“Give Your Fire Until The Last Of Your Days”

'ARE you curious to know', Eduardo Galeano seems to ask in his new book, Children of the Days, A Calendar of Human History. He is, of course, passionate to answer. Galeano quotes Albert Einstein, who was constantly watched by the US secret service agents for his closeness to the communists and whose brain is preserved for research for an explanation of his genius: “I have no special gift. I am only passionately curious”. Galeano is also passionately curious about human history, struggles and evolution.

DYFI Holds All India Young Women’s Convention

THE Democratic Youth Federation of India held its Fourth All India Young Women’s Convention in Mumbai on May 25-26. Apart from central executive committee members of the organisation, 94 delegates from various states assembled for the convention at Lakshmi Sehgal Nagar (Aarsh Vidyalaya Campus, Chembur).

DECODING DECEPTION

ALL over the media, the government is cooing, Meelon hum aagaye, meelon hume jaana hai ‘we have travelled miles, but we have miles to go'. Of course, this propaganda campaign instantly drew a parody from some ingenious thinker, who converted it: 'we have eaten millions, but millions more are to be eaten'. This parody, in fact, truly captures the real story of the UPA.

AIDWA Pays Homage to Dr Vina Mazumdar

The following is the statement issued by the AIDWA on May 30, 2013

Dr Vina Mazumdar

Dr Vina Mazumdar, prominent academic, a pioneer in Women’s Studies in India and a leading figure of the democratic women’s movement, died in New Delhi on May 30, 2013. She was the secretary of the first Committee on the Status of Women in India, whose report on the conditions of women in the country made a direct contribution to the development of the women’s movement. We pay tributes to her memory.

Prakash Karat, general secretary of the CPI(M), attended the funeral of Dr Vina Mazumdar.

CPI(M) Organises Mass Satyagraha

1.76 LAKH PEOPLE

COURT ARREST IN TRIPURA

STRUGGLING masses of Tripura set a new record in the history of struggles on May 28. Braving the burning heat of May and incessant rain in different parts of the state, more than 1,76,000 people courted arrest participating in the mass Satyagraha movement at the call of the CPI(M). The thundering call of the fighting masses was loud and clear: the Congress government should immediately respond to the urgent demands or quit office.

CPI(M) Condemns Maoist Attack, Holds BJP Govt Answerable

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on May 26, 2013.

Counter This Maoist Violence

THE Maoists have killed 24 persons in an ambush on the convoy of Congress leaders in Darbha in the Jagdalpur district of Chattisgarh. Among those killed were the Congress PCC President Nand Kumar Patel and Mahendra Karma. The others killed were Congress workers and police personnel. Former Union Minister V C Shukla was seriously injured. The Maoists have declared that they deliberately targetted these Congress leaders to be killed.

The Diminution of the Finance Commission

THE Finance Commission is one of the grandest institutions conjured up by the Indian Constitution. Its role is to overcome a basic anomaly in India’s federal structure, arising from the fact that while the state governments have the responsibility of carrying out substantial development expenditure, the revenues at their command are meagre compared to those of the centre. A Finance Commission therefore is constituted once every five years to decide on the magnitude of devolution of resources from the centre to the states and their distribution across states.

Gas Pricing: Ambanis Rule the Roost

THE ministry of petroleum, after its change of guard from Jaipal Reddy to Veerappa Moily, has been batting for a much higher price of natural gas. This is being supported by Montek Singh Ahluwalia, the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, while it is being opposed by the ministry of power and the ministry of fertiliser, both pointing out its enormous impact on fertiliser subsidies and electricity prices.

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