Another Step in Military Alliance with US

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on December 9, 2016.THE Modi government has taken yet another step in entangling India in a military alliance with the United States of America.

Colombia Peace Process: On Track Again

THE rejection of the historic peace accord signed between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in a referendum by a wafer thin majority had come as a shock to most Colombians and the international community. A referendum, which was not constitutionally mandated, was held just a few days after the two sides signed the permanent cease fire agreement with much fanfare in Havana on September 26. Opinion polls had shown overwhelming support for the agreement to end the war that has been going on for more than 50 years.

Javeed Alam

EMINENT Scholar Prof. Javeed Alam who had been associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) from 1970 onwards, passed away in the early hours of December 5, 2016 after a brief illness. Born in 1943 in Hyderabad he came from a family which was deeply involved in the Telangana armed struggle led by the Communist Party against the feudal oppression of the Nizam and for land distribution to the peasantry.After studying in Osmania University he had come to Delhi in 1966 to pursue his PhD.

The Deadlock in GST

WITH the passage of the constitutional amendment, it was taken for granted that there would be no further hurdles to the smooth introduction of Goods and Service Tax (GST) from the beginning of the next financial year. The Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) bills were to be introduced as money bills and passed in Lok Sabha during the winter session of the parliament. Thereafter the states are to pass the State GST (SGST) bills in their respective legislatures during their budget sessions. And that would have cleared the deck for GST in the country from April 1. However, the pa

DELHI: DSMM Commemorates Death Anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar

THE Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch (DSMM), Delhi state committee organised a commemoration meeting at Manakpura, Karol Bagh on December 6, 2016 to mark the death anniversary of Dr B R Ambedkar. The meeting began with Subhashini Ali, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member paying floral tributes to a portrait of Dr Ambedkar. In her speech Subhashini Ali highlighted the various struggles of Dr Ambedkar and called for the need to change the present social system of casteism, exploitation and injustice on the basis of Ambedkar’s ideas.

Zero Import Duty on Wheat: Direct Assault on Farmers’ Interests

THE All India Kisan Sabha, in a statement issued on December 10 has condemned the decision of the Narendra Modi led BJP government to scrap the import duty on wheat. The import duty which was 25 percent till September 2016 was reduced to 10 percent. This was, on December 8, totally done away with. The move is aimed to allow corporate companies and big traders of wheat to profiteer at the expense of farmers and is according to the diktats of the WTO and countries like the USA. AIKS demands immediate withdrawal of this move.

CITU Protests against Anti-Worker Decision Of Central Government

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on December 10 has denounced yet another retrograde decision of the Narendra Modi government to benefit the employers’ class at the cost of workers, while making loud noise on its so-called pro-people postures.It is reported that in the name of boosting employment generation and exports, the union cabinet has given approval to certain unilateral changes in labour laws and Employees Provident Fund scheme which will only benefit the employers’ class and business houses and harm the workers.

Eleventh All India Conference of AIDWA

THIS was the slogan of the five day 11th national conference of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) which concluded in Shyamali Gupta Nagar (Oriental College), Bhopal on December 14, 2016. The conference was attended by 788 delegates from 23 states. It was preceded by relay jathas from different parts of the country, all of which culminated in Bhopal on December 10, 2016.

Thinking Together

Two Maoists were killed by the police last month in a forest in Kerala. The CPI state secretary and other civil rights activists have condemned the killings alleging it was a false encounter. The LDF government is being accused of adopting the same approach as other state governments. Can you explain the CPI(M) position?· P K Rajen, Kochi SOME Maoist squads have been operating in the forests in the tri-junction between Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the past few years.

Disabled Rally for Passage of Rights Bill

BHEEM from Purulia was rendering a self-composed song in his native dialect. He was narrating the experiences of disabled people like him for whom every day brought in new challenges and struggles. The disabled folk singer was one of the few who could make it to Delhi’s Jantar Mantar on December 3 from West Bengal. The rest of the Bengal contingent, nearing a thousand, thanks to inclement weather and consequent disruption of rail services were either stranded midway or had to abandon their journey even before they could commence it.

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