HERE we are once again in the midst of the seemingly inevitable problem of air pollution in Delhi and the neighbouring National Capital Region. The Air Quality Index (AQI) over the past fortnight shot up to “very poor” and even reached the “severe” category for a few days around Diwali.
The Construction Workers Federation of India (CWFI) held a statewide protest in Tamil Nadu demanding the implementation of welfare measures through the welfare board. There is undue delay in sanctioning scholarship for education, accident and death relief from the board. The other major demand is the sanctioning of Rs 3,000 as pension for construction workers above 60 years of age. The CWFI condemned the anti-worker policies of the state and the union government and opposed the codification of the labour laws.
EIGHT unions and associations of BSNL – BSNL Employees Union (BSNLEU), National Federation of Telecom Employees BSNL (NFTE BSNL), National Union of BSNL Workers FNTO(NUBSNLW FNTO), BSNL Mazdoor Sangh (BSNL MS), Sanchar Nigam Association of TTAs (SNATTA), BSNL Association of Telecom Mechanics (BSNL ATM), Telecom Employees Progressive Union (TEPU) and BSNL Officers Association (BSNL OA) – have decided to join the general strike on November 26, 2020.
THE anti-people policies pursued by the BJP central government which have been pauperising vast masses and benefiting only super rich, have to be defeated through extensive struggles, said Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of CPI(M). The Party Andhra Pradesh committee conducted a political campaign from November 7-15, explaining the people about the policies of BJP central government that have been inimical to the state interests and pauperising the people of India. Yechury spoke at the concluding online public meeting on the 15th.
THE discussion on November 13, between the representatives of the 29 farmers organisations of Punjab who are in continuous agitation for the last two months with the agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and railway minister Piyush Goyal ended inconclusively due to the adamant stand of the Modi government. In addition to the national demands of repeal the three Farm Acts and Electricity Bill, the kisan leaders demanded immediate reinstatement of the goods train services to Punjab, permanent solution to the issue of stubble burning and payment of dues to the sugarcane farmers.
Sitaram Yechury’s Interview with GanashaktiWhat are the lessons of Bihar elections?Yechury: There are many lessons to be drawn from Bihar elections. First, the largest possible unity of secular forces against BJP/JDU alliance could be achieved and it paid dividends. Secondly, RJD-Congress Mahagatbandhan was strengthened by three Left parties joining with them. It ushered in a different nature of campaign, different from traditional election campaigns in Bihar. Economic issues were sharply raised, particularly the issue of unemployment.
THE efforts to discredit and denigrate the Left Democratic Front government in Kerala have been mounting in the past few weeks. The Congress-led UDF and the BJP have conducted agitations utilising the gold smuggling case to target Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the LDF government. As the assembly elections draw closer, the Congress and the BJP have moved explicitly to widen the ambit of their attack on the government. Some of the central agencies have also been enlisted in this nefarious game. At present, there are four central agencies – National Investigation Agency, Customs, Enfor
THE exploited, deprived and suppressed people all over the world are striving for a real alternative to the existing exploitative capitalist system set up by the most reactionary forces. The Indian masses would also certainly choose their alternative in the same process, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Manik Sarkar told a hall meeting on the occasion of 103rd anniversary of the Great November Revolution at Agartala Town Hall on November 7.The hall meeting, presided over by Central Committee member Rama Das, was also addressed by Tripura state secretary Gautam Das.