Sahmat Holds Safdar Evening on January 1

THE setting up of Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (Sahmat) was a spontaneous and organic response to the murder of a street theater activist, known for his commitment to the democratic and secular principles that undergirded the promise of Indian independence. Since it came into being in 1989, Sahmat has stood for preserving the very values that defined Safdar’s public work.

National Medical Commission Bill not in Public Interest

THE National Medical Commission Bill, 2017, recently approved by the union cabinet, has now been referred to a parliamentary standing committee after protests by various sections of the medical profession. The bill is designed to replace the Indian Medical Council Act of 1956. The bill was drafted in the aftermath of several scandals that rocked the Medical Council of India in the past decade.

On Caste and Identity Politics in Gujarat Elections

THE dust has settled on the Gujarat elections. The BJP has claimed that it has fought twenty two years anti-incumbency and won the elections because of its ‘politics of vikas’ versus the opposition’s ‘casteist politics’. In a post-election interview, the BJP president Amit Shah claimed that his 150+ mission had failed because of the “dirty and low level casteist politics of the Congress and its allies”. In doing so, Shah dismissed all the agitations that Gujarat has been facing for the last few years as “dirty low level politics”.

MAHARASHTRA : CPI(M) Supports Bandh to Denounce Violence against Dalits

THE CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee has, in a statement issued on January 2, called upon all democratic and secular minded people in the state to extend their full support to the joint Maharashtra bandh call on January 3, the birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule. The bandh has been called by various Ambedkarite and Left groups to denounce the January 1 attacks by casteist and communal forces on lakhs of dalits who had gathered at Bhima Koregaon in Pune district to pay homage to martyrs on the 200th anniversary of the Bhima Koregaon battle in which the hated casteist Peshwa rule was def

SOLIDARITY PROGRAMME IN WEST BENGAL: Tripura will Resist Enemies of the People

THE people of Tripura will not bow down before enemies of the people and will not allow single space to secessionists and communal forces. Despite the obstacles imposed by the centre and by the trouble makers, they will march to another victory. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and chief minister of Tripura, Manik Sarkar, asserted with conviction at a public meeting in Kolkata on December 28. The meeting was organised by the CPI(M) West Bengal state committee to express solidarity with the struggling people of Tripura.

A Year of Willful Economic Disaster

THE uniqueness of 2017 lies in the fact that never before has the country seen a government-caused economic crisis as serious as was witnessed in this year. There have certainly been worse years for the people, such as 1965-66, 1966-67, and 1973-74, each of which saw massive inflation. But these were years when economic hardships occurred for reasons that had nothing to do proximately with government policy. 1965-66 and 1966-67 when the “Bihar famine” had occurred, had seen a sharp drop in food grains output, a drop that had lasted two years.

Legitimising Corporate Influence and Bribery

THE details of the scheme of electoral bonds outlined by the finance minister in parliament have only confirmed what was apprehended when the proposal for electoral bonds was first announced in the January 2017-18 budget. The scheme is nothing but a way of harnessing corporate funding for the ruling party and facilitating the takeover of the political system by big money.According to the finance minister, the electoral bond will be a bearer instrument in the nature of a promissory note.

India’s Industrial Sector: Myth and Reality

ONE of the elements of the so-called revival in GDP growth in the second quarter of the current year (2017-18) was an apparent rebound of manufacturing sector growth. The year-on-year growth rate of manufacturing, which had dipped to 1.2 per cent in Q1 of 2017-18 jumped to 7.0 per cent in Q2. On the face of it, therefore, the industrial sector is back on track after a brief demonetisation induced slowdown.

UITARAKHAND: Sixth State Conference of CPI(M)

THE sixth state conference of the Uttarakhand unit of the CPI(M) commenced on December 16, at Bhagwati Palace in Almora. The venue was dedicated to the memory of Comrades Nagendra Saklani and Bholu Bhandari who were martyred fighting against the Tihari Kingdom.A procession marched through the streets of the city before the commencement of the conference. It culminated in a rally which was addressed by Party leadership.

The Week in Parliament

THE delayed Winter Session of Parliament began on a stormy note on December 15 with opposition members in the Rajya Sabha persistently demanding an explanation from the government on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s allegation about Pakistan's interference in the Gujarat assembly election.

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