Venezuela: Farmers Resist Economic Blockade by Increasing Food Production
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Venezuela: Farmers Resist Economic Blockade by Increasing Food Production

Boaventura Monjane   Due to the illegal sanctions imposed on the country by the United States and its allies, the import of food, seeds, fertilisers, machinery and other basic necessities has been restricted in Venezuela. As a result, food production registered a 60 percent decrease at the national level, but small and medium-scale farmers in…

Capitalism, Socialism and Over-Production Crises
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Capitalism, Socialism and Over-Production Crises

Prabhat Patnaik   It is in the nature of capitalism to have “over-production crises”, i.e., crises arising from “over-production” relative to demand. “Over-production” does not mean that more and more goods keep getting produced relative to demand, so that unsold stocks keep piling up. This may happen only for a brief period in the beginning;…

Finnish PM Proposes Four-Day Workweek, Six Hours Each Day 
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Finnish PM Proposes Four-Day Workweek, Six Hours Each Day 

Courtesy: Telesur   Prime Minister Sanna Marin spoke in favor of reducing working days and working hours during the 120th-anniversary ceremony of the founding of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Turku, Finland.   “Four-day work week, six-hour day. Why couldn’t this be the next step? Is eight hours the absolute truth?” the Finnish Prime…

Disinvestment of LIC to Affect Policyholders?
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Disinvestment of LIC to Affect Policyholders?

Shilpa Shaji   Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement during the presentation of Budget 2020–21 proposing sale of a part of its holdings in Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) has invited much criticism from the employees’ unions within the public sector undertaking (PSU) and the civil society. So far, the government’s proposal stands at the sale of…

J&K Could Have Been a Model of Development for Rest of India
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J&K Could Have Been a Model of Development for Rest of India

Sandeep Pandey, Rajendran Narayanan   After being detained illegally at their respective residences for six months now, the Public Safety Act has been invoked against Omar Abdullah, Mehbooba Mufti and even Shah Faesal, in order to continue their detention. Omar Abdullah has been accused for his capacity to influence people to the extent that they…

Deadly Algebra of Wage Freeze and Super Profits in India
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Deadly Algebra of Wage Freeze and Super Profits in India

Courtesy: Newsclick   A recent analysis of official data reveals that workers in India across all types of occupations have been suffering a deadly squeeze on their incomes as inflation-adjusted wages have been barely increasing, or even declining for the past several years. This has not only devastated the living standards of already ill-paid workers…

Police’s Stern Response Fails to Dampen Spirit of Women in Mumbai Bagh
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Police’s Stern Response Fails to Dampen Spirit of Women in Mumbai Bagh

Sukanya Shantha   A young woman, in a moss green burqa, enters a barricaded space inside Morland road in South Mumbai. A policewoman, in plain clothes, rushes behind her and insists on seeing her identity proof. An argument ensues. The woman, refusing to divulge any information says, “Protester likho (mention me as a protester).” “Yeh…