Property Rights and Pandemic Deaths

A SPADE must be called a spade. The biggest ally of the coronavirus today as it decimates mankind is the institution of capitalist property rights. The Economist estimates that the actual death-toll across the world from the virus so far is not three million as officially claimed but 10 million; and the virus is far from finished. The only way that its march can be checked is through universal vaccination of the entire population of the world.

Peru: Trade Union Activist Wins Presidency

IN a tightly fought run-off election to elect the president of Peru, a school teacher and progressive activist, Pedro Castillo won by securing 50.2 per cent (8,791,778) of the total votes polled. He narrowly defeated Keiko Fujimori, a right-wing neoliberal, who secured 49.7 per cent (8,720,337) votes. In a country of 32 million people, where 17 million of the eligible 24 million had voted, the victory margin is a small 71,443 votes.

March towards People’s Democratic Revolution

JAPAN invaded China in 1932. The CPC gave a call for putting an end to the civil war and resisting this aggression, which was well received by all sections of the people. The KMT ignored this call and continued its war against CPC stating that Japan’s occupation can be addressed later. Japan tried to mobilise all anti-communist forces in its favour and proposed ‘joint defence of Japan and China against communism’.Influenced by Left sectarianism, CPC initially called people to unite and fight both the Japanese invasion and also Chiang Kai-shek.

Kerala’s Pro-people Budget in Covid Times

THE return of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) to power in Kerala in May 2021, with an unprecedented mandate, was driven by an extraordinary record of governance on multiple fronts. On the one hand, the economic policies of the central government led to falling economic growth rates, rising unemployment and poverty and shrinking public revenues. Kerala was particularly severely affected by many of these misadventures in policy.

Farmers’ Struggle Intensifies: Scores Major Victory in Tohana

THE six and a half month long nationwide farmers’ struggle for the repeal of the three anti-people farm laws and for a law to guarantee a fair MSP and procurement continued to intensify last week.

Fight This Authoritarian Centralisation

NOT a day passes without some attack on the federal structure and infringement on states’ rights taking place. If one day, the centre unilaterally announced a vaccine policy whereby states are asked to procure vaccines and pay for them, then another day, the chief secretary of West Bengal is summoned to Delhi to report for duty on the day of his retirement. The next time, the centre is stepping in to prevent the Delhi government from implementing its door-step delivery of rations. On another occasion, the Punjab government finds that the centre has stopped the payment under the Rural Deve

New Committee Set-up to Delay Action on Minimum Wages: CITU

THE Centre for Indian Trade Unions (CITU) called out the government for dilly-dallying the process of fixation of minimum wages by constituting a new expert committee on wages, instead of acting upon the recommendations made by the old expert committee in 2019.The CITU, in a statement issued on June 4, has said that the purpose of constituting the new committee is to keep the much needed minimum wage revision hanging for the sake of ‘ease of doing business’ rankings; and to provide berths to chosen persons in government committees for a long period of three years.The ministry of labour and

Central Vista Redevelopment Project: Government: Legislator, Executor; Violates Law with Impunity

THE Central Vista Redevelopment Project(CV) in Delhi, right since its inception has been seen as one of the biggest projects for its opaqueness and many mysteries that kept on developing as the project advanced. The strong push from the government of India, especially by the prime minister himself for timely completion of the new parliament building before his second term expires has seen complete impunity to the laws of the land.

CPI(M) Questions Govt Intent Behind MNREGA Advisory

THE union minister for rural development and panchayati raj, Narender Singh Tomar, sent an advisory to state governments on March 2 to ensure social categorisation of workers working under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA).

Agricultural Workers: Forced to Live and Die in the Dark`

THE impact of the agrarian crisis on agricultural workers lead to their precarious conditions and even forces them to commit suicide. The policy changes in agriculture also affects the lives of agricultural workers who are at the lowest rung of the social and economic life of rural India.Suicides of agricultural workers were not even recorded until 2013. In 2014, recording the suicides of agricultural workers was initiated and the information publicly released.

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