Peoples Democracy newsletter

Peoples Democracy newsletter

The Coastal Shipping Bill 2024: Neglecting Seafarers' Interests

ON December 2, 2024, Sarbananda Sonowal, the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, presented the Coastal Shipping Bill 2024 in the Lok Sabha. The bill aims to promote coastal trade using Indian-flagged vessels owned and operated by Indian citizens for commercial needs. The bill also grants the director-general the authority to issue licenses, taking into account factors such as the crew's citizenship and the vessel's building requirements and aims to create employment opportunities for Indian seafarers and promote the growth of shipbuilding in India.

WB: Abhaya's Case Betrayed-CBI's Inaction Sparks Outrage Again

THE CBI's inability to submit an additional (supplementary) chargesheet within the given 90-day timeframe has resulted in bail on December 13 for both Sandip Ghosh (former RG Kar Hospital principal) and Abhijit Mandal (former OC, Tala Police Station) in the RG Kar trainee physician's rape and murder case. While Sandip Ghosh remains in custody due to other pending cases, Abhijit Mandal is now free.Despite CBI's repeated accusations in court that Sandip Ghosh and Abhijit Mandal tampered with evidence and delayed the FIR, the agency failed to submit the additional chargesheet on time.

Simultaneous Elections: Damaging Constitution

TWO days after the BJP leaders waxed eloquent about protecting the Constitution in the debate in the Lok Sabha to mark the 75th anniversary of the framing of the Constitution, the Modi government has introduced a Constitution Amendment Bill, which seeks to damage the Constitution and the federal structure within it.Two Bills were introduced – The Constitution (129th Amendment) Bill and The Union Territories Laws Amendment Bill – which seek to ensure simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and all the legislatures of states and union territories. The Constitution Amendment Bill amends three

Puducherry State Conference of CPI(M)

THE 24th State Conference of the Puducherry committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) was held on November 30 and December 1, 2024, at the Comrade Sitharam Yechury Memorial Hall, in Puducherry. Memorial torches in honour of Comrade Sankarayya and Comrade Sitaram Yechury were brought from Mannadipet and Bahoor, respectively, and were used to light the Martyrs' Column. The July 30 Martyrs’ Memorial Torch of Pondicherry, brought from the premises of the Mudaliyarpet textile industry, was also received and lit at the column.A rousing mass rally marked the beginning of the conference.

CITU Holds Organised Sector Young Worker Activists’ Meeting

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) organised a meeting of young workers in the organised sector on December 9, 2024, at HKS Surjeet Bhawan, New Delhi. The meeting aimed to strengthen trade union movements in organised sector industries by empowering young cadres. This initiative is crucial to resist the onslaughts of finance capital and reorient the organisation to address contemporary challenges.The young workers meeting was presided by K Hemalata, President, CITU and the approach paper was placed by Tapan Sen, General Secretary, CITU.

Tripura: Party Conferences Suggest Rising Up With Revolutionary Zeal

IN preparation for the 24th state conference of the CPI(M) scheduled for  January 29-31, 2025, the primary unit and local committee conferences have been successfully completed. Currently, the sub-divisional and district-level conferences are going on across the state.Prior to the commencement of the primary unit conferences, a set of guidelines, based on the framework prepared by the Polit Bureau and aligned with the state’s political and organisational situation, was circulated across all levels of the Party.

Tripura: Party Conferences Suggest Rising Up With Revolutionary Zeal

IN preparation for the 24th state conference of the CPI(M) scheduled for  January 29-31, 2025, the primary unit and local committee conferences have been successfully completed. Currently, the sub-divisional and district-level conferences are going on across the state.Prior to the commencement of the primary unit conferences, a set of guidelines, based on the framework prepared by the Polit Bureau and aligned with the state’s political and organisational situation, was circulated across all levels of the Party.

The Hegemony of the Dollar

LIBERAL opinion holds that the international monetary and financial system is a device for promoting the interests of all participating countries by providing a convenient payments arrangement within which trade can be carried on. The reality however is altogether different: the international system is founded upon the hegemony of western imperialism, and in turn sustains this hegemony.

The Fall of the Assad Government in Syria

AS the rebel forces led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Syria Liberation Committee) seized Damascus, Syria’s capital, on December 7, 2024, the president of Syria, Bashar al-Assad boarded a flight to Moscow, Russia. It was the end of the rule of the Assad family that began when Hafeez al-Assad (1930-2000) became president in 1971, and which continued through his son Bashar from 2000 – a fifty-three-year period of rule.

Sitaram Yechury Remembered

ON December 6, SAHMAT organised an event remembering one of the leading lights of the Left Movement in India, Comrade Sitaram Yechury. Held at Jawahar Bhawan, Delhi, the event saw intellectuals, students, Party whole-timers, peasant leaders as well as artists, coming together to pay tribute to Yechury. The event was unique in that, instead of focusing only on the more well-known facets of his life and political career, several little known and fascinating aspects of his, otherwise colourful life, were brought to light.

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