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Bhima Koregaon accused activists Shoma Sen and Sudha Bharadwaj who are languishing in the Byculla Jail of Mumbai after being accused of conspiracy against the state by the National Investigating Agency (NIA), are facing serious danger to their lives. At least 20 persons have allegedly tested positive for COVID-19 at Byculla women’s jail, according to Koel Sen, daughter of activist Shoma Sen. Out of these at least two positive patients belong to the same barrack and there is every possibility of the two accused activists being infected.

On a Sunday or for that matter on any of the weekdays, Mumbaikars and other Maharashtra citizens can expect a war of words between Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on anything that is grist for the mill. The two stand ever ready to lock horns. Right now, it’s over the brutal ‘Sakinaka rape-cum-murder’ and it looks like the Chief Minister is getting the better of the Governor!

There is shift in the basics and when the basics change, superstructure also faces change. In a capitalist society, production process is based on the employer and the working class. One regulates the production process, which involves investment, which is scientifically called capital. This capital is the result of surplus production, a fact discovered by Marx while he was trying to formulate the main pillar of his theory, the political economy. Surplus is produced only when the worker slogs more than what s/he gets in return as compensation for his toil. This extra is called surplus that turns into capital in a capitalist society, its life source. As the society evolves, the character of capital also blossoms up, turning into finance capital. There is merger of banking and industrial capital. There is hardly any investment. The entire concentration is on financialisation of economy.

The Modi government has laid out one more plan to “clean” the books of banks, especially public banks, by helping them get rid of Rs 2 lakh crore of loans gone ‘bad’. It has announced the creation of two institutions for the purpose. The National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL), or the “bad bank” in popular parlance, will take over the bad assets of the banks. The Indian Debt Resolution Company Ltd (IDRCL), armed with the necessary expertise, will ‘manage’ these assets and sell them at the ‘best possible’ price, to recover some of the money due to the banks. Presented as a novel method of resolving the huge bad debt problem, this exercise is nothing more than an attempt by the government to wipe its hands of a crisis its own policies created.

After the second wave of COVID-19 subsided in May, the labour market in India started showing recovery. However, within four months the recovery has started vanishing, salaried jobs diminishing, and employment generation is waning. Moreover, the data on jobs, if we don’t dive deep into it, may still seem to be promising, but in reality it conceals the alarming situation on the ground.

New Delhi: Bhubaneswar will host the 16-nation Junior Hockey World Cup from 24th November to 5th December.

Kolkata: Local favourites Mohammedan Sporting edged out defending champions Gokulam Kerala 1-0 to move into the semifinals of the 130th Durand Cup semi-finals, at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK) here on Thursday.

On Monday, September 20, Canada reelected Justin Trudeau’s Liberals to another minority government over the opposition Conservative Party. Both establishment parties promised working-class constituencies a recovery from the ravages of the pandemic. But a look at the fine print reveals that the results of this election will likely deliver little to the working-class communities hardest hit by the difficulties of the last year and a half.

The independence of both Mexico and Cuba got a big hearing in Mexico City on September 16 this year. On that day in 1810, in Dolores, Mexico, Catholic priest Miguel Hidalgo called upon parishioners to join him in rebelling against Spain’s viceregal government. Mexico finally gained independence in 1821. Every year, at 11 p.m. on September 15, and on September 16, Mexicans and their presidents pay homage to Hidalgo’s iconic Cry of Dolores (Grito de Dolores).

Ahead of the British Labour Party conference this weekend, many are hoping for resolution of the inner party crisis surrounding Jeremy Corbyn. The conference scheduled to be held on September 25 would witness a magic leader’s speech to turn the tide overnight. This has gained immense importance as the party has been consistently losing support base under Keir Starmer.