Roaring Long March in Bengal

THOUSANDS of people, in a determined show of resistance, are marching through towns and villages in West Bengal protesting against disinvestment of public sector units and demanding jobs. A ‘long march’, the mainstay in South Bengal, started from the gate of Chittaranjan Locomotive Workshop on November 30 which would traverse 283 kilometres and would culminate in a massive public rally in Kolkata on December 11. This march, at the time of the writing has already crossed 130 kilometres. In Northern Bengal, a march started from Maldaha and is progressing towards Siliguri.

Water Nexus and its testing

RECENT revelations made by Ram Vilas Paswan, union minister of consumer affairs that the water quality in Delhi and in other 20 cities is not fit for drinking, made everyone apprehensive of the systems that are responsible for providing water, and as normal reaction were curious to find out what is in depth.According to the press conference held by Paswan, the samples from different locations were lifted and sent for testing as per Indian Standard 10500-2012(specification for drinking water) as set by the BIS(Bureau of Indian Standards).

Tripura: No to Citizenship Amendment Bill

MANIK Sarkar, former chief minister of Tripura wrote to the union home minister regarding the invitation extended to him to attend a proposed meeting on November 29. While thanking the minister for the invite, Sarkar showed his inability to attend the meeting owing to pre scheduled programmes.However, he placed the view points of the Party through the letter. He strongly opposed the amendments proposed by the union home ministry to the Citizenship Act.

The Perversity of the Neo-Liberal Fiscal Regime-I

WHEN income growth slows down in an economy, so does the growth of tax revenue within the given tax regime. Since the government has certain expenditure obligations, to meet these obligations it has to either impose additional taxes or expand its fiscal deficit.

Telecom: From License-Permit Raj to License-to-Loot Raj

THE major private operators, along with the State run operators in the telecom sector, are currently reeling under a three year price war with Reliance Jio. This has hit their profitability, with Jio buying its entry into the market with very low call and data charges. This has been compounded – in the case of the private operators – by not honouring the obligations of paying their license fees as a percentage of their revenue. After the Supreme Court order to pay Rs 92,000 crore as license fees, it has created a crisis for these companies.

TAMIL NADU: People’s Struggle Compels Govt to Revoke Property Tax Hike

A YEAR-long, statewide struggle has compelled the Tamil Nadu government to revoke a steep hike in property tax implemented last year. The minister for municipal administration, S P Velumani, has announced that the existing property tax collection will be discontinued and the old rates levied before April 2018 will continue.Since the tax hike was announced last year, a series of protests have taken place across Tamil Nadu. The CPI(M) vehemently opposed the announcement. The Party insisted that the steep hike should be withdrawn.

CPI(M) Releases Booklet on 100 Years of Formation of communist Party in India

“THERE is a commonality between the British rulers and the present Sangh Parivar ruling dispensation; both were/are inherently anti-communists and cannot digest their(communist’s) presence,” thus spoke Sitaram Yechury, while placing the first booklet on the hundred years of the formation of the Communist Party in India. Brinda Karat, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) was also present in the press conference, which was held on December 4 at Delhi.

The Week in Parliament

THE winter session of Parliament started on November 18, 2019. On the first day of the new session, CPI(M) and other opposition parties raised the issue of MP’s not being allowed to visit J&K after the removal of its special status under Article 370, while a delegation of European Union (EU) was allowed; and Farooq’s detention and the JNU’s students issues etc.T K Rangarajan spoke on the 250th session of the Rajya sabha in a special discussion on ”The role of Rajya Sabha in Indian Polity and the way forward”.

Electoral Bonds threat to Parliamentary Democracy

IT has been doing the rounds. The surreptitious strike, which transformed the funding of political parties by the corporates, was of such far-reaching consequence, that the controversy has already reached the hallowed portals of the Supreme Court.Three quick amendments to Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, the Finance Act of 2018 and amendments to the Companies Act had established a new instrument called the electoral bond by bulldozing them through the Lok Sabha and making the Rajya Sabha redundant by converting the key legislative proposal as a `Money Bill’.What was the sum and subst

TSRTC Employees’ 52-day Strike Ends

K Chandrasekhara Rao, chief minister of Telangana, after holding a cabinet meeting on November 28, gave orders to TSRTC management to allow all its workers, who called off a 52-day strike, to join duty from the morning of November 29. Earlier, he did not respond to the strike call off by RTC JAC causing distress to the workers and their families for three days. On November 30, he welcomed five employees from each depot and held talks with them directly. He cautioned them not to believe the union leaders and opposition leaders who he accused of misleading the workers.

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