Cutting Social Sector Expenditure

THE NDA government is reportedly planning drastic cuts in social sector spending in 2014-15 to reduce the fiscal deficit. According to a report in The Hindu of November 27, the cuts relative to the budgetary provisions for this year could be as large as 25 percent in many sectors. While the government has not confirmed these reports, the coyness of its protestations, together with the pervasiveness of such reports, and the clear evidence at least with regard to one area where cuts are being effected, viz.

Janapaksha Yatra: Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing but Mockery

THANKS to the geography of Kerala, yatras organised by various political parties from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram touch almost all districts in a straight line. Many leaders had organised yatras (processions) in the past in order to propagate their respective ideologies. But a yatra, christened as Janapaksha Yatra, organised and led by state Congress president V M Sudheeran to propagate among others the need of prohibition in the state not only failed to make an impact but it also became a laughing stock to all including Congress men and women.

Massive rally in Kolkata Demands Mamata’s Interrogation

A RALLY organised by the Kolkata district Left Front, demanding the CBI interrogation of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the Saradha Chit Fund probe, has witnessed huge gathering of people in Kolkata on December 2, 2014. This rally reflected the simmering anger among the people regarding the pace of the CBI investigation. While one after another evidence is coming out, exposing the complicity of top TMC leaders in the scam, the CBI and the ED have so far restrained themselves in circling round some aspects of the scam while avoiding the conspiracy angle.

TMC Land Mafia Kills Peasant Woman Strong Wave of Protest in Nadia

A VILLAGE in Nadia district witnessed barefaced brutality of the TMC regime when an armed gang of the ruling party attacked the peasants to capture a tract of land and shot dead a woman. Many others, including two women and a student suffered serious bullet injuries in the attack.

Justice VR Krishna Iyer

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on December 4, 2014
I AM deeply saddened at the passing away of Justice VR Krishna Iyer. Krishna Iyer was a visionary jurist, statesman and champion of human rights. Elected as an independent, he became the law minister in the first Communist ministry in Kerala in 1957. As a Supreme Court judge, he gave several landmark judgements which interpreted the rights of citizens under the constitution favouring the common man.

Times Report Misleading

THE Times of India report (dated December 1) that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to attend the state cabinet meeting in Tripura is misleading.

The actual fact is that during the prime minister's visit to Tripura, the chief minister and state ministers are going to meet him at the state guest house. They will submit a memorandum and discuss with him issues concerning the state. This has been clarified by Chief Minister Manik Sarkar.

It may be recalled, that such a meeting of state ministers had taken place when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had visited Tripura.

CPI(M) Rally Protests Burning of Church in East Delhi

HUNDREDS of activists from different areas of the national capital participated in a rally organised by the Delhi state committee of CPI(M) to protest the burning of a church in East Delhi’s Dilshad Garden. The protest rally began at Vithalbhai Patel House and marched towards the Home Ministry but it was stopped by police at the Krishi Bhawan roundabout. The rally was converted into a public meeting presided by Party secretariat member K M Tiwari.

AIFFWF Delegation meets Minister On Issues Faced by Fishers

A DELEGATION of All India Fishers and Fisheries Workers’ Federation (AIFFWF) comprising Tushar Ghosh, its president, Hemalata, general secretary, VV Saseendran, treasurer and Koottayi Basheer and P Stanly, both secretaries, met the union minister for environment and forests Prakash Javadekar on December 1, and submitted a memorandum on the difficulties faced by the fishers and other traditional people living in the country’s coastal areas due to the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) notification 2011.

Gruesome Portends Of BJP’s Offensive Statements

IT is, indeed, a tragic irony – a gruesome portend of things to come – that highly offensive statements aimed at sharpening communal polarisation have come with alarming rapidity from members of the union council of ministers in the week preceding the 22nd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

Six Months of Modi Sarkar

THE Congress party has brought out a booklet on the six months of the Modi government calling it a “U-Turn Sarkar”. Essentially, the booklet claims that the Modi government has done a U-turn by reversing the stand taken by the BJP on a number of policy issues. While in the opposition, the BJP had opposed many of the UPA government’s policies, now in the six months of its government, it has contradicted itself and decided to follow the same policies.

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