Left Parties Protest Demanding Reduction of Fuel Prices

Below we publish reports from the states on the protests organised by the Left Parties demanding the central government to sharply reduce the excise duties on petroleum products, and reduce its prices.West BengalThousands of people participated in the protest against incessant rise in the prices of petrol and diesel on June 29 in West Bengal. 16 Left parties and allied parties participated in the protest throughout the state. In Kolkata, leaders of 16 parties and that of the Congress, along with activists, stood beside the Red Road.

CPI(M) Opposes ECI's Unilateral Decision on Postal Ballots

CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury, wrote a letter to the chief election commissioner, Sunil Arora on June 29, objecting to the unilateral measures being taken by the Election Commission, altering electoral procedures, without consulting political parties.Yechury wrote, “We are greatly disturbed by the media reports that the Election Commission of India (ECI) bypassing the established practice of consulting political parties, is unilaterally initiating measures to provide voters aged over 64 years, the use of postal ballots.”It has been reported that in response to the request from t

As US Buys Entire Stock of Remdesivir, Countries Need to Break Gilead Patent

THE US has bought up the entire stock of Remdesivir from Gilead, making it near impossible for this drug to be available anywhere else in the world. This has made all the more urgent that we break Gilead’s patent and issue compulsory license to Indian drug companies to manufacture the drug. The Indian Patent Act, 2005 in which the Left played a very important role, has clear provisions for compulsory licensing during a health emergency or an epidemic.

Privatisation in Space: Lurking Dangers & Poor Prospects

AS part of the Rs 20 lakh crore economic stimulus package announced by the government supposedly to boost the Covid-impacted economy, the finance minister declared that all sectors of the economy would henceforth be open for the private sector, and that public sector undertakings (PSUs) would work mainly in strategic sectors and would be privatised in others.

PM’s Announcements: Grossly Inadequate

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on July 1, 2020THE announcements made by the prime minister yesterday are totally inadequate to meet the crisis of survival and livelihood being faced by crores of our people. The provision of five kg of foodgrains and one kg of pulses is grossly inadequate to meet the survival needs of the people who have been deprived of their livelihood or food for over three months.

Quest for the Path of Indian Revolution

THE various peasant struggles led by the Communists, particularly the glorious Telangana armed people’s struggle brought to the fore issues concerning the stage of Indian revolution, the strategy that needed to be adopted and also the tactics to be pursued. These questions led to various discussions and debates within the Party.The political tactical line that was adopted in the Second Party Congress was subjected to minute analysis for answers to these questions that confronted the Indian communists.

MAHARASHTRA: CPI(M) Protests against Modi Regime’s Policies

AS per the CPI(M) Polit Bureau call for June 16, the Party in Maharashtra mobilised over 13,200 people at 203 centres in 60 tehsils of 21 districts on the four major demands directed against the Modi-led BJP central government.

India’s Abysmal Healthcare System

DD Kosambi uses a telling example to illustrate the crisis of Indian feudalism: at the third Battle of Panipat in 1761, the troops on oneside had not had enough to eat, while the troops on the other side just managed to assuage hunger by looting villages in the neighbourhood; neither side in short had arranged provisions for its troops.

Remove Manu Statue: DSMM

THE Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch extends its support to the demand made by several dalit activists and organisations for the removal of the Manu statue in the premises of the High Court at Jaipur. This statue was placed there 31 years ago by a group of advocates who wanted to pay homage to him as a lawmaker.The DSMM, in a statement issued on July 2, said that the Manusmriti is a text that glorifies the worst forms of inequality, discrimination and oppression. It upholds birth ordained inequality and prescribes punishment based on caste and gender.

Coal Workers Strike

IN an unprecedented display of workers unity and spread of movement, as the biggest industry wise action during Covid-19 lockdown, about 1.5 lakh coal workers, irrespective of their trade unions affiliation, were in the field actively participating in the all India protest day on June 10 in all 535 collieries in eight coal-bearing states and offices of all the subsidiaries of public sector Coal India Limited (CIL) and centre-state joint sector Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) in Telangana.

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