View Articles

Ninety-six years back, on December 26, 1925, the Communist Party of India was born. The CPI is intrinsically and organically linked to the country and has given leadership to some of the proudest and most progressive movements in the modern history of our Republic. It all started with the coming together of highly motivated and ideologically driven comrades, who were not fully satisfied with the Gandhian movement and wanted to make the agenda more radical and progressive. These comrades, from all parts of the country, came together for the first time in the historic Kanpur conference.

JAMMU: D K Barooah was at one time president of the Congress, succeeding ShankerDayal Sharma and handing over the baton of presidency to Indira Gandhi when his term finished. Not many today know how the party’s top position came to him but he is remembered for a coinage allegedly attributed to him ``India is Indira, Indira is India’’. Was it for scaling such highs, or lows, of sycophancy that he was rewarded by Mrs Gandhi? He parted company with her some time later and went to a splinter group called Congress (Urs) founded by Devraj Urs.

There is this transfer from zee to 'news', an anchor who has a unique style—he coaxes “guests” into committing themselves, with questions that cajole them into admissions— that they are either anti-India or anti-Hindu. This journalist’s TV shows are a hit with folks in the Hindi-viewership category. You ‘zee’, that is the reason why the 'news' poached him.

The basic premise of the business model of a gig economy is having a large pool of workers at all times. This large supply of workers is then matched with fluctuating demand for services. The ever-expanding supply of workers then leads to increased competition and willingness to work at a low remuneration. The platforms can then provide services at low prices, which helps them undercut their competitors and create its own monopoly in the market.

The year 2022 is going to be full of challenges for peace and health. On one side mankind has been grappling with COVID pandemic for the last two years and on the other increasing expenditure on arms race is draining away resources which are desperately needed to meet the challenge of the pandemic. Developing countries are the worst sufferers in such situation.

In China, President Xi Jinping is acting decisively. Authorities there have shut down a city of 13 million because of Covid. People in Xi’an have been ordered to shut themselves indoors. This, after a spike in coronavirus cases. In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not want lockdowns to pull down billboards featuring him. His pollster image cannot be allowed to suffer.

The fear has now become reality. The amendment to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act enabling the state to declare a person ‘terrorist’ even without any connection with a terrorist organization is being rampantly misused across the country. It is shocking that persons who are exposing state terror even before the United Nations Human Rights body are also being booked as terrorist, apart from those who voice their dissent against government policies and actions.

The 26th day of December, 1925 is an unforgettable day in the history of Communist movement in India. That was the day on which the CPI was born. Though it was a day of December cold in Kanpur, the young revolutionaries who had gathered there were thrilled with the fire of unflinching hope and aspirations of a new world. They came from various parts of the country representing the newly born communist groups in places like Madras, Calcutta, Bombay, Punjab, Kanpur etc. Even beyond the borders of India, in places like Tashkent Communist groups were formed prior to the founding conference of the party on Indian soil. Their dream was a free and prosperous India, marching ahead through the path of socialism. Of course, it was not a spontaneous outcome of accidental events. It was a purposeful footstep taken after much deliberations taking place in an unfavourable socio-political background. British imperialism and their Indian henchmen were trying hard to pluck off even the slightest shoots of anti-colonial awakening. Yet the Communist Party was born in Indian soil, as it was an irresistible historical necessity.

The Karnataka anti-conversion bill passed by the legislative assembly is a direct attack on the rights of religious minorities and religious freedom. Such laws have been passed in other BJP-ruled states like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and earlier in Gujarat. Though named as `Freedom of Religion Act’, these laws do the opposite: curbing the fundamental right provided in Article 25 of the constitution to “freely profess, practice and propagate religion”.

Around 9pm on April 25, 2020, Dr Balram Bhargava received an SOS call. Dr Mannmath Das, a retired surgeon from a hospital in Bhubaneswar, was calling in for advice on a peculiar case. Bhargava, Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), was all ears.