Iran and the P5+1 Accord

Prabir Purkayastha

THE negotiations between Iran and nominally P5+1, but in reality the US, have led to an interim accord in which Iran will temporarily restrict its nuclear program and the US will ease some of the sanctions on Iran. This is prelude to a permanent agreement which will spell out the terms on which Iran can continue its enrichment program and the complete lifting of all sanctions on Iran.

On Tehelka Sexual Assault case

Brinda Karat

THE sexual assault on a woman journalist by Tarun Tejpal, editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine, has once again brought to fore the need for stronger institutional mechanisms to investigate complaints of sexual assault including adequate prosecution of perpetrators.

The WTO and Agricultural Subsidy

THE United States and Europe subsidise their agriculture massively. In the US for instance, government expenditure by way of subsidies to the agricultural sector is on average nearly half of the GDP originating from its agriculture. The figures for Europe are broadly similar. In India by contrast, government expenditure by way of subsidies to agriculture is estimated to have been less than 10 percent of the GDP originating from agriculture in the past, and is now just likely to exceed this figure.

WTO REJECTS G-33 PROPOSAL:India must not Give in to Unjust Pressure

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on November 24, 2013.
THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) expresses concern at the efforts to defeat the G-33 proposal on public food stockholding, which is being negotiated in the backdrop of the next ministerial meeting of the WTO in Bali in December 2013.

CPI(M) State Plenum Start at Palakkad

PALAKKAD, a land of mighty struggles of peasants and agricultural workers, hosted the special state plenum of the CPI(M) from November 26 to 28. Marking the beginning of the plenum, senior communist leader and CPI(M) state committee member T Shivadasa Menon hoisted the red flag on November 26 evening at AKG Nagar (Municipal Stadium), the venue of the public meeting.

TMC MP Reveals Nexus Between Saradha and Mamata’s Battalion

IN a 36-minute video recorded earlier and broadcast on a local Bengali channel on 26th November, the arrested TMC Rajya Sabha member Kunal Ghosh put his party in great discomfiture by directly linking chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool’s national general secretary Mukul Roy, another Rajya Sabha MP, with the Saradha chit fund scam, the biggest financial scam in the history of West Bengal.

Kunal Ghosh, himself a close associate of Sudipta Sen, the Saradha group CEO, including for its media business, spilled the beans after he was cornered in the investigations.

Geneva Accord: A Breakthrough

THE agreement reached at in Geneva between the P5+1 powers and Iran on the nuclear issue represents a diplomatic breakthrough.This interim agreement for six months has the potential for a comprehensive settlement to be worked out. The agreement has come after repeated rounds of negotiations between the five permanent members of the UN Security Council: United States, Russia, China, France and Britain, plus Germany on the one hand and Iran on the other.

Ninth Conference Of The All India Plantation Workers’Federation :Pay Special Attention to Social Issues

THE ninth conference of the All India Plantation Workers’ Federation (AIPWF) which concluded in Agartalaon November 24,2013 left an indelible impression on all the delegates who participated in it from all the major plantation states in the country.More than 200 delegates from Kerala, Karnataka, Tamilnadu, West Bengal, Assam and Tripura attended the conference.The delegates from Kerala came in their full strength despite the long distance. Workers from all the major segments of the plantation sector – tea, coffee and rubber were represented in the delegations.

Tenth National Conference of AIDWA : Strengthen Struggles against Neo-liberal Policies & Communal Forces

THE tenth national conference of the All India Democratic Women’s Association was held in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, from November 22-25, 2013 with the main slogan of confronting neo-liberalism, fighting conservatism, and combating communalism. The conference got off to a rousing start with flag hoisting by AIDWA's national president Shyamali Gupta and homage to martyrs who sacrificed their lives for women's emancipation and social justice.

CITU Observes Jyoti Basu Birth Centenary

R Karumalaiyan

HELD at Kannur in Kerala, the last national conference of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) had called upon all its affiliates to observe Comrade Jyoti Basu Birth Centenary in a fitting manner throughout the year, starting from July 8, 2013. Accordingly, the Tamilnadu state unit of the CITU has chalked out a series of programmes to take the Comrade Basu’s message to the mass of workers.

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