Castro, Basu among those honoured by Bangladesh - The Hindu
Monday, March 25, 2013
The Sangharsh Sandesh Jathas organised by the CPI(M) concluded with a big public meeting organised at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on March 19. In an impressive gathering that reflected the diversity of India, the Party gave a call for further intensifying struggles in the coming days on the six basic demands it had raised during the jathas – land to the landless, house to the houseless, ensuring employment, education, health and universal PDS, ensuring social justice and an end to corruption. Between May 15 and 31, for one whole week, the Party had called for picketing of all government offices from block, tehsil, district to the state level throughout the country. This programme will also include actions like breaking the law and resorting to civil disobedience.
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
VARIOUS mass organisations have criticised the union budget 2013-14, presented in Lok Sabha on February 28, for the regressive aspects it has. Through a statement issued on March 1, the All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU) warned the people of India that, once more, the “mool mantra” of the union budget was a stress on GDP growth, with no concern for its effect on the life and livelihood of the majority of the people who live by toiling on small holdings and assets or selling their labour.
Monday, March 11, 2013
THE CPI(M) and other Left parties boycotted the budget session of parliament on its first day, on February 21, in order to express solidarity with the trade unions’ call for a two day nationwide strike against the centre’s policies. Subsequently, Left MPs in both the houses staged a demonstration in the parliament premises.
THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the All India Agricultural Workers’ Union (AIAWU), notes that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has, in its report tabled in parliament on March 5, 2013, totally exposed the scam involved in UPA government’s Rs 52,000 crore farm loan waiver scheme about which the prime minister and other ruling party leaders have been talking loudly since the inception of the scheme in 2008.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
THE French military invasion of their former West African colony, Mali, which began on January 11, seems to be already taking the shape of a long drawn out occupation. The French forces, flown in from the neighbouring Chad, were greeted enthusiastically when they first landed in the Malian capital, Bamako. The implementation of strict Sharia law in the areas controlled by Islamists in the North, along with the fear of dominance by the Tuareg and Arabs, had made the black majority in the South fearful.
ON February 26, CPI(M) leader Basudeb Acharia raised in Lok Sabha the issue of indiscriminate arrest of Muslim youths in various parts of the country. Referring to the statement made by the home minister on the issue, Acharia said the statement was a cavalier one. He said, “There has been miscarriage of justice to scores of Muslim youths who were all being arrested and charged in cases related to terror attacks in different parts of the country. In some cases, these young men have been incarcerated for more than 10 to 15 years. They had to stay in jail and after 10 to 15 years, they were acquitted by the courts.” Such unlawful arrests are taking place everyday, he stressed.
ONE of the important issues being raised in the Sangharsh Sandesh Jatha is that of the relentless price rise of essential commodities, particularly of food items. The UPA government is intensifying the very policies, which cause price rise. International agencies are warning of high prices of food on a global scale in 2013 if concrete measures are not taken. In India, the struggle for food security must have as its focus the concrete measures that the government of India must take. This struggle is also linked to the global demand to make the governments of the United States and other big capitalist countries accountable to the people of the world for their criminal policies and systems that intensify hunger and food insecurity worldwide.
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions totally condemns the approach of the union budget which seeks to continue in the disastrous path of carrying forward the neo-liberal reforms without an iota of concern for the suffering of the common people and the workers. It calls upon all its committees and affiliated unions and the working class as a whole to oppose the budget and continue to fight for the reversal of such anti-people policies.
THE 2013-14 budget fails to address the major concerns of the people and economy in the current context. The Economic Survey underlines the fact of rising prices especially food inflation, widening current account deficit, low investment and savings and increasing dependence on foreign funds. The potential workforce in the waiting should be provided gainful employment that demands public investment in sectors such as in agriculture, small scale sector and rural development. The budget however lacks imagination to think beyond the neo-liberal prescriptions and relied exclusively on reducing fiscal deficits by curbing expenditures and on unrealistic projections on revenue mobilisation in the context of lower growth.
LEADERS of the Left parties --- the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, the All India Forward Bloc and Revolutionary Socialist Party --- met the prime minister on February 26 and submitted a memorandum urging the government to take immediate measures to bring a food security legislation in this budget session of parliament, which would provide for a universal public distribution system and ensure 35 kg of foodgrains at not more than Rs 2 per kg. They also urged an end to the cash transfer scheme for the public distribution system.
A 13-day long Madhya Pradesh state level Sangarsh Sandesh jatha has begun from Bijuri in Anupur district on February 25. The jatha, led by CPI(M) state secretary Badal Saroj, was flagged off by a coal contract worker Karan Nishad. The jatha will cover seven districts in the eastern part of the state, mainly coal and tribal belt region, and culminate at Singroli on March 9 near UP border. State leaders Ramvilas Goswami and Shailesh Bohare are other members of the jatha. At the time of writing this report, the jatha had covered over 300 km and over 10 meetings. There were two demonstrations in front of SDM offices on the issue of Forest Rights and MGNREGA.
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