THE people charmed by Manu are concerned about miracles but are not bothered by the sufferings of people. Rulers who talk about yagnas, pushkaras and holy places are not worried about the people who toil day and night to fill their stomachs. They will not talk about caste discrimination, caste domination or equity and justice. Those who have been enjoying reservation on property for generations together, will naturally be influenced by Manuvad and not by humanitarian concerns.
A NATIONAL Convention on Motor Vehicles Act Amendment Bill was held on February 15 at Mavlankar Hall in New Delhi. It was organised by the Co-ordination Committee of Road Transport Workers Organisations and other stakeholders. The organisations associated to the AITUC, CITU, INTUC, HMS, LPF, UTUC and AICCTU have jointly organised the convention.K Hari Prasad, Member of Parliament and member of the Select Committee on MV Act Amendment Bill addressed the convention as the chief guest.
THE fighting peasantry of Rajasthan under the banner of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) last week emerged victorious after yet another battle, this time against the dastardly repression of the BJP state government.
THE healthcare sector has been consistently grabbing headlines in recent weeks. First came the reports of how two prominent private hospitals in Delhi – Max and Fortis – fleeced patients in blatant disregard of all ethical norms. Bills were inflated with impunity and relatives were harassed even after the patient was dead. Then came private hospitals.
THE rampant gun culture and shooting of innocents has claimed the lives of 17 young school students and their teacher in Parkland, Florida, US on February 14. This is one of the deadliest high school massacres in the history of the US. Since 2012, there have been more than 1,600 mass shootings, killing more than 1,800 people and wounding more than 6,400. In fact, four of the five deadliest gun rampages were in the past year and a half, after Donald Trump assumed presidency.
THE Kerala state conference of CPI(M), a prelude to the 22nd Party Congress, has culminated after scripting a new history of unity and a great advancement for the mass movement. Thrissur, the city of Pooram, has witnessed people turning up in lakhs for the public rally on February 25, the culminating day of the conference.In Kerala, the right-wing forces are trying to impose their agenda on the society and their primary goal is to destroy the Left movement.
Finance minister Arun Jaitley presented the union budget 2018-19 in Lok Sabha on February 1 as a budget for ‘generation of employment, health protection of country’s 50 crore vulnerable people and huge relief to farmers’. The opposition dubbed it as an election ‘jumla’.BUDGET OF NEOLIBERAL REFORMSNo doubt, the finance minister’s budget speech was ordained for the next Lok Sabha elections, by carefully choosing words for election propaganda.
INDIA is witnessing a spring of massive agitations on different fronts against the anti-people policies of the Modi regime. These agitations clearly indicate that the people who were suffering under the policies of economic liberalisation and privatisation are mounting significant resistance as their means of livelihood are under direct threat from government policies. Young people of the country including students, workers and farmers are participating in these agitations in large numbers.
THE Delhi state committee of the CPI(M) held a demonstration in front of the Delhi Secretariat on the burning issues of the working people of the state, on February 22. Thousands of workers and activists participated in huge numbers demanding implementation of universal public distribution system in Delhi in its true letter and spirit. While protesters were moving towards the secretariat, police blocked them near the Express building. A protest meeting was held there.CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari, Delhi state secretary of CPI(M) addressed the demonstration.
THE meeting of the Central Trade Unions held on February 22 at the INTUC Office in New Delhi expressed indignation and strongly condemned the government of the day for their intensified attack on the lives and livelihood of the people and seriously compromising the national interest. In a statement issued on February 23, they said attacks on working class centering around dismantling labour laws which are designed to completely casualise employment conditions through various routes like amending Contract Labour Act, introducing Fixed Term Employment etc, have assumed aggressive proportions.