HIMACHAL PRADESH: On the Results of Shimla Municipal Corporation

THE Shimla Municipal Corporation elections were held on June 16, 2017. The elections were delayed owing to large scale discrepancies in the voters list which led to a new schedule for the revision of electoral rolls. However, the HP High court ordered for an advance date without revision of the rolls with large scale anomalies left in the list. The result was declared on the 17th, in which 17 seats were won by the BJP, 12 by the Congress, 4 independents (Congress rebels - 3 and BJP rebel -1) and 1 CPI(M).

The Question of Farm-Loan Waiver

THE question of farm-loan waiver that is being demanded by the peasantry is much misunderstood. Such a waiver, it is argued by critics, would vitiate the credit-culture in the country: people would stop repaying loans henceforth in expectation of waivers on them. Since the UPA government had waived farm-loans a few years ago and now again there is a demand for a farm-loan waiver, peasants, they contend, are getting into a habit of not paying loans and demanding periodic waivers instead.

Bengal: Why Darjeeling is on Fire Again?

THE beautiful hill areas of Darjeeling are on the boil once again. The indefinite strike call by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha (GJM) has fully paralysed life in the hills. Three GJM activists were killed in police firing in Darjeeling town after clashes with security forces. Tensions have heightened with the fresh stir for the demand of separate Gorkhaland state.Darjeeling hill areas have some distinct features including the topography, nationalities, language and culture. There are special provisions for these areas for quite long time.

WEST BENGAL: Historic Strike by Tea Plantation Workers

TEA workers in West Bengal went into a historic two day strike on June 12-13, defying repression from state administration. The strike, at the call of the Joint Forum of Trade Unions, was near total in three tea producing districts of Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Darjeeling, along with two sub divisions of North Dinajpur and Coochbehar districts. The strike, with a focused demand of minimum wages in tea industry, came after long and arduous struggle of the workers.

Restore Normalcy in Darjeeling

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on June 15.THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep concern at the alarming situation that has arisen in the Darjeeling hills area in the state of West Bengal. Negating all the claims of establishing peace and normalcy made by the West Bengal chief minister and the state government, calls for continuous strikes have virtually paralysed normalcy in the region.Normalcy needs to be restored in the region and this can happen only through negotiations with the Gorkh

TAMIL NADU: CPI(M) Condemns Petrol Bomb Attack on Party Office at Coimbatore

THERE was a petrol bomb attack on the district committee office at Coimbatore on June 16th morning. Party office car and windows of the office were damaged in this attack. CPI(M) state secretariat has strongly condemned the attack on Coimbatore district committee office.CPI(M) Party offices are functioning to solve the problems faced by the working people. In the past, whenever Coimbatore was affected by communal violence, the Party played a key role in safeguarding people’s unity and communal harmony.

Decrees on Nationalisation of Banks and Setting up of Consumer Societies

The Revolutionary Government with the Council of Commissars set about establishing the basis of a socialist system. Among the steps taken were the nationalisation of banks, universal labour conscription and the setting up of consumer societies. As Lenin declared: “Workers and peasants, working and exploited people! The land, the banks and the factories have now become the property of the entire people!

Kids of Kannur Help UP Mother as Yogi Adityanath Govt Fails to Act

IT was a distressing news report -- Aarti Sharma, a woman from Agra in Uttar Pradesh, offered to sell her kidney to bear educational expenses of her three daughters and a son. And no one in her state came out to help her, despite her meeting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The district administration refused to offer any help to Aarti and her children in their hour of need. She had to sell their LPG cylinder in the black market to travel to Lucknow to meet the chief minister.

Population Genetics Confirm Historians and Confound RSS Theories

A RECENT paper on a genome wide study of the South Asian population (A genetic chronology for the Indian Subcontinent points to heavily sex-biased dispersals: BMC Evolutionary Biology, March 2017) strikingly confirms the work of historians, archaeologists and historical linguists. Data shows that there were indeed significant migrations from Eurasian steppes into South Asia, starting from 3,500 years ago. The South Asian population – current Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Nepalese, and Sri Lankan population – have a significant central Asian component in their genetic make-up.

UK General Elections 2017: Youth Awakens

ONE of the biggest gambles by any sitting prime minister in the history of British politics has spectacularly backfired on the cautious Prime Minster Theresa May.When May called a snap general election, she required a change of legislation to repeal the fixed time parliament that had three years to run.The main opposition parties of Labour and the Scottish National Party were confronted with Hobson’s choice to either endorse the call for an early election or be highlighted as running scared of the will of the people.Theresa May influenced by opinion polls that were placing the Conservative

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