India's Daughter Reflects Structural Reasons Behind Proliferation of Rape Cultures

THERE is no need to make too much about differing opinions about a film. There may be very rare occasions when there is unanimity among film viewers. Thus some may like the documentary made around the Nirbhaya case called India's Daughter and some may not. But can the grounds for banning the film be supported? In India, the right to freedom of expression is not an untrammeled right like it is in the United States or some other countries.

PM Modi’s Anti-Communist Tirade: Fabrication of Facts

THE annual address by the president of India to a joint session of the parliament is always a balance sheet of the past year’s work of the government and a roadmap of its proposals for the next one year. This speech is both prepared and endorsed by the union cabinet and subsequently delivered by the president. In both the houses of the parliament, a motion of thanks is moved by the ruling party expressing gratitude to the president for having delivered his/her speech.

Massive Strike against Insurance Amendment Bill

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) in a statement issued on March 7 has denounced the NDA government’s deplorable act of getting the Insurance Law (Amendment) Bill 2015 passed in Lok Sabha by neglecting the opposition by all trade unions and the public sector insurance workers. The Bill hikes FDI to 49 per cent (from the present 26 per cent) in insurance sector and opens routes for privatisation of general insurance sector.The BJP led NDA government introduced the Bill in Lok Sabha and got it adopted on March 4, 2015 although the Bill is pending with the Rajya Sabha.

More to Lose than Chains

THE other day, I was helping my child in learning paryayvachi shabd (synonyms) in Hindi. The children in the class were taught that the synonym for stree (woman) is abala (the meek). I was trying to convince my child that this is wrong and in fact this should be brought to the notice of the concerned teacher. In spite of the best of my efforts, my child, all of Class V too was not convinced that women are not meek and refused to discuss this with the teacher.

Defeat Modi Govt’s Conspiracy against Farmers

THOUSANDS of farmers, agricultural workers, tribals, landless peasants and fishermen thronged the national capital to express their anger against the Modi government’s conspiracy to snatch their livelihood forever, by promulgating the ordinance amending the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Act, 2013. They converged at Parliament Street demanding withdrawal of the ordinance at once. The capital city heard their battle cry against the black ordinance, to repeal the ordinance. The protestors were carrying flags of different colours - red, green, blue and white.

MoU on Bank Wage Revision Signed, Strike Deferred

AFTER over two years since the tenth bipartite settlement became due, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the form of minutes was exchanged between the Indian Banks Association (IBA) representing the managements of various banks and the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) representing close to ten lakh bank employees and officers with five workmen unions and four officers unions as its constituents on 23 February 2015 in Mumbai. Two other unions namely NUBE and Karmachari Sena also inked the MoU separately.

Dabholkar to Pansare: Journey of Rabid Communal Terrorism

THE dastardly assassination of Comrade Govind Pansare, the veteran 81-year old former CPI state secretary, national council member, trade union leader, eminent lawyer and prominent Marxist intellectual and writer – exactly a year and a half after the similar assassination of renowned rationalist and socialist Dr Narendra Dabholkar - has been another black mark in the recent history of Maharashtra.

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

THE budget session of the parliament in which the BJP led government placed its first full-fledged budget began on February 23, 2014. This session has almost 20 days of sitting.The parliament began with the president’s address to the joint session of both the houses of parliament.

Kerala State Conference Upholds Unity of the Party

THE conference of the CPI(M) Kerala state unit was held at Alappuzha from February 20-23, 2015 in the land of historical Punnapra-Vayalar struggle, in the run-up to the 21st Congress of the CPI(M). In this conference, all together 574 comrades participated including 558 delegates and 16 observers. The state conference was inaugurated by Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Party. Pinarayi Vijayan, state secretary presented the state report.

Tripura State Conference Concludes with Call to Build Model Party

THE 21st conference of CPI(M) Tripura state committee concluded successfully with a clarion call to the workers to build a model and stronger Party unit in the state. The conference commenced on February 25 with a massive rally in Agartala and ended on February 28.

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