Red Books Day 2022

IN 1999, Fidel Castro of Cuba travelled to Caracas, Venezuela, to deliver an important speech at the central university. The USSR had collapsed, Fidel said, and the ‘extremely powerful empire’, the United States and its global tentacles, mounted a ‘ceaseless ideological battle with all their resources’. Structures of globalisation weakened the national projects of many states, whose agendas were increasingly set by the International Monetary Fund and by transnational corporations. We are a ‘people armed with just ideas’, Fidel said, ‘endowed with a great political consciousness’.

Haryana: Historic Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Strike Continue

ANGANWADI workers and helpers' strike in Haryana from December 8, 2021, has crossed 80 days. Shamelessness and repression of BJP raj continue. But thousands of workers and helpers are in the movement with strong determination, putting their jobs at stake.UNPRECEDENTED WOMEN'S STRUGGLEThis is a historic movement. Widows constitute about half of the workers and helpers working in ICDS. In the state, a worker gets Rs 11,448 and a helper gets Rs 6,045 as an honorarium. Even this amount has not been paid to them for the last three months.

Cryptocurrency – Legal or Illegal?

CRYPTOCURRENCY has been a hot topic of discussion in our country for quite a few years. Those who support cryptocurrency argue that the transactions of this virtual currency are done through blockchain technology and are therefore well protected. They say that it is very easy to invest; one can start investing even with Rs 100 and is a safe investment. The first decentralised cryptocurrency was created by pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.

Tamil Nadu: DMK-led Secular Front Sweeps Local Bodies Poll

THE DMK-led Secular Progressive Front(SPF) swept in the ‘local bodies elections’(city and town governments) held on February 19, which was held after a gap of 10 years in the state. The SPF has secured a majority in all the 21 municipal corporations in the state. Likewise, the DMK-led front has secured more than 70 per cent of seats in the municipalities and town panchayats in the state. As reported earlier, in alliance with DMK, the CPI(M) contested 66 seats in municipal corporations of which it won 24.

Kerala: Brutal Murder of CPI(M) Activist

IN yet another brutal attack, a CPI(M) activist from New Mahe near Thalassery in Kannur district was hacked to death by RSS goons. 54-year old Haridas, a fisherman from Punnol was attacked in the early morning on February 21, when he was on his way back home after work.

Who’s Lying?

THE recent wrangle between the prime minister, chief minister of Telangana and union power minister exposes one of the false narratives the central government has been building, even while putting spotlight on how crony capitalism is appropriating yet another human endeavour to save mother earth, for its ugly profiteering.Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that his government was supplying power at the rate of Rs 1.10 per unit to states was squarely challenged by chief minister of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao and he called it a lie.

AIDWA Supports the Struggle of Anganwadis

THE All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), in a statement issued on February 23, has expressed strong support to the struggle of Anganwadi workers and helpers going on in Haryana and Delhi for the last two months. It demands that the struggling workers’ demands be immediately accepted by the concerned state governments. The Anganwadi workers and helpers in Haryana are on strike since December 8, 2021. Thousands of them are in a day and night continuous dharna in Karnal which is the assembly constituency of the chief minister.

The Hijab Controversy: Some Insights From Data on Higher Education

WHILE a three-judge bench of the Karnataka High Court hears arguments for and against the legality of wearing hijabs – the Islamic headdress prescribed for women – in classrooms across Karnataka, two deeply damaging consequences of the controversy are already being felt. The first is that hundreds of hijab-wearing Muslim girls find themselves debarred from education. The wearing of the hijab was obviously not an issue of contention all these years, and there appears to have been many different levels of accommodation with this practice.

International Union of Left Publishers: Who Are the Killers of Govind Pansare?

ON February 16, 2015, Govind Pansare and Uma Pansare went for a morning walk. Men on a motorbike stopped near them, shot them, and fled. Govind Pansare died four days later, on February 20; Uma Pansare surived, but continues to suffer from the attack. Govind Pansare was a communist, whose book – Who Was Shivaji? (New Delhi: LeftWord Books) – rankled the right-wing which did not agree with his factual presentation of the life of this 17th century icon.Who killed Govind Pansare, author and communist?

Budget Direction for Urban Remains the Same No Relief to People

BUDGETARY proposals placed by the finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1, 2022, for the fiscal year 2022-23 provided no relief to the people, especially those living in urban centres who were severely hit by the pandemic. With meteoric spiked unemployment in the last few years, it was expected that this year budget will at least address this problem partially. However, the much-awaited cry for an urban employment guarantee remained unaddressed. It is estimated that over 200 million people are without work, most of them in the urban centres.

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