PRAGOTI

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."

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.

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? 

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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.

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.