PRAGOTI

Clean-up order

2009-01-06T00:05:18-06:00

The Madras High Court comes out strongly against manual cleaning of sewers.The court ordered that the “entry of sanitary workers into the sewerage system under the guise of removing the blocks should be prohibited, except under exceptional circumstances”.

S. DORAIRAJ writes about the court order and the travail of manual sewers, a large number of whom die instantaneously after inhaling noxious fumes in the sewers.The writer observes "The court may have stirred the authorities into action for now, but the stand that entry of workers into manholes cannot be avoided under some circumstances indicates that Tamil Nadu has a long way to go before it puts an end to this dehumanising practice."

Separate slice

2009-01-05T23:42:15-06:00

Tamil Nadu “accepts in principle” a 3 per cent quota for a few sub-sects within the existing 18 per cent reservation for the Scheduled Castes,writes S. Viswanathan.

CPI(M) spearheaded the agitation of Arunthathiyar community,which is one among the most marginalized sections among the lower castes in Tamil Nadu.A significant section of Arunthathiyars still work as night soil removers and underground sewer cleaners,for whom the exclusive reservations would certainly be a respite,though the lingering upper class stigma against the "untouchables" in Tamil Nadu and the resultant social exclusion points out the need for more affirmative measures from the authorities.

Crimes against Humanity: Iraqi academics assassinated during the US-led occupation

2009-01-05T22:16:53-06:00

Pakistan Daily has published the list of Iraqi academics assassinated by US and allied occupation forces. The objective of these targeted assassinations is to "kill a nation", the destroy Iraq's ability to educate its people, to undermine its research and scientific capabilities in literally all fields of endeavor, to transform a nation into a territory, and ultmately to destroy civilization.

Of particular significance is the assassination of prominent scientists and physicians, professors of medicine in the country's leading academic institutions, its social scientists and historians, its physical scientists, its biologists, its engineers.

we are dealing with a carefully devised covert operation. The plan to kill the nation's scientists and intellectuals emanates from US intelligence and the military. It is a deliberate process.

Is the new Obama administration going to turn a blind eye to this diabolical and criminal agenda?

Obama's deadly silence

2009-01-05T10:34:56-06:00

There is no silver lining to Israel's slaughter in Gaza, but the reactions to it should at least serve as a wake-up call: when it comes to the struggle for peace and justice in Palestine, the American liberal elites who are about to assume power present as formidable an obstacle as the outgoing Bush administration and its neoconservative backers,writes Ali Abunimah, who points out that Obama's approach on Palestine has been almost indistinguishable from the Bush administration's. Pragoti carries another two articles by Ralph Nader and Ilan Pappe with this one.

"Gaza will not surrender to the tanks and bulldozers" – 150,000 Voices Assert in Sakhnin

2009-01-05T09:42:10-06:00

Pragoti is reproducing the images of the massive protests held inside Israel, against the Israeli massacres in Gaza.

Israel: Over 150,000 Protest Gaza Military Operation

2009-01-05T09:31:02-06:00

Over 150,000 people demonstrated yesterday (Saturday, January 3, 2009) in Israel against Operation Cast Lead in the northern Arab town of Sakhnin and in Tel Aviv. The demonstration in Sakhnin was by far the biggest such protest in Israel. According to organizers, it was the largest protest held by the Palestinians in Israel in many years.

SFI, DYFI protest against Israeli Invasion of Gaza

2009-01-05T06:25:38-06:00

SFI and DYFI stage a militant protest in front of the Israeli embassy. SFI and DYFI demand immediate withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza strip and express solidarity with the Palestinian resistance. A press release alongwith photos.

CPI(M) Statement on the Invasion of Gaza by Israel

2009-01-05T04:26:28-06:00

The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) denounces the invasion of Gaza by the Israeli armed forces. After a week of barbaric air raids, the Israeli armed forces have now launched the ground offensive which has sharply increased civilian casualties. More than 500 people have died in this State-sponsored terrorism.

Stimulus package a drop in the ocean

2009-01-05T00:07:47-06:00

Prospects of ending the fiscal with even 7% GDP growth are none too promising, given the slide in industrial production and exports,writes G. Srinivasan on the Stimulus Package announced by the Central Government.

Government’s Package will Fail to Stimulate Economy

2009-01-05T00:04:27-06:00

A statement issued by the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) on the second Economic Stimulus package announced by the Central Government.

A Liberal Interpretation of India’s Future

2009-01-03T22:55:06-06:00

A review of Daniel Lak's "India Express: the future of a new superpower" by Aniket Alam of Pragoti Editorial Team.

US Government bailout hits $8.5 trillion

2009-01-03T21:44:50-06:00

The federal government committed an additional $800 billion to two new loan programs on Tuesday, bringing its cumulative commitment to financial rescue initiatives to a staggering $8.5 trillion, according to Bloomberg News.

We belong to and will belong to the Rio Group

2009-01-03T21:33:56-06:00

Speech by Raúl Castro Ruz, president of the Councils of State and Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, at the Extraordinary Summit of the Rio Group, Costa de Sauipe, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, on December 16, 2008: "Year 50 of the Revolution"

THE CRISIS OF THE CAPITALIST WORLD

2009-01-02T21:27:51-06:00

Prabhat Patnaik writes about the current economic crisis.

Learning nothing, forgetting everything

2009-01-02T21:25:23-06:00

The UPA government tables two Bills in Parliament hurriedly to amend the laws applicable to the insurance sector,writes C.P.Chandrasekhar