Politics of Prohibition & Polarisation in Bihar

TOTAL prohibition declared by the Bihar government and the resultant bootlegging have occupied much of the space of daily newspapers in the state. The legislation enacted by the government to enforce the prohibition has been criticised for some of its provisions that are harsh, including the one to penalise all members of a family and the entire village if liquor is found in a family or is brewed in a village illegally.The prohibition has gained wide support among the people in general and the women folk in particular and its positive impact can be seen in the lives of daily wage earners.

Leapfrogging to Stage VI Vehicular Emission norms

THE government finally issued the long awaited gazette notification for the sharply compressed timetable for introduction of Bharat Stage VI (BS-VI) emission norms for vehicles and other petroleum combustion engines, broadly conforming to the Euro VI emission norms. It had earlier released an almost identical draft of this policy in January 2016 and had given all stakeholders time to respond.Currently and as of 2010, Bharat State IV (BS-IV) emission norms prevail in 13 metropolitan and other major cities, while the less stringent Bharat Stage III norms prevail in the rest of the country.

No Respite in Syria

YET another ceasefire attempt has fallen through in Syria. After protracted negotiations the US secretary of state John Kerry and the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had announced a ceasefire agreement to come into force from September 12. It was also announced that both sides had decided that if the ceasefire is successful, the US and Russia would launch joint military operations against the Islamic State and the Al Nasra.Within three days of the ceasefire taking effect, reports of violations by the opposition forces were reported.

After Uri, What?

THE attack on the army camp in Uri by four heavily armed militants has resulted in the death of 18 soldiers of the Indian army. This vicious assault has raised the question of how India should respond. Earlier, the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot in January this year had posed a similar problem for the Modi government.The RSS and its cohorts have demanded a strong response. In Ram Madhav’s words a “whole jaw for a tooth”. The television channels are full of retired military officers and self-proclaimed strategic experts demanding that Pakistan be taught a lesson.

National Health Accounts Depicts The Crisis in the Health Sector

India continues to have one of the most privatised health systems in the world. India’s public health expenditure in terms of percent of GDP (1.15 percent) spent on healthcare places India at 12th from the bottom, in the company of countries such as Myanmar, Haiti, South Sudan, Timor-Leste and Pakistan.THE union ministry of health and family welfare (MoHFW) supported National Health Systems Resource Centre (NHSRC) has recently published (August 2016) the National Health Accounts for 2013-14.

Minimum Wage and the Poverty Line

The criteria for determining the minimum wage have evolved in India over a long period of time. The basic guidelines set at the Indian Labour Conference have been subsequently improved upon by the Supreme Court in the early 1990s. As of now, the principles for setting the minimum wage after all these modifications stand as follows.The basic family unit for which the calculation is made is supposed to consist of four persons, a husband, wife and two children. These two children together constitute one consuming unit, so that one can say that the family has three consuming units altogether.

Cauvery Dispute: Eschew Violence, Maintain Normalcy

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement September 13, 2016.THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) is shocked and dismayed at the reports of violence and arson in Karnataka and some parts of Tamil Nadu. The Polit Bureau appeals to the people of both the states to maintain calm over the Supreme Court decision on the sharing of Cauvery river waters. The Polit Bureau calls upon the state governments of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to ensure the protection of people’s lives and properties. The dispute over sharing of the Cauvery river waters is a longst

Kerala: Stop These BJP-RSS Attacks

THE BJP is trying to spin a false narrative in Kerala about the increasing attacks on BJP and RSS workers. The BJP president Amit Shah has announced a five member team headed by one of its general secretaries Bhupendra Yadav to visit Kerala to enquire about the growing “incidents of attacks on BJP workers”.This move comes in the background of the national council meeting of the BJP scheduled to be held in Kozhikode in Kerala from September 23 to 25.

Massive Victory for the United Left Panel in JNUSU Elections

Students of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) gave a landslide verdict in favour of the United Left Panel of SFI and AISA in the students’ union elections which were held on September 9. Alongside the victory of the United Left panel comprising of candidates belonging to the AISA and the SFI, this election also saw the complete and thorough decimation of the RSS backed ABVP.

Kashmir Developments

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 13. IT is very unfortunate that, probably for the first time since independence, large scale curfew has been imposed all across the Kashmir valley on Eid Ul Zuha, Bakrid. The traditional Eid celebrations and the prayers that are offered were disturbed due to the closure of all major mosques in Srinagar city. It is, indeed, unprecedented that the faithful were not allowed to proceed to their traditional Idgah where prayers are offered on every Eid all across the Kashmir valley. As per

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