Fact Finding Team Visits Tripura

AN eight-member fact finding team, consisting of members of parliament, national leaders of kisan movement and eminent leader of the Alliance for People’s movement Medha Patkar, called Democracy the first casualty under the five months rule of the BJP-IPFT alliance in Tripura.The team members addressed a press conference in Agartala on August 5, after two days of hectic schedule, visiting different places in the state covering six of the eight districts.

All India Road Transport Workers’ Strike

THE All India Co-ordination Committee of Road Transport Workers’ Organisations has called upon road transport workers and owners of the country to go on strike on August 7, demanding withdrawal of draconian MV Act (Amendment) Bill 2017 that paves way for corporates into the core transport sector. The call was given at the meeting of motor transport workers and vehicle owners held at Thiruvananthapuram on July 14.The MV Act bill was passed by Lok Sabha on April 10, 2017, overruling the objections raised by the Left and other opposition parties.

Rafale Deal: A ‘Toofani’ Scam

NOT very long ago, in 2012, the Indian Air force (IAF) selected Rafale fighter jet for procurement to augment its depleting fleet. The process adopted by the IAF for evaluating the competing aircraft set the gold standards for fighter aircraft acquisitions. Air Commodore Jasjit Singh praised the Air Force for following a “systematic and scientific process”.

CITU Congratulates Road-Transport Workers for Magnificent Strike on Aug 7

MORE than three crore road transport workers in state-transport, private passenger transport, goods transport and small passenger transport like auto, taxi etc., have staged a magnificent strike action throughout the country on August 7. This strike was to voice their protest against the draconian Motor Vehicle Amendment Bill (MVAB) which is still pending for enactment by parliament. The draconian bill presented by the Modi government is a design for paving the way for destruction of State-owned public transport corporations.

Begging and Criminality

ON Wednesday August 8, the Delhi High Court decriminalised begging in the capital. In the course of its hearing, it had raised the question how begging could be an offence in a country where the government was unable to provide food and jobs; its final verdict is in line with this thinking.

Huge Kisan-Mazdoor Jail Bharo

THE AIKS and CITU have congratulated the people of the country, especially the workers and the farmers, for their overwhelming response to the August 9 Jail Bharo movement. It was expected that over 20 lakh people will participate, but the reports received at the centre as we go to the press show that the number may increase the targeted figure.

Article 35A: Another Divisive Move

THE petition challenging Article 35A of the constitution before the Supreme Court is meant to open up another divisive issue in tune with the Hindutva politics espoused by the BJP and the RSS.Article 35A was introduced by a presidential order in 1954 to safeguard the rights and guarantee the unique identity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This provision gives the Jammu and Kashmir legislature the right to decide who are permanent residents of the state and confer on them special rights in acquisition of property, in public sector jobs and social welfare.

WEST BENGAL: CM’s Concerns on NRC are Doubtful

CPI(M) West Bengal state secretary Suryakant Misra in a statement issued on July 30, has demanded that all citizens residing in Assam should be enlisted in NRC.He said people of West Bengal are concerned about developments in Assam. It is doubtful whether the statement of the West Bengal chief minister in this regard is actually aimed to address this concern. The role of TMC in the past on citizenship issue is one reason for this doubt.

The Week in Parliament

THE monsoon session of Parliament began on July 18, with obituary references to departing leaders including Md. Amin of the CPI(M) who passed away on February 12. New CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP Elamaram Kareem took oath on the first day of the session.LEGISLATIVE BILLSThe Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was taken up for discussion in Rajya Sabha. In his maiden speech, Elamaram Kareem opposed the Bill and said that in the name of ‘road safety’, there is some hidden agenda behind this.

Enact Comprehensive Legislation for Agricultural Workers

AGRICULTURAL workers play an important role in agricultural production, of food as well as commercial crops. They make up the largest share of all working people in our country. According to the last Census in 2011 there were 14.43 crore agricultural workers in India. This is about one third of our country’s workforce and 55 percent of the rural workforce. With continuing agrarian crisis, large numbers of small and marginal farmers are compelled to abandon cultivation and join the ranks of agricultural workers. Thus, their number has been rising steadily every year.

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