Thinking Together

1. The north eastern region of India is surrounded by foreign countries, about 98 percent of the boundary having been bordered internationally. Thus the region appears almost detached from the mainland of the country, at the same time having no mutual contact with neighbouring countries. Inside the region, the states are separated from one another by hill tracks resulting in the own-styled growth of the states in respect of food habits, races and languages, economy, employment, culture etc. So the people of these states generally bear identities specific to the concerned states.

New Constructs of Nationalism and the Media

The following is the text of the N Ramachandran Memorial Lecture delivered by Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary in Thiruvananthapuram on June 28, 2016. The lecture was organised on the occasion of presentation of N Ramachandran Award. INATIONALISM is a concept that, with its central features of fellowship, establishing a sense of community, was the basis of the national movement – where many streams flowed, but aimed eventually to overthrow foreign imperial rule and allow a hundred flowers to bloom in the garden called India.

Bad Loans of Banks

THE burden of bad loans of the banks has worsened in the last six months according to the latest Financial Stability Report of the Reserve Bank of India. According to the report, the gross non-performing assets (NAPs) ratio has risen sharply from 5.1 percent last September to 7.6 percent in March this year. The share of large borrowers of gross bad loans increased to 86.4 percent and their share of total loans is 58 percent in March 2016. According to one estimate, corporate debt worth Rs 6.7 lakh crore is facing the risk of default.

CITU Rally Calls for Intensifying Struggles against Anti-Worker Policies

ON the occasion of the 14th Andhra Pradesh state conference of the CITU, a massive rally was held in the city of Vijayawada on June 26, 2016. Thousands of workers from various parts of AP marched in the rally, with 10,000 Red Shirt volunteers in the forefront.

Venezuela: The Next Target

FRESH after their success in implementing regime change in Brazil through patently undemocratic means, the right wing in Latin America, aided and abetted by their allies in Washington, have now set their sights on Venezuela. The mainstream newspapers in the United States are busy writing the obituary of the Left in the American continent. An electoral setback for the Left in Argentina, where the Peronists lost the presidency by a narrow margin earlier in the year, was welcomed as great news in the West.

Towards the New National Policy on Education (NPE)

MODI government had undertaken an exercise of formulating the New National Policy on Education (NPE) immediately after assuming the office. However, the media reports suggest that the finalisation of the policy document may take a few more months. HRD ministry’s reluctance to make the draft report public has led to speculations among various circles that the new NPE will be used to further the Hindutva agenda.

Conspiracy, Most Foul

THE classic dictionary meaning of the word conspiracy is not that far from what Indian legal jurisprudence has evolved an understanding of. Simply put, the Oxford dictionary meaning explains, ‘A secret plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful’.

CITU Wins NLC Elections

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has won a massive support of workers of the 'Navratna' company Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd, in the elections for recognition of unions.
The elections were held on June 17. The results were announced at the night on the same day.
There are 13 unions in the NLC. Among them six unions, CITU, ATP, LPF, PTS, BMS and AITUC contested in this secret ballot voting.
As the permanent employees of NLC are only eligible to vote, 11,109 were the voters. Among them 10,680 votes were polled.

FDI in Pharmaceuticals Why Hand Over a National Asset to Foreign MNCs?

IN the recent slew of measures aimed at liberalisation of norms for foreign direct investment (FDI), norms for the pharmaceuticals (medicine) sector have been further liberalised. Existing norms allowed for 100 percent FDI in the case of Greenfield projects (projects that involve infusion of FDI to set up a completely new facility) through the automatic route – ie, without prior permission from the government.

Central Pay Hike Disappointing

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on June 30, 2016THE pay hike for central government employees announced by the central government has been disappointing. Based on the Seventh Central Pay Commission’s recommendations, there is only an increase of 14.2 percent in the emoluments in terms of gross salary and the increase in the take-home pay is just 7.4 percent for the lowest category. The central government has deferred the decision on the revision in allowances.The ratio between the lowest and the highest scale continu

Search form

Peoples Democracy newsletter