MID Day Meal Workers, at the call of the Mid Day Meal Workers’ Federation of India, held a big ‘Padav’ at Parliament Street in New Delhi on November 10-11, 2016, against the move to dismantle the School Mid Day Meal Scheme and for the long pending demands of minimum wages and social security for the 25 lakh mid day meal workers.Modi led NDA government has in the last two years cut the budget allocation for the MDM scheme by one-third.
WHILE the nation grapples with worthless 500 and 1000 rupee notes which have lost their premier value as legal tenders from the midnight of November 8-9, the prime minister’s party, the Bharatiya Janata Party in West Bengal has proved to be a smart Alec. In the afternoon of November 8th the Kolkata’s Central Avenue branch of the Indian Bank (Branch code: 00C004; IFS Code; ID IB 000C004; MICR Code: 700019008) received a deposit of Rs 60 lakhs, all in the denomination of 1,000 rupee notes.
What is the CPI (M)’s critique of the Modi government’s demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes. Is it not a step to root out black money in the economy?Raghunathan, CoimbatoreLET us examine the claims made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he declared the demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. He said that “corruption, black money and terrorism are festering sores” and demonetisation “will strengthen the hands of the common man in the fight against corruption, black money and fake currency”.
A SECONDARY justification for the demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes, apart from its presumed deterring effect on “black money”, is that it ushers in a move towards a “cashless” economy. This argument too, however, like the perception that “black money” is just held in the form of a hoard of currency notes, is staggering in its simple-mindedness.All money consists of the liability of the banking system. (The only exception was the one-rupee note which was the liability of the Government of India, but its amount, always small, has now dwindled into insignificance).
IT was at the end of September last year that Russia in a surprise move dispatched its planes and troops to Syria at the request of the government in Damascus. The jihadi forces and their western backed allies were intent on delivering the coup d'grace to the legitimate secular government before the end of that year. More territory and towns, including the historic city of Palmyra, had fallen to the terrorist Daesh (IS) and the Jabhat al Nusra Front. Washington and its allies were waiting for the much heralded regime change in Syria even as the country was awash in blood and suffering.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on November 15. It has issued the following statement:WITHDRAWAL OF RS 1000/500 NOTES: CRISIS OF GIGANTIC PROPORTIONS The Polit Bureau heard reports from various states about the effects of the withdrawal of the Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes. The reports indicate that there has been a total disruption of the payments and settlements system and has impacted all citizens in one way or the other. In the rural areas, the crisis is much more grave. Markets are closed in various places.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on November 14.THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses serious concern at the hardships faced by the ordinary people because of the haphazard manner in which the central government handled its demonitisation decision.The day-to-day life of every section of the common people has been thrown out of gear because the government had not taken the requisite and appropriate steps in advance to meet the contingency.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on November 11, 2016.THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly denounces the statement made by the defence minister that India should revise its “no first use” nuclear weapon policy.This has serious implications both for India’s security concerns and for India’s standing in international relations. This statement represents a complete reversal of the long standing position of India as a country that champions a nuclear weapon free world and consistently stood by its commitment for peaceful u
IT'S five years since the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) that took the world by a storm. It all began in September 2011 and ended in November 2011. At its height, 'Occupy' protests happened in around 951 cities in 82 countries around the world. These protests brought forth the wide inequalities existing between the 1 percent and the 99 percent. Many analytical/critical articles and commentaries were written on these protests.
