The Bankruptcy of Power Sector Reforms

THE CAG draft report on Delhi's Discoms describing the Rs 8,000 crore loot of consumers, follows on the heels of the Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission's (OERC) order, cancelling the licenses of the three Anil Ambani Reliance distribution companies. OERC cancelled Reliance licenses in March, 2015 for failing to deliver on any count, and repeatedly violating its orders. With this, we have come a full circle on the electricity reforms introduced by the Electricity Act 2003, whose primary goal was to privatise the sector.

DTF Emerges Victorious in DUTA Elections

THE Democratic Teachers' Front (DTF) has secured a historic victory in the elections to the Delhi University Teachers' Association, held in the last week of August. DTF's Nandita Narain was re-elected to the post of the DUTA president for the second consecutive term. For DTF, this election marked the third consecutive win and mandate for the leadership of the DUTA. Besides Narain, the entire panel of four DTF candidates for the DUTA Executive Committee was also elected with a handsome vote-share.

MAHARASHTRA: BJP State Regime now Slaps Sedition Circular on Opponents

THE BJP chief minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis is trying to show that he is more loyal than his king, Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His was the first BJP state regime to impose the beef ban and the third after Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh to pass legislation making reactionary changes in labour laws.Now the home ministry, which is under his direct charge, has released a most obnoxious circular on August 27, 2015, as regards Section 124A of the IPC (which deals with sedition).

Thinking Together

Q The common criticism about the Communists is that they have ignored the reality of caste in India and harp only on the class factor. How does the CPI(M) view the question of caste and what is its role in fighting caste oppression?

R Ramachandran, Coimbatore

Historic 2nd September Strike: Lessons and Task Ahead

THE historic 2nd September General Strike was participated by crores of workers, and established many milestones. Support extended by other class and mass organisations was worth noting. For the first time even unfriendly quarters had no escape but to admit the unprecedented impact of the strike all over the country – across all the regions and economic sectors. However, above all, the success of the strike in the strategic sectors like road transport, coal mines, petroleum, power, telecommunication, etc.

WEST BENGAL: Sit-in against Power Tariff Hike

PROTESTING against the steep hike of electricity tariff in Kolkata and the rest of West Bengal, Left Front workers organised sit-in-demonstrations in front of the Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation Ltd. (CESC) headquarters, in Kolkata and West Bengal State Electricity Board head office, Vidyut Bhawan at Salt Lake on September 9. The sit-in continued for 24 hours.West Bengal has seen unprecedented hike in power tariff in the last four years of the TMC rule.

Modi Govt: Political Arm of the RSS

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 4.

THE detailed reports of their work being given by union government ministers to RSS leaders at their joint meeting in the capital is an affront to Indian democracy. It clearly shows that the RSS is not merely the remote control but is in the direct control of this BJP government which acts as the RSS’s political arm.

Oppose Disenfranchisement Attempts

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 10.THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is strongly opposed to the attempts of the BJP-led Haryana government to disenfranchise a huge section of the population from contesting the ensuing panchayat elections in the state. The state government earlier promulgated an ordinance where four extraneous criteria were spelt out for eligibility to contest these elections. They asked for a minimum educational attainment, the proof of possessing pucca toilet, non

Left Parties Hold People’s Political Convention in Bihar

SIX Left parties – CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML), SUCI (Communist), RSP and Forward Block – held a joint people’s political convention on September 7, and exhorted the electorate of Bihar to defeat the pro-feudal, communal-corporate combination led by the BJP, to reject the opportunist alliance of JD(U), RJD, Congress combine and to strengthen the Left in the ensuing assembly polls.SK Memorial Hall located near the Gandhi Maidan was the perfect venue to launch a frontal attack against both the bourgeois landlord formations for their utter contempt for the suffering people of Bihar, which use money

A Swayamsevak Club

THE three-day meeting of the RSS and its affiliated organisations from September 2 to 4 called the “Samanvya Baithak” was widely reported as a coordination meeting between the RSS and the BJP government. The meeting was attended by all the senior ministers of the Modi government – Rajnath Singh, the home minister, Arun Jaitley, the finance minister, Sushma Swaraj, the external affairs minister, Manohar Parrikar, the defence minister and others. The BJP president Amit Shah was present.

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