OBITUARY: Prof DN Jha, 1940-2021

PROFESSOR Dwijendra Narayan Jha (DN Jha or DNJ in short), who fought shibboleths and superstitions all his life, was busy doing so when he took a break, had lunch, went for his siesta and breathed his last on February 4, 2021. On that count, the loss to the cause he stood for and served – by providing well-honed intellectual instruments for changing the world for the better – is indeed real and irreparable. The departure of anyone who has given all that he/she had to is indeed very sad, but the bereavement causes little loss to the cause as such.

Bihar: Homage and Pledge in the memory of Ganesh Da

TRIBUTES were paid to the oldest and one of the tallest leaders of the Communist movement in Bihar, Comrade Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi in a memorial cum pledge taking ceremony organised by CPI(M), Bihar state committee in Patna.

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

THE budget session of parliament began with president Ram Nath Kovind’s address to a joint sitting of both the houses on January 29. The CPI(M) and other opposition parties boycotted the president’s address in solidarity with the farmers agitating against the centre’s three contentious farm laws. On February 1, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the union budget for 2021-22.

Why Vizag Steel Should Not Be Privatised?

THE centre's decision to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant invited sharp opposition from people and political parties across Andhra Pradesh. RashtriyaIspat Nigam Limited (RINL), the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) is the largest public-sector industrial unit in the state creating employment opportunity for close to around 20,000 people directly and many other indirect employment opportunities.The presence of the steel plant led to the massive economic development of the city.

Science, Technology & Innovation Policy 2020

THE government has released a Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2020 (STIP 2020) and invited responses by January 31, 2021. The Department of Science & Technology and the Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Government did conduct a series of consultations with some scientists and other experts to seek, albeit prior to the actual formulation and release of the policy document leading to considerable disgruntlement in this community.

AP: Do or Die Struggle to Protect Vizag Steel Plant

WHILE the whole nation was discussing about the farmers’ parade on January 26, the central cabinet unleashed an attack on Andhra Pradesh by announcing the 100 per cent strategic sale of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant.

AIAWU decides to Intensify the Struggle Against Farm Laws

THE meeting of the general council was held on February 1-2, 2021 in Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. The meeting was attended by 97 members and was presided over by Amiya Patra.Meeting discussed in detail the organisational issues and finalised its membership which is 70,87,499. The states of Kerala, West Bengal, Tripura and Punjab have increased their membership.

Drop the Cases against Bhima Koregaon Accused

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on February 11THE Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) demands the dropping of cases against activists arrested in the Bhima Koregaon case and asks the Maharashtra government to set up an SIT to enquire into the developments exposed by the credible reports of international experts as to how evidence was manufactured and planted in the computer of one of the activists, Rona Wilson.A forensic lab in the United States has found that his computer was hacked and a malware was installed which planted incriminating mails in his

Yet Another Attack on Independent Media

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on February 10THE CPI(M) condemns the Enforcement Directorate raid on the offices of Newsclick, a digital news portal and the houses of its editors and the owner.The ED action is a blatant attempt to intimidate and suppress an independent news portal. Newsclick has been providing credible and wide coverage of the farmers protests.The central agencies are being used by the Modi government to harass and silence independent media.

Stop Privatisation of Vizag Steel Plant

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on February 9THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its strong opposition to the decision taken by the central government to privatise the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) by 100 per cent strategic disinvestment of its corporate entity, the Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd.The Visakhapatnam Steel Plant was set up after a prolonged struggle by the people of Andhra Pradesh in which 32 people laid down their lives.

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