Saluting Perseverance: NASA Rover on Mars

THERE is plenty to be depressed about these days. The year-long Covid-19 pandemic continues to plague people in India and around the world, the government obstinately refuses to engage with the existential issues raised by farmers, and freedom of speech and everyone expressing critical opinions face continued assault. In the midst of these dark clouds, recent space expeditions to Mars by the UAE and China, and especially the dramatic soft landing of NASA’s Perseverance Rover on the red planet streamed live at 2:30 am on Wednesday, February 24, 2021, came as welcome rays of light.

BJP Begins to Pay Political Price as Farmers Struggle Completes Three Months

IN the week before the historic nationwide farmers’ struggle completed three months on February 26, the BJP has begun to pay a heavy political price for its pro-corporate adamancy.STINGING SLAPS TO BJP INPUNJAB, WEST UP & HARYANAOn February 17, the results of the elections to eight municipal corporations and 109 municipal councils and nagar panchayats in Punjab were declared. The BJP was handed down a stinging defeat even by urban voters. Of the total 1,815 seats in the 109 municipal bodies, the BJP won only 38 seats.

Protest against Hike in Petro Prices

Strongly denouncing yet another hike in the prices of petrol, diesel and cooking gas, CPI(M) units across the country had organised protest demonstrations. Below we publish photographs of the protests from some states.

Privatsation of PSEs: Loot in the Name of Atmanirbhar Bharat

THE announcement of the privatisation policy of public sector enterprises (PSEs) in the union budget has been greeted with euphoria by the corporate media and rightwing economists. “Modi has changed”, “Extraordinarily bold” and “Real reforms at last” were some of the comments by these circles.What evoked such cheer amongst big business and financial speculators? What was announced in the budget has now been set out by the department of investment and public asset management under the union finance ministry as a memorandum entitled “New Public Sector Enterprise (PSE) policy for Atma Nirbha

SFI Condemns Violations of Reservation Norms

THE central executive committee of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has condemned the seemingly deliberate attempt by centrally funded technical institutions (CFTIs) to bypass reservation norms. Condemning the lack of initiative on the part of the ministry of education to address the issue of severe under-representation of students belonging to SC, ST and OBC categories in technical education and research, it has demanded an immediate intervention from the president of India on the issue.

West Bengal: Police Brutality on Protestors: DYFI Activist Martyred

FEBRUARY 11 will be remembered as yet another blot in the history of the TMC government in West Bengal.

Undoing the Dominance of the Corporate-Hindutva Alliance

THE farmers’ struggle represents a major step towards undoing the dominance of the corporate-Hindutva alliance that has characterised India in the last few years. The peasants, other petty producers like craftsmen, artisans and fishermen, have been among the worst victims of neoliberalism, which has progressively removed all fetters against the spontaneous tendency of big capital to encroach upon their domains.

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

IN Lok Sabha, CPI(M) member A M Ariff opposed the motion of thanks on president’s address to the joint sitting of parliament in the beginning of the budget session. The mover of the motion has done only “Modi-stuti” (glorification of Prime Minister Narendra Modi), nothing more than that. “That is why, I rise to oppose the contents of the motion of thanks. It is not so common for the opposition parties to boycott the president’s address as we witnessed this year. I believe the president is aware of the circumstances that led to such an unprecedented incident.

The Newsclick Story: Brazen Attempt to Silence People’s Voices

EARLY on February 8, 2021, dozens of officials from the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) descended upon eight locations in Delhi and started a simultaneous raid. All these locations were connected to the independent news website Newsclick. Included among these locations were the main office premises, the homes of its editor in chief Prabir Purkayastha, its editor Pranjal Pandey, well-known writer Geetha Hariharan, and homes of other administrative and technical personnel.

Taking Forward Kerala’s Development March under LDF

SURMOUNTING numerous odds such as Cyclone Ockhi, two back-to-back floods and the coronavirus pandemic, the LDF government in Kerala has performed well in diverse arenas, including infrastructure development, education, health, social welfare, information and technology, job creation, revival of public sector units, construction of homes for the homeless, waste management, and revival of water bodies. The government has also excelled in maintaining communal harmony.

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