A DELEGATION of the CPI(M) led by the general secretary, Sitaram Yechury met the full body of the Election Commission on March 6, to highlight the grave situation prevailing in Tripura which threatens the conduct of free and fair elections to the 17th Lok Sabha. The delegation consisted of Nilotpal Basu, Polit Bureau member, Gautam Das, secretary, Tripura state committee and the three MPs from the state, Jiten Choudhary, Shankar Datta and Jharna Das.
THE CPI(M) Telangana state committee has condemned the recent lathicharge on turmeric and red jowar farmers of Armoor and Nizamabad. The farmers were headed towards the state capital to protest against lack of minimum support price (MSP) as per the norms. Stating that violence could not solve any problem, CPI(M) demanded support price for red jowar and turmeric in addition to establishing a Turmeric Board soon.
LEADERS of the Left parties and the Jana Sena (JSP), and hundreds of farmers who were demanding investment support for tenant farmers under the ‘Annadatha Sukheebhava’ scheme, were arrested on March 2 at Vijayawada. This was done to foil the Chalo Amaravati call given by the Left parties and the JSP.
largely picked by women are negligible and most of the royalty cost is cost of safeguarding the produce. The royalty for ‘higher value produce’ like lac, gum karaya and other produce which needs implements and are collected is higher in nominal terms but a smaller proportion of the minimum support price(MSP).
THE Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in its meeting in New Delhi on March 3-4, 2019 paid respectful homage to the memory of Comrade Nirupam Sen, former member of the Polit Bureau; to the memory of Comrade Mohar Singh, former member of the Central Committee and former secretary of Himachal Pradesh state committee of the Party and to the memory of Comrade Subodh Das, former member of the Tripura state committee of the Party. Detailed text of these condolence messages was earlier published in People’s Democracy.
SIXTY per cent of India’s population is very young, below 25 years of age. This young India has no memory of the pre-liberalisation era during which state policy was broadly oriented towards the welfare of the people. Post-1991, a calibrated change in public consciousness was made to take place through commercialisation of public needs and corporatisation of governance. Media and technology have played a strategic role in this transformation.
IT was a roaring crowd. They vowed to protect the state from the challenges posed by the communal forces. The crowd vehemently warned the Modi government of its anti-people and pro-corporate policies. Thousands of men and women from all ages and different walks of life gathered in the historical Thekkinkadu Maidan in Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala, to mark the culmination of Left Democratic Front (LDF)’s two Kerala Samrakshana Jathas led by the CPI(M) state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan and CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran.
THE ministry of housing and urban affairs (MOHUA) has released first draft of the National Urban Policy Framework (NUPF). The draft summary explains the philosophical outline of the need for drafting such a document. It is considered that this document will become a guide for the future of urban planning in India. The NUPF draft is prepared in a hurried manner to brush aside the outcome of the failure of urban policies of the BJP government.
THE All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation (AIPSO) organised its national convention and general council meetings in New Delhi on February 27-28, 2019. The national convention was held on the theme, ‘In defence of the legacy of freedom struggle and the constitution and the imperative for an independent foreign policy’.
Interrupting the presentation by a student, the prime minister sought to take potshots at his political rivals. In an uncalled for and totally insensitive response, the prime minister tried to portray all dyslexic people in poor light. It is all the more unpardonable as it comes from a person holding such a high office.