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.

Learn from the Uttarakhand Disaster

THE terrible disaster in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand on February 7, 2021, has already cost the lives of over 30 persons with another 150 or so missing or trapped. Tragically, most of the dead are workers in different infrastructure and hydro-electric power projects such as the small 13.2 MW project on the Rishiganga river near Raini Village which has been completely destroyed, and the much larger 520MW Tapovan power plant nearby on the Dhauliganga which too is badly damaged and where a number of workers are trapped.

Reviving the Economy through Incantations

VOLTAIRE had said “one can always kill a man with incantations, plus a little poison”. Voltaire was a rationalist which the BJP government alas is not. It believes that one can revive an economy with incantations alone, for that is what the budget for 2021-22, presented a few days ago by the finance minister promises to do to the Indian economy.The Indian economy is supposed to have shrunk by 7.7 per cent during the fiscal year 2020-21 compared to the previous year, and it is supposed to rise by 10.5 per cent during 2021-22 compared to 2020-21 according to the Reserve Bank of India.

Women Fight Back in Bengal

THE spur-of-the-moment lockdown thrust upon the people of this country has pushed the common people in situations unseen and unheard of before. The poor and the marginalised have been fighting a losing battle for survival. Millions have been rendered jobless and millions forced to do menial jobs. The struggle to remain afloat has been never-ending and tedious.In all this, women have been the worst hit. The lockdown has only fortified the glass ceiling for the country’s female workforce. They were the first to lose jobs when big, medium, small and micro enterprises decided to downsize.

SKM Calls for Countrywide Candle Marches & Rail Roko Stir

AFTER the massive nationwide success of the road blockades (chakka jaam) on February 6, and the series of mahapanchayats in various states in North India, both actions that mobilised lakhs of farmers against the adamant and heartless BJP government at the centre, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) in its meeting held on February 10 gave a multiple call for intensifying the countrywide struggle for the repeal of the three farm laws and for an MSP law.

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