THE working committee of CITU which met in Rourkela, Odisha from September 4-6 called upon the working class of India to heighten the militancy of struggles against the anti-people, anti-worker policies of the BJP led Modi government. The working committee also called upon the working class of the country to actively participate in nationwide joint protest actions called by the Central Trade Unions and SKM in the months of October and November, 2023.K Hemalata, president, CITU hoisted the red flag and presided over the meeting.
THE ongoing metro construction work in Patna has led to significant displacement among daily wage earners, especially auto and e-rickshaw drivers, pavement vendors, and other small-scale traders. The continuous construction of flyovers, road widening, and underground tunnels for the metro rail has brought suffering to the countless slum dwellers, who form a significant portion of the urban population. They provide various services and even contribute to the urban economy's GDP.
IN a memorandum to the lieutenant governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Srinagar, sent on September 13, the Apple Farmers’ Federation of India (AFFI), underlined the calamity that awaits the apple growers of Jammu & Kashmir this marketing season due to the suspension of the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) by the union government. The MIS played an important role in procuring inferior quality C-grade apples in the Valley since 2017, when the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) first launched the scheme.
THE All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), West Bengal committee organised a mammoth rally against anti-women policies of Modi and Mamata governments at Rani Rashmoni Avenue on September 8 to convey the message of taking forward the spirit of resistance witnessed in the panchayat elections and to protest against the increasing incidents of women's violence. AIDWA patron Brinda Karat, AIDWA president PK Sreemathi and general secretary Mariam Dhawale, West Bengal secretary Kaninika Ghosh joined thousands of AIDWA activists in the rally.
HOT on the heels of the highly successful Chandrayaan-3 mission demonstrating soft-landing on the moon, ISRO launched its Aditya-L1 Mission on September 2, 2023 to study the sun. This is yet another ISRO mission in the new set of activities over the past two decades looking outwards from earth to other parts of our solar system, after many decades focusing on inward-looking or earth-focused applications oriented missions.
THE Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) Maharashtra committee organised its fourth state conference on September 4, 2023, at the B T Ranadive Memorial Bhawan in Belapur, New Mumbai. 117 delegates from 10 districts attended the conference. The venue was named after Kumar Shiralkar, the hall after Barkya Mangat and Ratan Budhar, and the stage after Dr Chintaman Gavit. They were all prominent leaders of the AARM.
AS India approaches the 75th anniversary of the constitutional republic (2025), the Hindutva narrative is being aggressively scripted to metamorphose the secular democratic character of the republic into a fascistic Hindutva rashtra. The prerequisite for this is to ensure that the Modi led BJP government wins the 2024 elections, by hook or by crook.
ON the last day of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, the five founding states (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) welcomed six new members: Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The BRICS partnership now encompasses 47.3 per cent of the world’s population, with a combined global Gross Domestic Product (by purchasing power parity, or PPP,) of 36.4 per cent.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on September 6IN the by-elections to two assembly constituencies in Tripura – Boxanagar and Dhanpur – on September 5, there was total rigging under the direct supervision of the BJP state government. An extraordinary situation of terror was created. Polling agents of the CPI(M) were physically assaulted and prevented from discharging their duties.
THE Modi regime is out to launch a twin assault on parliamentary democracy and federalism by implementing the slogan of `One Nation, One Election’ (ONOE). The government has announced the setting up of an eight-member committee headed by former president, Ram Nath Kovind. The terms of reference make it clear that the committee’s job is to recommend how to proceed to implement simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies, the legal and constitutional steps to be taken. The committee can be expected to do what the government wants as it has been hand-pi