COME the Independence Day, comes the discussion on patriotism. Some wear it on their sleeve. Literally. The one who is speeding in his car, with the national flag, thinks he is extremely patriotic. The one who salutes the flag, thinks he is the (lot of emphasis) patriot. Not to forget the ones who post their 'selfies', all the while saluting (don't ask how they mix a salute with a selfie, it's all a heady patriotic cocktail).
WE are discussing about the anti-labour blueprint drawn in the Report of the Director General of ILO presented to the 104th session of the ILC of ILO held in Geneva from May 31 to June 13, 2015. In the first installment of our discussion, we have already dealt with that part of the Report which has enumerated the structure, contents and method of preparation of the centenary ILC, due in 2019 and pointed out the deliberate and motivated departure from the time-tested standing system and tripartite principles.
A MYTH has been spread by the bourgeois writers of democracy that the state and its apparatuses are "neutral agencies" and the rule of law is implemented in an impartial and unbiased manner by all managers of the capitalist democratic state.
LAST week, Sakshi Maharaj, a BJP MP, was once again in the news for calling all those who attended Yakub Memon’s funeral as anti-national. Just before that the minister for parliamentary affairs, Venkaiah Naidu stated that anyone questioning the hanging of Yakub Memon was “doing disservice to the nation”. A few days later, three news channels were served with notices to explain why they had questioned the president and the decision of the Supreme Court on the hanging of an “anti-national terrorist”.
NIRANJAN Chatterjee from West Bengal and I, as its functionaries were nominated by the CITU to participate in the 2015 World Conference against Atom and Hydrogen Bombs which was held at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan from August 2-9.
THE Left movement in Tripura reached a new mile stone on 19th August 19 as more than 2.25 lakh people formed human chains at 96 centres across the state stretching to around 300 kilometres in all. The impressive show of strength marked the culmination of the August movement at the call of CPI(M) Tripura state committee and it was unprecedented in the annals of mass mobilisation in the state.The human chains across the state saw huge participation of masses from all sections of people.
CPI(M) Leader in Lok Sabha P Karunakaran, in his speech during the discussion on an Adjournment Motion over the Lalit Modi controversy on August 12, demanded a high-level investigation into the case and resignation of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj till she is absolved of the charges against her. Swaraj and Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje have been accused of helping former IPL chief Lalit Modi, who faces charges of corruption, get travel documents from the UK. Karunakaran also questioned the silence of the Prime Minister on the issue.
THE CAG Draft Report on the three private power distribution companies in Delhi, shows that the people of Delhi have been “overcharged” by a whopping Rs 8,000 crore. The three companies – BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) and BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) controlled by Anil Ambani's Reliance group, and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (TPDDL) – committed deliberate fraud by inflating their power purchase costs, suppressing actual revenues, and through sweet heart deals with their group companies, all of which led to higher electricity bills for the consumers. In 2010, the then head of Delhi E
THE Chinese central bank’s decision last week to let the yuan depreciate in three stages by almost 4 percent against the US dollar, was officially explained as a move towards greater market determination of its exchange rate.
THE Aligarh Historians Society joins archaeologists and historians all over the world in denouncing as a most barbarous crime the gruesome murder of the eminent Syrian archaeologist, Khaled al-Asaad, an expert on Palmyra, one of the great World Heritage sites.
The Society hopes that the perpetrators of the crime, belonging to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (DAISH) one day be brought to justice, along with those who have directed or colluded with them. Civilised people, irrespective of country or religion, must unite in their