Hype in the Midst of a Crisis

IN an attempt to persuade listeners into believing that Budget 2021 will complete the conquest of disease and unleash an era of post-Covid expansion, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman placed special emphasis in her budget speech on two sets of initiatives. The first was a claim that the budget marks a new beginning for the Indian state’s engagement with peoples’ health, riding on an unprecedented 137 per cent hike in allocations for the health sector, from a mere Rs 94,452 croreallocated in Budget 2020-21 to Rs 2,23,846 crore in Budget 2021-22.

Massive Repression, Glorious Defiance

SUCH fascistic State repression has never been witnessed in India for the last several decades. In the wake of the BJP-RSS government-sponsored conspiracy of violence on Republic Day, that was outlined in these columns last week, the Modi regime has begun a massive crackdown on the historic farmers’ struggle, which will soon complete 75 days. The government and its police have now turned the three farmers’ protest sites at Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur into open jails. The ‘annadatas’ of our country are being treated as foreign invaders.

AP: Overwhelming Public Support to Farm Protests

AN overwhelming response from the people of Vijayawada to the Farmers' Solidarity Fund, collected by the Farmers' Struggle Solidarity Committee on January 25, showed that the farmers protesting in Delhi are not alone in their struggle and that they have the wider support of the people. About 600 activists belonging to various mass organisations, in 250 batches, have met nearly 40,000 people and collected an amount of Rs 4,01,652 in 400 hundis.People from all walks of life responded with humanity. A young lady donated all her domestic savings to the farmers’ struggle.

Callous Deception on Health Budget

AFTER the global Covid-19 pandemic exposed the dismal state of India’s public health system, one would have thought that the government would have learnt some lessons. India’s public health expenditure is one of the lowest in the world and stood at 1.3 per cent of GDP in 2019.The Modi government pushed ahead with privatisation of health services in a big way – something which began with the liberalisation policies in 1991. A health system developed where there is a dominant private sector – corporate-run hospitals, private nursing homes, clinics and diagnostic centres. Most of them charg

The Secular Legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose

ON January 23, the 124th birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose, the prime minister visited Kolkata in order to inaugurate the year-long celebrations planned by his government of this event.

Biden’s Rescue Package

EVEN before taking office, Jo Biden, the new American president, has announced a rescue package of $1.9 trillion, of which as much as $1 trillion will be in the form simply of transfers to the working people. Since the estimated US GDP was $20.8 trillion in 2020, the size of Biden’s rescue package comes to almost 10 per cent of current US GDP. This is on top of the rescue package, again amounting to 10 per cent of GDP, that Trump had announced some time ago in the context of the pandemic.

AIDWA Deplores Acquittal of POCSO Accused

THE All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA), in a statement issued on January 27, has denounced the judgement of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court which has acquitted an accused of the charge of sexual assault of a 12-year old girl under Section 7 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) by saying that since there was no skin-to-skin contact with sexual intent, no case was made out.

Centenary of the Communist Party of Italy

THE Communist Party of Italy was founded on January 21, 1921. The October Socialist Revolution of 1917 and the subsequent formation of the Communist International in 1919 under the leadership of V I Lenin inspired and creates the atmosphere for setting up of communist parties in different parts of the world. The Communist parties of China, South Africa, Spain, Portugal etc were all set up in the year 1921.The centenary of the CP of Italy coincides with the 130th anniversary of Antonio Gramsci, one of the most celebrated ideologues of the Communist movement after V I Lenin.

HP: Local Body Elections 2021, CPI(M) Wins More Seats than Last Time

ELECTIONS for urban and rural local bodies in Himachal Pradesh were held in the month of January 2021 (poll dates were 17th, 19th and January 21, 2021). Except for the tribal areas of Lahaul & Spiti and Chamba districts elections were held in all the remaining parts of the state.

A Remarkable Display of People’s Power

THE kisan tractor march on Republic Day in Delhi was a remarkable and unique mass action.

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