ON April 6, sugarcane farmers from the sugarcane growing states organised a massive dharna before the Parliament under the banner of All India Sugarcane Farmers' Federation.
LAST March 26, the national elections took place in Cuba to sovereignly elect the 470 deputies to the National Assembly of People's Power, who will make up the X Legislature of the Parliament and who will be in charge of electing the president and vice president of the republic, as well as continuing with the legislative development of the Constitution. This was an act of popular sovereignty and citizen participation, which reflected the commitment of Cubans to the Revolution.
FOR the first time in the history of India, contract workers in the petroleum sector are gearing up for a national strike. They gathered at a national convention on April 6, 2023 in New Delhi, where contract workers from across the country resolved to organise a series of protest movements and culminate in a one-day national strike later this year.
CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on April 7THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly disapproves of the amendments to the IT Rules 2021 giving powers to the Press Information Bureau (PIB) to fact check any “fake, or false, or misleading” information about central government and ask the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google to take them down.
Except in war-time, capitalism invariably seeks to control inflation by creating a recession; and this is so even when the inflation has been caused by an autonomous increase in capitalists’ profit-margins which are downward inflexible and hence would not be reduced by a recession. This strategy is pursued because a recession invariably lowers the demand for primary commodities and hence their prices; this serves to lower inflation.
IN discussions about the laws and policies passed and implemented by the Modi government in recent years, one crucial similarity is often overlooked. Many of the policies, such as the farmers' law, labour laws, environmental laws, and forest act, have been modelled after those of the colonial era. This point was repeatedly emphasised during the farmers' protests, which became one of the most radical and determined movements in independent India's history and lasted for a whole year at the borders of the capital.
The Social Audit Unit held 15,942-gram sabhas in every single ward of rural LSGs to audit projects worth Rs 4,000 crore completed through MGNREGA.
KERALA has become the first state in the country to complete a total social audit of the works carried out under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) in the state. The audit was held in the wards of each rural local self government (LSG) in Kerala through gram sabha meetings.
The BJP high command finally announced the first list of 189 candidates on April 11th late at night, after being subjected to hectic lobbying, threats, pressure tactics by candidates, and even senior leaders, as well as endless consultations, discussions, and postponements for several days. Eight sitting MLAs have been denied tickets, and most of them are unhappy, with some, including Minister S Angara, expressing their discontent openly.
SUMMER has well and truly set in all over India. Monthly average temperatures in February have been the hottest since 1901. Temperatures were unusually high in western India in parts of Maharashtra and Konkan, and areas in Rajasthan recording as much as 7 C (degrees Celsius) higher than normal.
THE Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), in a statement issued on April 8, has strongly opposed the amendments made to the IT Rules 2021. The amendments in fact change the very nature and mandate of the Press Information Bureau, giving them virtual policing powers.