Withdraw the Illegal Order That Undermines Rights Of Tribals

I WRITE to you to express my deep dismay at recent developments which grossly undermine the legal provisions for the protection of forest dwelling tribal communities and other forest dwellers. I was a member of the select committee of parliament on the Forest Rights Act.

Bid to Privatise NLC through Backdoor

OVER the past 40 years, Neyveli Lignite Corporation has continuously secured profit and attained the status of a ‘Navratna’ public sector undertaking due to the untiring hard work of its workers. But, some unscrupulous officials, with the connivance of the private sector and under the patronage of the central government, are trying to open the doors for privatisation. The management has handed over the work on removal of overburden to private parties like BGR and Mahalakshmi. A lot of irregularities were found in the handing over of the contract to these parties.

AIKS Delegation Visits Pehlu Khan’s Family

The leaders of All India Kisan Sabha visited Jaisinghpur of Nuh district of Haryana on April 7, to console the bereaved family members of Pehlu Khan, the dairy farmer who was killed by Sangh Parivar organisations.

AIDWA MEET: Increase Live Mass Contact with Women, Launch Struggles on Burning Issues

THE first central executive committee (CEC) meeting of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) after the 11th all India conference at Bhopal was held on March 21-23 in Delhi. It was very well attended, with 79 out of 99 CEC members and six out of 12 special invitees from all the 22 states where AIDWA is present. A central secretariat meeting was held prior to the CEC on March 21.

Trump’s Aggression in Syria

BY launching a missile attack on a Syrian air force base, Donald Trump has acted as US presidents are wont to do, which is to violate the sovereignty of independent countries and to trample upon international law. In ordering the first military action against the Syrian government and its armed forces, Trump has also dispelled some of the fake news that he himself had purveyed. During the presidential election campaign, Trump had criticised US military interventions to effect “regime change” and the folly of spending huge amounts of money in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In fact, he h

Finance Bill Anti-constitutional, Modi Govt Undermining Parliamentary Democracy: Yechury

Following is an edited excerpt of CPI(M) Leader in the Rajya Sabha Sitaram Yechury’s speech on the Finance Bill, 2017: I am extremely worried about this discussion because I do not think this is really the Finance Bill. As somebody had said, this is a financial bully, not a Bill, that has been brought about by the government and passed in an extreme hurry in the other House (the Lok Sabha).There are an unprecedented 189 amendments that have been made in this Finance Bill. Out of these, 129 relate to tax proposals.

With Westinghouse Bankruptcy, the Nuclear Energy Story Nearly Over

WITH Westinghouse announcing its bankruptcy, India's pledge to buy at least 10,000 MW as a part of the India US Nuclear Deal and reiterated by Modi last year, should be given a decent burial. Any agreement with Westinghouse now means that India would be bailing out Westinghouse and the US nuclear industry with Indian peoples' money.This also draws to a close all talk about a nuclear renaissance. The three major reactor manufacturers – Toshiba-Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi and Areva, France are all in major financial difficulties.

AIAWU Bengal Committee Holds Its First Meet

THE newly formed West Bengal state committee of the AIAWU met in Kolkata on March 23, the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh. The meeting was presided over by Tushar Ghosh, state president of the union. The report was placed by Amiya Patro, state secretary. 19 representatives of the different districts of the state reported on their struggles and membership.The launch of an independent All India Agricultural Workers Union in West Bengal is a significant development.

UTTAR PRADESH: Farming Communities, Meat Trade & Tannery Industry Face Attack

INDIA is one of the largest meat producers and meat exporters of the world. The most populous state of the country, Uttar Pradesh, is responsible for about 60 percent of this trade. In the last two years, due to the vigilantism of ‘cow protection groups’ and the fear they generated, the trade, farming communities and the tannery industry have all been adversely affected.With the accession to power of Yogi Adityanath, the new BJP chief minister, all three – the meat trade, farming communities and the tannery industry – are facing an attack that is threatening their very existence.Those in

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

THIS week Parliament mainly had discussions on various important Bills. On the first day, the Rajya Sabha discussed the Finance Bill. The government has come under heavy criticism from the opposition for some of the alterations made to the Finance Bill. Being a Money Bill, the Lok Sabha, where the BJP has a majority, can choose to accept or reject the changes proposed by the Upper House to the Finance Bill. The opposition leaders claimed that it was an attempt to push through far-reaching, non-financial changes bypassing the Rajya Sabha.

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