THE fight being put up by the employees and workers’ unions of the Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) against its privatisation is inspiring to those unions of public sector units (PSUs) and other establishments which are proposed to be privatised, across the country, said Tapan Sen, CITU general secretary.Addressing a large public meeting, ‘Ukku Karmika Garjana’, organised by the Visakha Ukku Parirakshana Porata Committee, at Trishna grounds in VSP, on March 20, he raised the questioned as to why the centre is interested in the privatisation of the VSP rather than coming up with solutions to

“A second freedom struggle is being waged in the country. It is being waged against a government that is making laws to handover lands owned by peasants and the whole of agriculture to Indian and multinational corporates. It is being waged in Karnataka too.

THE Left Front sounded the poll bugle from the mega rally held at the historic Brigade Parade Ground on February 28. The tone and tenor of the campaign for the elections was set at this rally by CPI(M) general secretary, Sitaram Yechury when he said in no uncertain terms that the people of Bengal did not need a government that divides people based on their religion, caste or creed nor do they need a government that indulges in looting the common people. He said Bengal needs a government that will work for the welfare of the poorest of the poor, the exploited, and the marginalised people.

THE 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress that was tabled by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development recently throws light on the alarming rise in homelessness in advanced capitalist countries. According to the report, there was a 7 per cent increase in the number of homeless people staying outdoors and a 13 per cent increase in the number of unsheltered families in the US during the previous year. It estimates that the homeless population in California alone was 161,548 as of January 2020.

THE visit of the US secretary of defence, Lloyd Austin, to India barely two months after the Biden administration took office indicates the importance the United States attributes to India as a defence partner and ally.Austin was in Japan and South Korea – both close military and strategic allies of the US in Asia – before coming to India.  India being next in his itinerary indicates that the Pentagon views India as of the same status as Japan and South Korea.  Lloyd underlined this importance during his visit when he described the India-US partnership as a “central pillar” of American poli