THE Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) began its three day session at Pragati Nagar in Hyderabad from January 19-21. On behalf of the Polit Bureau, General Secretary Prakash Karat placed the Draft Review Report on the Political Tactical Line, in the morning session.
THE 102nd Science Congress did not distinguish itself by inviting speakers, who offered mumbo jumbo as science. It was not helped by the union minister for science and technology, Harsh Vardhan talking about how India had discovered the Pythagoras “formula”, and algebra well before Greeks and Arabs but generously gave them the “credit”. The past is no longer about scientifically discovering what really happened, but a race of who did what first.
USHERING in the new year with the recognition that for this to be a happy year for the mass of working and poor women and men, and indeed the entire country, strong popular resistance against the aggressively authoritarian pursuit of neo-liberal policies and bigoted communal polarisation by the NDA government has to be launched. If the first week is anything to go by, 2015 will bring even greater economic hardships and social discord for the people through anti-constitutional means. The slogan of ‘development and prosperity’ by the Modi government has proved to be a chimera.
THE two-day coal workers’ strike on January 6-7 was total and joined by seven lakh permanent and contract workers of public sector Coal India Ltd (CIL) and Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) in 40 coal-bearing districts of the country. The strike brought mining, loading and unloading, transportation and other related works to a grinding halt from the very first shift on January 6 and had an effect on lakhs of other workers engaged in outsourced activities.
TCS, the largest Indian company by market capitalisation has recently stated that it would restructure the organisation. This restructuring could potentially lead to the loss of jobs of around 30,000 associates of the world’s third largest employer in the technology sector according to some newspaper reports.Although lay-offs are not uncommon in the IT industry, something of this scale and magnitude is unprecedented in the recent times. What also adds to the woes is the fact that the TCS is otherwise perceived to be a very employee-friendly organisation.
NARENDRA Modi has launched his new year with Pravasi Bhartiya Sammelan and seventh vibrant Gujarat festival of three days where he extended an open invitation to investors from capitalist countries, whether NRI’s or private capital investors of multinational corporations to accelerate their engagement in the ongoing process of capitalist development of India led by Indian monopoly capitalist fractions of the ruling class.
THE 15th National Conference of All India State Government Employees Federation (AISGEF) was held in Chandigarh from December 20 to December 23, 2014. CITU general secretary and MP Tapan Sen inaugurated the conference. As many as 1,226 delegates and observers from 23 states representing 26 affiliated organisations attended the conference. Of them, 212 were women.
THE tragic disappearance of 43 students in late September while they were proceeding to a protest meeting has triggered a national outcry in Mexico threatening the stability of government of President Enrique Pena Nieto. After riding high in the opinion polls and being toasted in the financial capitals of the world, his popularity has now taken a beating. He now is being dubbed as the most unpopular Mexican president in recent history. Pena Nieto had won the elections two years ago with a comfortable margin.
LEADERS of Delhi units of seven Left parties- Communist Party of India (Marxist), Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)- Liberation, All India Forward Bloc, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), Revolutionary Socialist Party and Socialist Party-India held a meeting on January 13 and decided to contest the forthcoming Delhi assembly elections jointly. The following is the statement that they issued:
FARMER’S suicides in Telangana state (earlier part of unified Andhra Pradesh) have increased suddenly after its formation on June 2, 2014. It is not an exaggeration to say that not even a single day has passed without a report of farmers suicide(s) appearing in the daily newspapers. Reported suicides varied from one or two to a maximum of ten (on October 10, 22 and 24th and on November 29, 2014).