SYRIA: Massive Vote of Confidence for Assad

EVEN the western media had to admit that President Bashar al Assad continues to enjoy massive support among his people after the holding of the recent presidential elections. The elections on June 3 witnessed a huge turnout of Syrians, not only in their war ravaged country but also in neighboring countries like Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq where millions live as refugees. Syrian diplomats said that they were themselves surprised at the outpouring of support for President Assad among their displaced compatriots living in squalid refugee camps and poverty, outside the country’s borders.

Fight the Onslaught on the Lives of People

THE meeting of the general council of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), which concluded just as the direction of the policies of the BJP led NDA government at the centre were unfolding through its railway and union budgets, warned the working class of the ominous signs of escalation of the same policies pursued by the erstwhile Congress led UPA government. These policies led to increasing burdens on the people and the workers and led to the rejection of the Congress and its allies.

CPI(M) Leader writes to Finance Minister on SCSP

K Varadharajan, Polit Bureau member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has written to finance minister Arun Jaitley, on July 12 regarding the budget allocations for the Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan. Below is the text of the letter. THE Scheduled Castes Sub-Plan (SCSP) is a crucial initiative in closing the development gap between the Scheduled Castes and the others. One of the most important budgetary issues for Dalits is the allocations for the Sub-Plan.

Budget Puts Urban Poor At the Mercy of Corporate Capital

THE Modi government’s first budget lays out a clear road map for the privatisation of governance and corporatisation of public spaces. Key to this strategy is the development of smart cities which have emerged as the pet project of Prime Minister Modi. As the finance minister stated in his speech, “the pace of migration from the rural areas to the cities is increasing. A neo middleclass is emerging which has the aspiration of better living standards. Unless, new cities are developed to accommodate the burgeoning number of people, the existing cities would soon become unlivable”.

Ethanol Again… Flogging A Dead Horse

WITHIN days of the BJP-led government coming to power, announcement was made of an enhanced policy thrust on ethanol-blending of petrol. While the earlier biofuels policy of the government, initiated by the Vajpayee-led NDA government and followed through by the UPA, mandated 5% blending of ethanol in petrol, the Modi-led government announced its intention to ratchet up the mandatory blending to 10%. There are still some procedural steps to be taken before the policy declaration comes into force but indications are that the government is serious about this new policy push.

The Rise and Fall of The Global South

A PICTURE that was painted of globalisation went as follows: the real wages in the south are much lower than in the north, since the south is saddled with large labour reserves. In a world where capital is mobile, even if labour is not, capital from the north will shift the location of its production activity from the north to the south, to take advantage of these low wages, for meeting global demand.

Budget 2014-2015: A Modi-Manmohan Joint Venture

THE first sentence of the new finance minister's budget speech was "The people of India have decisively voted for change…" However the first opportunity presented to the new government to signal the beginning of the expected that they promised did not happen. When the Left parties had said that as far as economic policies are concerned the Congress and the BJP are two sides of the same coin, both parties had dismissed this critique as Left propaganda. But the first budget of the Modi Sarkar substantiates the Left critique in no uncertain terms.

Halt Aggression in Gaza

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on July 12

THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the Israeli attack on Gaza. For the past five days, Gaza has been subjected to bombardment from the air and the sea, which is double the intensity of the genocidal attacks it had carried out in 2012. More than a 120 people have been killed including many children as the missiles have targeted residential areas.

BJP’s Acquiescence to Israeli Attacks on Gaza Not Acceptable

AS we go to press, parliamentary proceedings in the Rajya Sabha were disrupted for the day over the issue of a short duration discussion on the Israeli armed attacks on the Palestinian Gaza strip. The revised list of business for the Rajya Sabha for July 16, 2014 was circulated in a printed form, as is the practice, before the proceedings for the day began. This listed a short duration discussion on this issue soon after the question hour that ends at 12 noon.

Resist the Anti-Tribal move of Modi Government

The All India Kisan Sabha and All India Agricultural Workers Union has in a statement issued on July 14 jointly demanded the Narendra Modi government to immediately withdraw the decision effecting transfer of tribal villages of Khammam district in Telangana to the state of Andhra Pradesh for Polavaram Dam Project. This will adversely affect the rights and livelihood of nearly three lakh tribal people in the region.

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