India and Global Warming – Uphill Task at the COP 23 Negotiations

AS the French saying goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same, and this certainly applies to the challenges that India faces in the climate negotiations currently under way at Bonn. It is clear that the broad trend in the negotiations is in the direction of sharply increasing the burden of climate action on developing countries, while there is a deafening silence from the ranks of the developed nations on the implications of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.

Centenary Celebrations of October Revolution in Russia

THE centenary celebrations of the Great October Socialist Revolution concluded in Moscow with a rally on November 7. It was attended by not only comrades from Moscow but also leaders of over 100 communist and workers parties from across the world, as the 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) was held in Russia. In the morning, on November 7, there was a military parade at the Red Square in front of the Kremlin, marking the 76th anniversary of the Red Army Parade at the time of preparing for countering the Nazi invasion of the USSR.

AIDWA to Organise National Convention against Violence & Regressive Ideology

THE AIDWA central executive committee (CEC) meeting held on October 13-15, 2017 in Amritsar, Punjab, decided to organise nationwide campaigns and struggles on challenges arising from the economic attacks of the BJP government and the communal propaganda of the Sangh Parivar. President Malini Bhattacharya, along with vice-presidents Sudha Sundararaman, T N Seema, Rampari and Rama Devi chaired the various sessions of the CEC.A lively cultural programme of Gidda and Bhangda, folk dances of Punjab was organised by the reception committee.

AIAWU General Council Meeting Held

THE General Council of the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) met in New Delhi on November 4-5. The meeting was attended by 67 members from 14 states. It was presided over by AIAWU president S Thirunavukkarasu. Placing a report, AIAWU general secretary A Vijayaraghavan said the period since the last General Council meeting in Telangana in September, 2016, has seen growing attacks on the rural landless, agricultural workers and rural labourers, leading to suicides and hunger deaths.

Gujarat Assembly Elections: BJP’s Winter of Discontent

“Hamari bhool, kamal ka phool” (our mistake, choosing the Lotus) a slogan first raised by textile traders of Surat during their protests against the imposition of GST, is reverberating across Gujarat, predictions of pollsters notwithstanding. The Modi juggernaut, which till some time ago seemed to be far from invincible, is on shaky grounds.The confidence and flashiness so part of Modi is now lost. A party fighting with its back to the wall had the Election Commission delay the announcement of polls.

Latin America and the October Revolution: We Are All Bolsheviks

ON October 15, 2017, the Venezuelan people went to the polls to elect their regional governors. Tensions swept through not only Venezuela, but across Latin America. Would the attrition of the Bolivarian project in Venezuela now be complete? Would this presage the defeat of the government of Nicolas Maduro in the presidential elections to be held in October 2018? US President Donald Trump waded into the Venezuelan elections, calling for the defeat of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the party led by Maduro. He failed.

Reception Committee for the CPI(M) 22nd Congress Formed

A meeting for the formation of the reception committee for the 22nd Party Congress was held in Hyderabad on November 2. Tammineni Veerabhadram, state secretary of the Party, presided over the meeting which was addressed by Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of the Party, B V Raghavulu, Polit Bureau member, P Madhu, state secretary of the AP Committee of the Party, among others.

Europe: A Hundred Years of Revolution and Reformism

THE Russian Revolution marked a historic break from the dominant social democratic reformist current in Europe. Lenin had hoped that the Russian Revolution would be succeeded by the German Revolution. However, those expectations were dashed after the crushing of the revolutionary uprising in Germany in 1919.Before the Second World War, there was a keen tussle between the social democratic reformist parties and the Communist parties affiliated to the Third International for winning over the allegiance of the working class in their respective countries.The 1929-33 Great Depression and capit

Science Wars to Climate Change Denial: Post Modernism and its Consequences

MOST of those who led the charge against science explaining nature, are now surprised that climate-change deniers have stolen their theme song. Immersed in the assault on science, this group of thinkers simply “overlooked” the long term damage that they were doing to any issue on which scientific evidence would matter to society. If all that scientists say is based on merely groupthink, why should climate scientists “groupthink” be privileged over those of oil and coal companies?

Neo-liberal Capitalism and its Crisis

“NEO-liberal capitalism” is the term used to describe the phase of capitalism where restrictions on the global flows of commodities and capital, including capital in the form of finance, have been substantially removed.

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