The “Quadrilateral” Trap for India

THE quadrilateral alliance between the United States, Japan, Australia and India is once again taking shape. During the recent ASEAN Summit in Manila, on the sidelines, a meeting of officials of the four countries was held. Later, during the course of the Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meetings separately with the leaders of the four countries. The official-level meeting of the four participant countries did not issue a joint statement. Each country issued a statement explaining the outcome of the meeting. But the common theme in all the four statements was the agreed decisio

October Revolution Centenary in Moscow

TEN years ago, at the International Meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties (IMCWP), we had suggested in the Working Group in Minsk, capital of Belarus, that a meeting in the year of the centenary of the October Revolution must be held in Moscow hosted by the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF).While this was almost unanimously accepted, the CPRF was initially hesitant whether they would be in a position to organise this event given the fact that almost all the Communist and Workers Parties in the world would inevitably converge in Moscow for this centenary.

Assam: Ensure Fair Process of Updating NRC

THE draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam is to be published by December 31, 2017 as per the direction of the Supreme Court of India. The updating of the NRC of 1951 constitutes a key part of the implementation of the Assam Accord of 1985 which had fixed March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for determining illegal migrants who came after that date.The updating of the NRC is thus a vital step in settling the “foreigners” issue in Assam. It would allay the fears about illegal migration harboured by the Asomiya and indigenous communities.

CPI(M) Greets PCdoB on its 14th National Congress

Below we publish the greetings of the CPI(M) to the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Brazil – PCdoB. G Ramakrishnan, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) has attended this Congress which was held from November 17-19, 2017 at Brasilia. DEAR Comrades,Communist Party of India (Marxist) greets the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB). It is a great honour for us to participate in your Party Congress.

Farmers Lost Over Rs 2 Lakh Crore Due to Low Prices of Crops this Year

FOLLOWING the massive workers’ Mahapadav on November 9-11 at Delhi, it is now the farmers’ turn to occupy the capital. Thousands of farmers from all over India will congregate at Delhi to demand better prices for their produce and complete freedom from debt. Many families of farmers who committed suicide in the recent past due to debt will also participate in what is being called the Kisan Mukti Sansad (Farmers’ Liberation Parliament).During the election campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi had promised that farmers would get good prices for their crops.

Why A Ranking System for Schools?

THE Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) is going to introduce a ranking system for Kendriya Vidyalayas in June next year, according to media reports. While the stated objective for the reported move is to “improve quality”, the ploy is to cut down on government spending and privatise school education. Educationists have warned against such a move. If private schools are later included in the ranking system, schools run and aided by governments may be left behind, which will ultimately encourage people to send their wards to private schools.

Seminar on Freedom of Speech

A seminar was organised on ‘Freedom of Speech, My Right’ in Kolkata on October 31 as part of the 50TH anniversary celebrations ofGanashakti, a Bengali daily published by the CPI(M) West Bengal state committee.

People Protest Demonetisation Disaster

Protesting against the ruination of the Indian economy and the livelihood conditions of the vast majority of our people due to demonetisation, the Left parties observed a `Protest Day’ across the country against the economic policies pursued by the BJP governments at the centre and the states, on November 8. Above is the photo of the protest held in New Delhi.

One Year after Demonetisation

IT is exactly a year ago that Narendra Modi had announced the decision to demonetise, at four hours’ notice, as much as 86 per cent of the total currency of the country. After one year it is clear that none of the objectives that demonetisation was supposed to achieve has been achieved. This should not come as a surprise; indeed so obviously inapposite the measure had been for achieving its stated objectives that most economists, cutting across the ideological spectrum, had predicted its futility.

The Great Indian ‘Crusade against Black Money’ Drama

FOR quite some time, corruption and black money has been agitating the public mind in this country. This was particularly more so, in the urban landscape. This was elevated to an unprecedented height in the run-up to the last general elections in 2014. The background music was provided by the anti-corruption campaign under the banner of India against corruption led by the `Gandhian icon’ Anna Hazare.

Search form

Peoples Democracy newsletter