Peoples Democracy newsletter

Peoples Democracy newsletter

CC COMMUNIQUE: Mass Dharna on Dec 2 Against BJP Govt’s Moves to Subvert MGNREGA

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi from October 26 to 29, 2014. It has issued the following statement:

RESIST ATTACK
ON MGNREGA
The Modi government is taking steps to curtail and restrict the Rural Employment Guarantee Act. There is a proposal to restrict the implementation of the Act to 200 most backward districts in the country.

RSS Goons Kill DYFI Worker in Kasaragod

A DYFI worker has been brutally killed by RSS goons at Kumbala village in Kerala’s Kasaragod district. The incident took place around 5 pm on October 27 when 37-year-old Murali, a member of DYFI Shatipallam unit committee, was riding a motorbike, along with his friend Manjunath. The RSS goons, led by Sharat, stopped the motorcycle and stabbed him repeatedly to death. This was the second attempt on Murali’s life.Murali, a resident of Shantipallam in Kumbala, was attacked by the RSS goons near Apsara Mill area near Sithamgoli.

Shrameva Jayate: Demagogy and Deceit

THE present government at the centre seems to have mastered the art of demagogy and deceit. Words are not meant to be followed by deeds. They go in different directions.

The multi-coloured advertisements in the corporate dailies on the ‘Shrameva Jayate Karyakram’ organised by the government only confirms this impression. Named after one of the proponents of the Hindutva ideology, this programme had been put up as an important effort by the new government at the centre ‘for the working people in the country’.

US Prepares for Gulf War III

THE decision by President Barack Obama to order the American military back into action in West Asia following the military advances of the Islamic State (IS) forces and the beheading of three western nationals in the region, could lead to another full scale war in the region. In the third week of September, the US House of Representatives and the Senate voted to give the American president its approval for the plan to train and arm the so-called “moderate” rebel forces in Syria, without even a semblance of a debate.

MAHARASHTRA: Assembly Election Results: A Preliminary Factual Survey

THE results of the Maharashtra state assembly that were declared on October 19 have led to a hung house. However, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with 122 seats has emerged for the first time as the single largest party and is set to form the next government. A BJP ally, the Rashtriya Samaj Party has won one seat. The Shiv Sena (SS) with 63 seats has emerged as the second largest party. The Congress (INC) with 42 seats is third and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) with 41 seats is fourth.

Labour Law Reforms: Some Reflections on the Contemporary Debate

THE Modi government announces its big ticket labour market reforms. Branded as Shramev Jayate, these labour reforms have the objective of pleasing both labour and capital and removing the ‘obstacles’ to economic investment and growth. But Modi is not alone in trying to please labour and capital in one stroke. Even those politically opposed to him are arguing that labour reforms are needed and that they should be suited to address the problems of labour market rigidities which have traditionally held back economic growth.

Recovery of J&K from Devastation of Floods

INDIA is a land of festivals. Almost every other day there is some or the other festival, but the festivity reaches its peak as the time of the harvest of rice approaches. This is also the time when Kashmiri apples reach the national and international markets. But, this year the season of festivals has brought a long series of destruction and worries for the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The devastating floods which the state saw in the first week of September are completely unprecedented for this ‘heaven on the earth’.

ANDHRA PRADESH: Declare Cyclone Hudhud as National Calamity: CPI(M)

VISAKHAPATNAM, one of the most beautiful cities on the East Coast, was devastated by Cyclone Hudhud which hit Andhra Pradesh on October 12. The devastation was unprecedented. In fact, the whole northern region of Andhra Pradesh was badly affected by it. Due to development of technology, several agencies like NASA, ISRO and IMD had warned about the magnitude of the cyclone five days in advance, but the state government was not in a position to take up relief measures even two days after the cyclone hit the state.

Capitulation on IP: Reaching a Point of no Return?

THE government has chosen the occasion of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to the US to articulate a vision on Intellectual Property (IP) protection that promises to radically reshape the Indian IP system (as reported in this column a couple of weeks back). What is of particular interest is the contrast between the BJP led government’s present stance on IP and the BJP’s position on the floor of Parliament when India’s Patent Act was being amended in 2005, in order to make it compatible with the TRIPS agreement.

The Nehruvian Economic Strategy

THIS being Jawaharlal Nehru’s 125th birth anniversary, much is being written about him and the economic strategy he pursued. The corporate-controlled media are full of articles criticising the “inward looking” dirigiste economic strategy that Nehru, along with PC Mahalanobis who was in charge of the planning process for much of the Nehru era, was supposed to have introduced.

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