Railway Staff Chart Protest Plan to Resist Privatisation

THE All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) held a two-day central working committee meeting at Souharda, Bengaluru, on September 24. The meeting was attended by nearly 120 delegates from all the 17 Railway zones (almost all states) in Indian Railways.The organisation represents the Assistant Loco Pilot, Shunting Loco Pilot, Loco Pilot Goods, Loco Pilot Passenger, and Loco Pilot Mail of Indian Railways.

Exclusion in IIM Ahmedabad

THE recent notification of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmadabad(IIM-A) for the PhD programme in management, 2020 is the typical case where there is no provision to implement reservations for historically marginalised social groups. In the official notification, it had no provisions for an SC/ST (Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe) quota. This is in violation of the reservation mandated by the Constitution of India that makes it obligatory for all central educational institutions to reserve seats for each course and branch of study.

The Modi-Trump Show in Houston

THE spectacle that Narendra Modi put up at Houston before a 50,000 strong audience of Indian-Americans has, once again, underlined the subservience that Modi has brought into Indo-US relations. The Modi-Trump joint appearance in the stadium was nothing but a platform offered to Trump to woo Indian origin Americans in view of the forthcoming presidential election campaign. In a first, for an Indian prime minister, Modi virtually endorsed Trump for president by repeating the slogan, ‘Abki Baar Trump Sarkar’, which was earlier voiced by Trump himself during the last presidential elec

Coal Industry Paralysed on Coal Miners Strike

Below we publish the statement issued by the AICWF on September 25 NO FDI, No outsourcing, No commercial mining – the coal workers of the country have paralysed the entire coal industry with these slogans on September 24, 2019. The strike was called by coal workers’ federations affiliated to five central trade unions – CITU, AITUC, HMS, INTUC and AICCTU. All most all trade unions functioning in coal industry have supported the strike.

BSNLEU Records a Magnificent Victory

OVERCOMING all odds, BSNL Employees Union has once again won the elections, held for granting recognition. This is BSNLEU’s seventh victory in a row. Polling for this eighth membership verification was held on September 16, 2019. Counting of votes was done on September 18, 2019 and the results were declared the next day.Out of the total 1,10,782 employees, 1,02,968 employees cast their votes. 1,527 votes were invalid. BSNLEU secured 48,127 votes, which comes to 43.44 per cent.

WEST BENGAL: Jadavpur University Resists Saffron Gangs

STUDENTS and teachers of Jadavpur University rose in unison to resist BJP-ABVP attack on the campus and another saga of protest has begun.The ruckus started with union minister Babul Supriyo entering the university to attend a ‘seminar’ and ‘fresher’s welcome’ organised by the ABVP. The programme, ultimately held, was not attended by Jadavpur University students but by BJP activists of different areas, and of different ages too. As the union minister entered the campus, students held a peaceful protest against him, some showing black flags.

CITU Extends Support to Bank Strike

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on September 23, has extended support to the two days' strike called by four federations of bank officers unions in all the banks of the country on September 26-27, 2019 against the destructive decision of the BJP government on merger of public sector banks and imposition of burden on the people through so-called banking sector reforms.

AIDWA Protests Victim’s Arrest in Chinmayanand Case

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association, in a statement issued on September 26, has strongly condemned the force arrest and harassment of the victim in the Chinmayanand case and demanded immediate withdrawal of the alleged extortion case lodged against her. It condemns the role played by the SIT and Uttar Pradesh Police under pressure from the Yogi government. The rape case against Chinmayanand was filed on August 27, 2019 but the accused was arrested only after 14 days after a public outcry. The sections under which Chinmayanand has been arrested have also been diluted.

TRIPURA: Youth Upsurge in Agartala

WE are the youth, we want jobs. The slogan reverberated in the streets of Agartala, as thousands of youth marched through the city on September 16.The city of Agartala witnessed waves after waves of youth walking past the route from Rabindra Bhavan to Vivekananda Stadium in an organised and determined march at the call of the DYFI and the TYF.The two youth organisations had given the call of "Agartala Cholo" with a 12 point charter of demands.The youth conventions organised prior to the march had given a hint that the march will be a success.

The Roots of Indian Federalism

THE anti-colonial struggle saw the emergence of a pan-Indian national consciousness that was superimposed upon a pre-existing “nationality” consciousness based on linguistic regions. The pan-Indian national consciousness in other words was superimposed upon a Bengali or Gujarati or Tamil or Odiya consciousness; and the anti-colonial struggle saw the flourishing of both kinds of consciousness.

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