No Privatisation of Indian Railways

THE Modi government’s second coming is going to be marked by a stepped up privatisation drive. Already the Niti Aayog has announced that 46 public sector enterprises will be sold off or shut down as per a 100 day action plan. The centerpiece of this privatisation drive will be the Indian Railways. According to the action plan proposed by the ministry of railways, private passenger trains will be operated within 100 days.

Giant Aerospace Merger

MERGER fever seems to be spreading, this time in aerospace which has witnessed continuous merger and acquisitions (M&A) activity for over several decades as technologies have advanced, R&D and production costs have gone through the roof and even large firms have found it difficult to compete with the bigger players, especially if their main work is in broadly the same market segment. The latest is the all-stock merger decision announced by two US aerospace majors, United Technologies Ltd (UTL), manufacturer of the Pratt & Whitney aero-engines which power fighter aircraft and lar

The Debate over Inequality

THE debate over inequality has become hotter world-wide. While Trump had introduced substantial tax cuts for the rich in 2017, and Britain’s Boris Johnson, the front-runner to succeed Teresa May, has promised to do the same if he becomes prime minister, there are strong proposals for taxing the rich which have also been mooted. Bernie Sanders had such a proposal for the US during the time that he was seeking the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party.

MAHARASHTRA: CPI(M) State Class Resolves to Prepare for Assembly Polls

A one-day state-level class was organised on June 23, 2019 in the Adarsh Vidyalaya, Mumbai, by the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee. 307 leading comrades from 27 districts attended. They included state and district committee members of the Party, all Party and mass front whole-timers and state secretariat members of the six main mass fronts.The state class was preceded by meetings of the CPI(M) state secretariat and the state committee on June 21-22.

Condemn Brutal Killings of CPI(M) Workers

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on June 24, 2019THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep anguish and grief over the murder of two young comrades in West Bengal at the hands of the criminals attached to the TMC.On June 22, a very young Comrade Tajimul Karim was killed mercilessly in Amdanga in the North 24 Parganas district.

Withdraw UGC Circular

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on June 25THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is deeply concerned at the effort by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to push Hindi as a compulsory subject in all under graduate courses all across India.This is strange in the background of the widespread protest in the country against the imposition of Hindi as part of the draft National Education Policy, 2019 which forced the government to beat a hasty retreat.

Motive behind Reduction of ESIC Contribution

THE press release of the government in the late evening of June 13, announcing reduction in the contribution for Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) scheme hit the pages of national press on June 14.The move appears to be good in that workers will be able to enjoy ESI benefits with a lower contribution as the medical and other benefits rendered by the ESI Corporation (ESIC) will continue to be the same. CITU and the Left trade unions vehemently opposed the role of the government. Sections of the media criticised them for taking such a critical view.

No Capitulation to US Pressure

Left Parties – CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML)-Liberation, AIFB and RSP – have issued the following statement on June 20THE Left Parties express their firm opposition to the US agenda of arm twisting in the course of the visit of US Secretary of State.US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has announced his two day visit to India on June 25-26, 2019. The stated purpose of the visit is to push India to further open its economy, drop the trade barriers and sell US defence equipment to India.

Meanwhile in Tripura

AS we go to press, the state election commission of Tripura might declare the schedule for the election to the three tier panchayat bodies of the state. But the record of the last 15 months of the BJP-IPFT rule in the state puts a big question mark about whether the polls will be free and fair. The undemocratic manner of functioning of the state election commissioner too has added to the worry. The readers of this column are well aware how all the elections, including the election to the West Tripura Lok Sabha seat, post March 3, 2018 since the BJP-IPFT government assumed office have been r

Kerala Govt Wants to Operate Thiruvananthapuram Airport

THE NDA government has decided to privatise five airports at Lucknow, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore and Ahmadabad and decided to hand over these airports to Adani Group. Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour on June 24, CPI(M) MP K K Ragesh said that LDF government in Kerala is willing to take over the Thiruvananthapuram airport. “It is regrettable that the state government is being considered on the same footing as the Adani Group,” in the auction, he said.

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