Nuclear Irresponsibility

THE recent remarks by union defence minister Rajnath Singh with regard to nuclear weapons have set alarm bells ringing. He said that while India has firmly adhered to No First Use (NFU) policy with regard to nuclear weapons in the past, what happens in the future “depends on circumstances”.

Defence Employees’ Historic Strike

82,000 defence employees working in the 41 ordnance factories of our country started one month strike on August 20. More than 40,000 contract workers have also joined the strike. The strike started as scheduled at 6 o’clock in the morning on August 20, 2019, despite the threats by the government. The defence employees have only one demand – ‘Withdraw the unilateral decision taken to corporatise the ordnance factories in violation of the agreement and assurances given by the government of India’.

IPCC on Climate Change and Land

THE ‘special report on climate change and land’, (SRCCL), was recently adopted at the 50th session of the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) at Geneva. Two of its recommendations in particular have drawn popular global attention-one calling for a sustainability-driven transformation in agriculture, especially focusing on reduction of GHG emissions and the other, emphasising the role of transforming diets to plant-based ones, with a steep reduction in meat consumption.

Chattisgarh: AIDWA State Conference

THE 5th state conference of the AIDWA Chattisgarh state was inaugurated by Mariam Dhawale on August 11. She said the struggle for equality is a struggle against feudalism and patriarchal values in the society. Targeting the BJP, she said that the BJP is a party that believes in and also practices feudal and patriarchal values. During BJP’s regime, the attacks on the women have increased; the BJP has unashamedly come forward to defend the culprits of Unnao and Kathua rape and murder cases.

Discriminatory Attitude

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Brinda Karat has written a letter to Hardeep Puri, minister for urban development, on August 16, demanding that the demolished Guru Ravidas temple is rebuilt and the samadhis are restored in their original place. Below we publish the text of the letter:

TELANGANA: Uranium Extraction to Effect People

A ROUND table conference was organised on July 28, 2019 in Sundarayya Vignana Kendram against extraction of Uranium in Amrabad region in Nallamala forest. State secretaries of CPI, CPI(M) and other Left leaders along with many other intellectuals and scientists and environmentalists participated in the discussion. They demanded that extraction of Uranium be stopped forthwith.

TRIPURA: Tribal Youth Federation Holds Special Convention

On August 13, Tribal Youth Federation of Tripura organised a special convention at Agartala Town Hall with ten-point demands to the state and central government to resolve the matters of employment and jobs for youth, demands regarding education policies and livelihoods of the people. Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) Manik Sarkar inaugurated the convention.

Agartala City has witnessed a spirited and enthusiastic presence of the tribal youth in this convention at the Town Hall.

The Week in Parliament

THE CPI(M) opposed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill, 2019 in both houses of Parliament. In Rajya Sabha, T K Rangarajan said today is a black day. The government did not consult the people of Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh. The government dissolved the Assembly and don’t want to hold any election. It has taken 35,000 armed personnel there. You are creating another Palestine! Tomorrow you can do anything with any State. Tomorrow you can bifurcate any State. So, the Constitution itself is in danger.

‘We are Workers. We Build the Nation. We Protect the Nation. We Have Been. We Always Will’

THIS was the slogan of the CITU general council that was held in Hassan in Karnataka on August 7-10, 2019. The general council called upon all its affiliated unions and committees to display this slogan prominently during the night long ‘jagaran’ that will be held on the night of August 14, on the eve of the Independence Day.

MAHARASHTRA: AIDWA Forms Reception Committee for its National Conference

THE 12th all India conference of AIDWA will be held in Mumbai, the capital of Maharashtra, from December 27-30, 2019. A reception committee to host the same was formed on July 27 in Mumbai in the presence of five AIDWA central office bearers – national president Malini Bhattacharya, vice presidents Subhashini Ali and Sudha Sundarraman, general secretary Mariam Dhawale and treasurer P K Shrimati.

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