THE recent advisory opinion of the Supreme Court on the Presidential Reference concerning the powers of the Governor and the President marks a deeply troubling moment for Indian democracy and federalism. Instead of reinforcing the supremacy of the elected legislatures and curbing an increasingly partisan gubernatorial regime, the Court’s answer retreats into abstraction and further strengthens the very...
ACCORDING to a report in the Times of India (November 23), the United States has asked European countries to restrict immigration in order to preserve “Western Civilization”. Many in the Third World would find the term “Western Civilization” laughable, especially if it is used in the sense of denoting something precious and worth preserving. The atrocities committed by Western imperialist countries against people all over the world over the last...
THE climate summit COP30 in Belem, Brazil, where the mighty Amazon River drains into the Atlantic Ocean, formally began on 10 November 2025. The summit has been labeled the “implementation COP,” because of a narrative that, whereas so many promises and commitments have been made earlier, it is necessary to focus on implementation and delivery which are widely recognized to be lagging far behind. It is indeed true that current trends in emissions reduction as...
The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) has debunked the government’s fraudulent claims made on the four Labour Codes and demanded repeal of the decision to make them effective from November 21, 2025 as announced in the PIB statement of the same day. The government has portrayed the Codes as “pro-worker” and “modernising labour regulations”, but, as CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen points out, in reality they...
EDUCATION has become an important aspect to understand the rural society due to its influence in determining the elements of “everyday life of the people, such as family relationships, marriage alliances, migration, and consumption besides direct impact on occupational and economic activities” according to a study of two Tamil Nadu villages, published in 2024 by the Foundation of Agrarian Studies (FAS).
THE Modi government has published a draft labour policy -- Shram Shakti Niti 2025. The policy document gives rise to a host of questions. What is the objective of this policy? What should be the labour policy? Is everything contained in ancient texts like Manusmriti? Is there a special Indian concept of labour? The labour department is responsible for resolving disputes through methods such as enforcement of labour laws, inspections, mediation between...
THE far right in Latin America is angry. Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro and Argentina’s Javier Milei always look furious, and they always speak loudly and aggressively. Testosterone leaks from their pores, a toxic sweat that has spread across the region. It would be easy to say that this is the impact of Donald Trump’s own brand of neo-fascism, but this is not true. The far right has much deeper pedigrees, linked to the defence of the oligarchical...
On December 3, the world will observe the International Day for Persons with Disabilities. This year’s observance, as with earlier years since its inception in 1992, also risks being reduced to ceremonial gestures like honouring select disabled persons, camps for distributing aids, cultural programmes, etc. These programmes, while well-intentioned, fail to address the deeper systemic issues of disability and exclusion.
IN 2013, the United Progressive Alliance government led by the Congress party decided to increase the minimum pension to Rs 1000. However, it was not implemented. The NDA government led by Narendra Modi implemented it in 2014. But even today many people still receive a pension of less than Rs 1000. Since then, the prices of all goods and services have increased dramatically. Therefore,...
CPI (M) West Bengal State Committee has announced the immediate launch of an ongoing campaign against the Election Commission (EC). The party contends that the EC is using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process as a mere pretext for the intentional deletion of the names of legitimate voters in the state. State Secretary Mohammed Salim announced that a major protest rally, involving all...
M Y Tarigami urges intervention against harassment of students and workersCPI(M) leader M Y Tarigami has expressed deep concern over the environment of harassment allegedly being faced by students and labourers working in different parts of the country following the Delhi blast. |
On Bihar Election ResultsCPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on November 14, 2025The victory of the NDA in the Bihar legislative assembly elections is a setback for the Mahagathbandhan. The ruling coalition utilised the entire state machinery, resorted to various manipulations, and deployed huge amounts of money. It benefited from the polarising communal and casteist rhetoric of its leaders, including... |
Coercive Federalism and Conditional WelfareInstitutions of basic welfare cannot become instruments for political conformity.EYEING withheld funds from the union government to the tune of Rs. 1,158 crore, the Kerala government decided to sign the Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM SHRI) scheme earlier last month, in what was a surprise U-turn of the left’s consistent opposition to the scheme... |
