Rafale Deal: A Controversial Judgement

THE Supreme Court Judgement by a three-member Bench on the Rafale Deal has become controversial even before the ink on the judgement has dried. Indeed, accepting notes in sealed covers, acceptance of governments arguments at face value, puts the court’s reputation at risk.The scope of judicial review was whether a) the defence procedures laid down were violated in the Rafale deal, and b) whether the Indian people have a right to know the price of defence deals.

Katowice Rules: Exacerbating Inequality in Tackling Climate Change

THE recently concluded UN climate conference in Katowice, Poland (COP24) was held to prepare a rulebook for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The decisions adopted marked the further consolidation of the hold of the developed countries. The US is very much in the driver's seat in the negotiations along with the EU and others despite its announced withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and its public differences on climate action in forums such as the G-8. They are clearly designed to reinforce the inequitable and discriminatory aspects of the Agreement.

BJP Setback in Assembly Elections

THE results of the assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan are a big blow to the BJP. In all these three states, there were BJP governments and in two of them – Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – the BJP had been in government for fifteen years, ie, for three successive terms.

Growing Mobilisation of Working People to Defeat BJP

THE Kisan Mukti March on November 29-30 in Delhi was an impressive mobilisation of farmers from all over the country who are being ground down by the neoliberal policies of the Modi government. Coming after the big worker-peasant rally of September 5, which sharply highlighted the class demands of the workers, peasants and agricultural workers, the Kisan March organised by a wide range of farmers’ organisations pointed to the growing unity and common purpose of the working people to fight for their basic rights. The mobilisation of the working people in these two rallies and the numerous st

Potential of Kartarpur Corridor1

THE decision to open a corridor from the Indian side to the Gurudwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur, Pakistan is one of the rare instances when the two governments of India and Pakistan have agreed to cooperate after a long period of stalemate and tensions between the two countries.The corridor from the Dera Baba Nanak Gurudwara in Gurdaspur district of Punjab to the Darbar Sahib Gurudwara where Guru Nanak Dev spent 18 years of his life, is being opened to mark the 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism next year.

Sabarimala: Foiling the BJP-RSS Gameplan

THE agitation launched by the BJP-RSS against the verdict of the Supreme Court on entry of women of all ages to the Sabarimala temple has been exposed for what it is. The plan of the Sangh brigade is to provoke violence and create trouble within the temple premises and to put the blame on the LDF government of Kerala for destroying the sanctity of the temple.

Crisis in Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA has been plunged into a political and constitutional crisis due to the arbitrary steps taken by Maithripala Sirisena in the past three weeks. The president dismissed Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and swore in his erstwhile opponent Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister on October 26.It may be recalled that Sirisena, who belongs to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), had broken away from Rajapaksa. He had fought the elections and defeated Rajapaksa in January 2015 in alliance with Wickremesinghe’s United National Party (UNP).

Renaming for What?

ALONG with the revival of the issues of the Ram temple at Ayodhya, the BJP-RSS combine has opened a new front with communal intent. That is the renaming of cities and places which have a Muslim cultural lineage. The BJP government in Uttar Pradesh led by Adityanath, has gone on a name changing spree. Allahabad, one of the foremost educational and cultural centres of Uttar Pradesh has been renamed officially as Prayagraj.

Article 35A: Another Divisive Move

THE petition challenging Article 35A of the constitution before the Supreme Court is meant to open up another divisive issue in tune with the Hindutva politics espoused by the BJP and the RSS.Article 35A was introduced by a presidential order in 1954 to safeguard the rights and guarantee the unique identity of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. This provision gives the Jammu and Kashmir legislature the right to decide who are permanent residents of the state and confer on them special rights in acquisition of property, in public sector jobs and social welfare.

NRC: Include All Indians

THE publication of the draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam has caused widespread consternation as over four million (40 lakh) persons who had applied have not found a place in the Register.The updating of the NRC of 1951 constitutes part of the implementation of the Assam Accord of 1985. As per this Accord, March 24, 1971 was fixed as the cut-off date for determining those who came after that date to be illegal migrants. The decision of the Supreme Court in 2014 to get the updating of the NRC underway was generally welcomed by all sections of the people in Assam; by the Asam

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Peoples Democracy

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