Potato Growers Take to Streets in West Bengal

POTATO growers in West Bengal are enraged, with strings of protests and blockades sweeping through the state. The crisis of the peasants has accentuated as the prices of potato have come down to an all-time low, both in wholesale and retail market. Distress sale has become the order of the day. And, though it is continuing for months, no intervention has been evident from the state government.Potato, along with paddy, is one of the most important agricultural produce in West Bengal. Tens of thousands of farmers are dependent on this produce.

Condemn Growing Hate Crimes in the USA

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on February 25.THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its outrage at the killing of a young Indian and injury to another in a hate crime in the United States of America. Srinivas Kuchibhotla was killed while his friend Alok Madsani was injured in the shootout in Olathe city in Kansas of the US.

Nationwide Strike by FMRAI Demanding Price Reduction of Medicines, Medical Devices

MEDICAL and sales representatives throughout the country took part in an all-India strike on February 3, at the call of FMRAI, demanding reduction of prices of medicines and medical devices and revival of public sector pharma units.

CPI(M) Challenges Sangh Parivar in its Stronghold!

MANGALORE was painted red again, after being branded as saffron zone for over a decade. The occasion was Communal Harmony and Unity rally organised by CPI(M) on February 25. It was held despite grave threats and violence by Sanghis. The rally was a culmination of a campaign extending to several weeks, against communalisation of Coastal Karnataka and to restore communal harmony. Kerala chief minister and CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, Pinarayi Vijayan was scheduled to address the rally. CPI(M) Karnataka state committee had chalked out this entire campaign in November 2016.

Interest Rates and the Use of Cash

FINANCE capital is always opposed to the use of fiscal measures for stimulating an economy. This is because any such fiscal stimulation undermines the social legitimacy of capitalism, and especially of that segment of it which constitutes the world of finance and which is peopled with “functionless investors” in Keynes’ words or of “coupon clippers” in Lenin’s words, ie, of entities that play no role in the production process. If State intervention comes to be seen as necessary for stimulating the economy, then the question may arise in the public mind: why do we need all these entities?

Earth's Seven Sisters 40 Light-years Away

AN international team of scientists have discovered a set of seven, near earth-sized exoplanets circling a nearby star, named Trappist-1. They have reported this discovery recently in Nature. What is exciting about these exoplanets is that all of them may have water, with three falling in what is called the habitable zone. In the habitable zone, planets may have water in liquid form on their surface, and therefore the possibility of life.

Historic March of Students and Teachers in Delhi University against ABVP’s Goondaism

THOUSANDS of students and teachers marched in the north campus of Delhi University on February 28 against ABVP’s goondaism. This was the biggest mobilisation of students and teachers which DU has seen in decades. The immediate call against the ABVP’s terror tactics to silence all voices critical of the RSS-BJP regime through violent means became a rallying point for a mass mobilisation which was beyond the reach of any organisation.

United Forum of Bank Unions Holds Successful Strike

Statement issued by Bank Employees Federation of India on February 28AT the call of United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU), the umbrella organisation of nine unions of workmen and officers of the banking industry of the country, the workmen and officers of banks all over the country, including those of regional rural banks and co-operative banks, struck work on February 28 to ventilate their unequivocal protest and opposition to the neoliberal reform of the banking sector being pursued by the central government. The strike was total throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Huge Rally of Workers, Peasants in Guwahati

GUWAHATI, the capital city of Assam, witnessed a huge rally of workers and peasants on February 26. The rally was organised jointly by the Assam state committees of CITU and AIKS against the anti-worker and anti-peasant policies and the politics of communal divide pursued by the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in the state. In Assam, soon after coming to power, the BJP government unleashed a massive eviction drive of the peasantry and other sections of the working people from ‘khas’, railway, VGR/PGR land.

AIDWA Condemns Censor Board’s Denial of Certification to a Movie Depicting Women’s Issues

Statement issued on February 27THE All India Democratic Women’s Association strongly condemns the decision of the Censor Board of Film Certification to deny certification to Alankrita Srivastava and Prakash Jha’s film ‘Lipstick under my Burkha’, which depicts the range of problems that women in India are facing today, and their struggle to overcome these obstacles. The much acclaimed film has won the Best Film for Women’s Equality Award at the Mumbai Film Festival and the ‘Spirit of Asia’ Award in the Tokyo Film Festival.

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