On the Debate on Sub-Classification and Creamy Layer

THE recent Supreme Court judgment has once again stirred up debate on the issue of sub-classification of Scheduled Castes. By a majority decision, the Supreme Court held that the classification of Scheduled Castes is constitutional and that states have the authority to make decisions on the issue based on clear guidelines. Only one judge dissented from this majority opinion. The court has left the decision of undertaking classification to the discretion of the states.

The Pitfalls of Growth Under Unrestricted Trade

THE French economist J B Say had believed that there could never be a problem of aggregate demand in any economy, that whatever was produced was ipso facto demanded. There could of course be too many safety-pins and too few blades, but other than such micro mismatches, there could never be too little demand for the aggregate output as a whole. This assertion which is called “Say’s Law” in economics is obviously an absurdity, because if it were true then there could never be an over-production crisis.

Slow Claps for Hubris 3.0

The Lok Sabha results had raised hope of a new government that would be more federal and co-operative than what we have seen in the last 10 years. But the budget session is clear proof the Modi-Shah coterie has no such intentions. A united opposition that put up a spirited defence of democracy in parliament is heralding a new change. FOR the BJP and the Modi-Shah coterie that controls it, the results of General Elections 2024 ought to have been a sobering one.

The Bloody Rise of the West – Part I

ON Independence Day – August 15th – we generally take stock of the path we have travelled since 1947. Today, I will take a different tack and focus on how or why a handful of European countries end up controlling major parts of the world.Before the rise of colonial empires, India and China were the biggest economies in the world. That is not surprising, as probably 90 per cent of the world's economy was in agriculture.

Unite to Protect Singareni: A Call for Collective Action against Privatisation

THE Telangana state committee of CPI(M) organised the ‘Singareni Parirakshana Yatra (Save Singareni Jatha)’ from July 29 to August 5. The jatha was led by CPI(M) state secretariat member S Veeraiah, along with state committee members, Bhupal and P Ashiah. The jatha demanded that the government of India repeal the auction of coal blocks and directly assign the Sravanpally coal block to Singareni Collieries Company. The jatha reiterated that it is the right of Singareni Collieries Co.

On Bangladesh Situation

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on August 11The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses its serious concern at the reports of several attacks on Hindu places of worship and the minority community in Bangladesh since the fall of the Shiekh Hasina government.

SEBI Chief Should Step Down

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on August 11

HINDENBURG Research which had earlier exposed the stock price manipulation by the Adani group of companies has now leveled serious charges against the chairperson of the Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Madhabi Puri Buch. It has cited documents to show that Buch and her husband held stakes in the same offshore funds which were utilised by Vinod Adani to invest in Adani companies.

Cancel Licences to Companies Supplying Military Arms & Equipment to Israel

Prominent citizens of the country have written to the defence minister on July 30, regarding cancellation of licences and halt to grant of new licences to companies supplying military arms and equipment to Israel. Below we publish the text of the letter.WE are writing to you as concerned citizens, alarmed at the continued grant of export licences and permissions to various Indian companies, for the supply of military arms and munitions to Israel, since the war on Gaza began.

Fidel Castro: A Life of Revolution

August 13 marks the anniversary of the birth of Marxist and communist revolutionary Fidel Castro, one of the most influential political leaders of the 20th century.FIDEL Castro was born in Biran, in the east of the island of Cuba, in 1926, and died in Havana on November 25, 2016. His historical figure however, transcends the time in which he lived.

Defending Democracy: A Charter for Protecting Press Freedom

THE National Alliance of Journalists (NAJ), the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ), the Andhra Pradesh Working Journalists Federation (APWJF), and associated members from across the country have, on August 9, presented a 13-point charter to members of parliament and political parties, calling for urgent measures to protect journalism amid escalating threats to press freedom and journalists' rights.

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