-18 to 2019-20, the remaining part of the Fourteenth Finance Commission period. The document claims that it “charts an ambitious, transformational yet achievable Action Agenda for the government during 2017-18 to 2019-20”.

The Present Situation in DPRK

I WENT to DPRK on the invitation of the preparatory committee of the Fifth International Festival in Praise of the Great Persons of Mount Paektu who include Comrades Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, from August 12-18. 241 international delegates from over 50 countries participated.What was striking was the change I saw since my last visit there some ten years ago. The agricultural situation was far better as was the tree-cover which I saw being planted during my last visit.

JHARKHAND: Convention on People’s Health Charter

A state-level convention to frame a People’s Health Charter was organised in Ranchi on August 27 under the banner of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), Jharkhand. The convention unanimously adopted a 33-point People’s Health Charter and resolved to successfully pursue it and broaden the JSA in Jharkhand to strengthen the people’s health movement.The convention, inaugurated by CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat, was attended by 197 delegates, including 49 women, from 11 districts of Jharkhand.

BJP Nexus with Godmen

THE conviction of the godman Gurmeet Singh on charges of rape and the violence unleashed by his supporters in Panchkula and other places has exposed the political nexus between the BJP and such dubious peddlers of spiritual salvation.The Dera Sacha Sauda head had called upon his followers to vote for the BJP in the October 2014 assembly elections. The BJP was suitably grateful and lavished patronage on Gurmeet Singh and the Dera. 19 of the 47 BJP MLAs called on him to convey their gratitude for his support.

The Truth about Demonetisation

AFTER months of dilly-dallying, the Reserve Bank of India has finally come out with the figure that nearly 99 per cent of the currency notes demonetised in November 2016, came back to the banking system. The total value of demonetised currency, in the form of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, was Rs 15.44 lakh crores, of which Rs 15.28 lakh crores came back to the banking system, which is 98.96 per cent.

On the Dera Sacha Sauda Episode

“I salute this land of deras” – this is how Narendra Modi started his address to an election rally in Sirsa in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. And his opening sentence in another election rally in Jind during the campaign was: “I salute this land of Khaps!” There remains no doubt about the complicity of the BJP government in Haryana after the orgy of arson and violence following the August 25 conviction, by a Panchkula-based special CBI court, of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet alias Ram Rahim for rape of his two followers.

DD Blacks Out Tripura CM: Cooperative Federalism or Hegemonic Control?

THIS Independence Day, the Modi government has yet again made it clear that in our country, none but one person has the freedom of speaking his ‘Mann ki Baat’. Not even the democratically-elected chief minister of a state.Before the Independence Day, Doordarshan Tripura had recorded a speech of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar, which was to be telecast on August 15.

WEST BENGAL: Big Capital Supporting Right Reactionaries

IMPLEMENTING the tenets of Marxism in concrete conditions is an essential task of a Marxist. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury emphasised this point in two public meetings commemorating 200 years of Marx. The meetings took place in Sreerampore in Hooghly and Dum Dum in North 24 Parganas. Both the meetings drew huge crowds.In both the meetings, Yechury said, concrete decisions have to taken in concrete situations. We have to grasp Marxism and implement it in concrete situations.

ANDHRA PRADESH: Huge Rally in Visakhapatnam to Save Public Sector Companies

A HUGE rally was organised in Visakhapatnam on August 26 to protest the government’s move to privatise public sector undertakings. The CPI(M) city committee organised the rally from the railway station to the RTC Complex on the slogan: ‘Save Public Sector, Save Visakhapatnam and Nation’. Hundreds of people joined the rally which ended with a public meeting at the RTC Complex.Addressing the public meeting, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member B V Raghavulu said that privatisation of public sector companies was an anti-national act. The public sector units were built with the money of the nation.

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