AP: Padyatra Culminates in a Mass Dharna

THE farmers must launch a united and determined fight against the government’s farm policies which are against farmers. The recent victory of the farmers in Delhi should serve as an inspiration to all the fighting people, said AIKS joint secretary, Vijoo Krishnan on December 18, at Anantapuramu. He was addressing the participants of the Rythu Coolie Rakshana Padayatra, which culminated in a dharna staged outside the district collector’s office.

On Raising Marrying Age for Women

THE central government is set to introduce a bill to raise the marriageable age for women to 21 years. Given its majority in parliament, this bill will probably become law. Yet there are so many important issues that require deeper consideration that the better course would be for the government to refer the bill to the relevant standing committee, instead of pushing it through.A woman is considered an adult at the age of 18. All laws that apply to adult citizens, including criminal laws, will apply to a woman at the age of 18. She is held responsible for the actions she takes.

Karnataka Bill: Attack on Religious Minorities

THE Karnataka anti-conversion bill passed by the legislative assembly is a direct attack on the rights of religious minorities and religious freedom.

December 3 Disability Day: Realise Realities; Assert Rights

Declared by the United Nations, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities has been celebrated on December 3, each year, since 1992INDIA has a disabled population of 2.68 crore, as identified by the 2011 census. Fourteen additional conditions were recognised in the 2016 Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act (RPD Act) as against only seven recognised earlier. However, age-related disability is not counted for.

The Week in Parliament

AS part of the discussion on climate change in the Lok Sabha this week, CPI(M) MP from Tamil Nadu, P R Natarajan asked, “Europe and North America got jolted out of their slumber on climate change impacts. When will the Modi government wake up?” He said that the union government has taken absolutely no measures to build resilience to climate change impacts in the country while making odd gestures to satisfy international interlocutors at climate summits regarding emission reductions.

US Inflation and India’s Economic Recovery

THE very day, December 11, when the Indian finance ministry spuriously claimed a robust recovery in the post-pandemic Indian economy, newspapers carried news of an acceleration in the US inflation rate. The inflation rate in November 2021 over November of the preceding year had been 6.8 per cent in the US, which was higher than the corresponding rate in any month over the previous 40 years; in particular, petrol prices had increased in November 2021 by 58 per cent, which was the highest for any month since 1980.

The Alchemy of Sir Becoming Comrade...

THE place is Kothattai village in Cuddalore district. We have to travel a bit to reach the village from the main road and further walk over an uneven area to arrive at the Irula tribe's hutment. About 20 families are settled there. During the first wave of Covid, some relief work was done in their area and surroundings by the CPI(M) Parangipettai taluk committee. Soon after that, taluk committee secretary Ramesh Babu received a call from Ranjita belonging to the tribe.

Regressive Tendencies in Discourse on Sustainable Agriculture

TWO recent developments have drawn our attention to the urgent need to advance towards sustainable agricultural production. The first is the worsening state of food security in the last decade, as reported recently by the Global Hunger Index 2021 and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) report, titled The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2021. Food security, notes the Global Hunger Index report, “is under assault on multiple fronts.

Global Wealth Inequality Deepens, Pandemic Added to It

THE Global Inequality Report 2022, released last week, has confirmed what common people were painfully aware of – the rich have become richer and the poor have become even poorer. The report has marshalled an enormous amount of data from countries across the world to reveal that the richest 2,750 billionaires now own 3.5 per cent of world’s wealth while the poorest 388 crore people of the world (50 per cent of world’s population) own a mere 2 per cent of global wealth.Unsurprisingly, data from India follows the global trend.

Withdraw this Decision of Haryana CM

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on December 11THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) strongly condemns the extremely objectionable statement made by the chief minister of Haryana, Manohar Lal Khattar, yesterday.

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