COP26 Under-achieves, India Disorganised

COP26 came to a close on November 13, nearly 24 hours after originally scheduled. The final plenary got stuck at the final draft of the COP statement, now named Glasgow Climate Pact. For hours, viewers of the live telecast saw country after country making final remarks on the text, most expressing serious disappointments, but saying they would accept the statement in the spirit of compromise and so that they would not have to leave Glasgow empty-handed.

A Tax Burden that Attacks The Federal Rights of States

THE Narendra Modi government reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel on the eve of Deepavali. While the reduction for petrol was Rs 5, duty on diesel came down by Rs 10. The finance ministry ‘dedicated’ the reduction to farmers for keeping “the economic growth momentum going even during the (Covid-19) lockdown phase” and said the reduction “will come as a boost to the farmers during the upcoming Rabi season”.

Withdraw FIRs against Journalists: AIDWA

THE All India Democratic Women Association (AIDWA), in a statement issued on November 16, expressed solidarity with journalists Samriddhi K Sakunia and Swarna Jha. They were first detained in Assam and then taken to Tripura and arrested. Both the women journalists had gone to cover communal violence in the Tripura. It has been reported in the media that they were detained for their social media posts about the communal violence. Two FIRs have been filed against them. The journalists have now been released on bail.

A Tale of Two COP26 Meetings

GLASGOW (Scotland, UK) was once the second most important city in the British Empire. The old docks along the river Clyde brought ships that came from Bengal carrying jute for the mills of Dundee and brought the wealth of the Americas that was earned by the trade in human beings. The city’s old buildings carry the evidence of that wealth, while the stories of its working-class rebellion in 1919 (Red Clydeside) are buried under the flagstones of St. George’s Square along with the memories of the Indian jute workers and the African sugarcane workers.

Adivasis and Rightwing Identity Politics

NARENDRA Modi, while addressing an adivasi rally at Bhopal on the birth anniversary of the legendary tribal leader Birsa Munda on November 15, claimed that after independence, for decades, the adivasis were neglected. It was only his government that made adivasis partners in the country’s development and beneficiaries of various welfare schemes.The anniversary also saw the Modi government make a big pitch to project its pro-tribal image.

Countrywide Actions Planned to Mark One Year of Historic Farmers’ Struggle

THE historic farmers’ struggle in India will complete one full year on November 26, 2021. It surely marks a world record in people’s struggles in recent times. It also marks another world record in the sheer callousness and insensitivity of the BJP-RSS-led central government.The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) met at the Singhu border on November 9.

The Scourge of Demonetisation

IN the entire history of post-independence India, no single economic measure has been as devastating for the people and as utterly futile in achieving its stated objectives, as the demonetisation of currency notes, of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 denomination, decreed by the Modi government on November 8, 2016.

Tripura: Intolerant and Unconstitutional

THE Tripura state committee of CPI(M) condemns the invocation of UAPA against lawyers and journalists by the Tripura state government. The Party state secretariat has issued a statement on November 6, on the extreme events organised by the ruling BJP party and the role of the State Election Commission and administration regarding the electoral process of urban local bodies of the state. Below we publish the text of the statement.DURING the last Durga Puja, some unfortunate incidents have happened in our neighbouring country Bangladesh.

The Rise of Right-Wing Internationalism in the Iberosphere

EARLY in 2020, the leader of Spain’s right-wing party Vox, Santiago Abascal, went to the United States to attend the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) meeting. Abascal came to Washington, DC, along with Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, the deputy secretary of Vox’s international relations department. The two men spent time meeting the leadership of a range of right-wing think tanks, such as the Heritage Foundation and the International Republican Institute. They discussed the need to create a right-wing think tank in Spain and to deepen right-wing internationalism.

Two Days’ Countrywide Strike ‘To Save People and Save Nation’

THE National Convention of Workers held at Jantar Mantar on November 11 called upon the working class of the country to prepare for massive countrywide general strike during the budget session in February 2022, ‘To Save the People and Save the Nation’.The convention was called by the joint trade union platform comprising ten central trade unions – INTUC, AITUC, HMS, CITU, AIUTUC, TUCC, SEWA, AICCTU, LPF and UTUC – and almost all the independent sectoral federations and associations in the country.In view of the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated restrictions on big mobilisations, the trad

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