India, Iran aur woh

According to the editorial, this development 8220;reconfirms that the US seeks to deal with India as its 8216;subordinate ally8217;8221;. It says that the remarks of the spokesman of the US Department of State have not come as friendly unsolicited advice, but smack of the 8216;imperialist arrogance8217; of a self-appointed world policeman. 8220;This is tantamount to gross interference on how India should conduct its relations with other countries8230; Such blatant interference in India8217;s internal affairs and foreign policy positions must be outrightly rejected as an insult to our sovereignty,8221; PD says.

According to the editorial, such attempts by the US to influence or even pressurise India into taking positions that dovetail with US strategic concerns resoundingly vindicate the apprehensions voiced by the Left in connection with the Indo-US nuclear deal, anchored, as it is, in the US Hyde Act.

India, it says, must go beyond the official response of rejection of unilateral US interference on this count. 8220;This visit by the Iranian president must be utilised to further the Indo-Iranian gas pipeline project,8221; it says, adding that the pipeline is not only a cheap energy source but will also go a long way in augmenting the energy capacities so urgently needed for India.

It says that Iran, a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty NPT, has the right to pursue a civilian nuclear programme while being obliged to abjure from undertaking any nuclear weaponisation programme and it is for the international watchdog to ensure Iran8217;s compliance on this score, it says. The International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA has already stated that Iran does not have a nuclear weapons programme or capability, it points out.

According to the editorial, the IAEA had made similar observations regarding Iraq in the past. That, however, did not prevent or deter US imperialism from launching a war against Iran and every single excuse the US forwarded to the world as the legitimate reason for its attack on Iraq has been proved to be untrue. 8220;If it is making a similar case with Iran today and seeks to tread on a similar path as it did with Iraq, then India can never be a party to this,8221; it says.

Left-UNPA bhai bhai

The journal devotes prominent space to the joint agitation carried out by the Left and the UNPA against price rise. The article lists out the six demands they had made in the memorandum submitted to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh which includes a ban on futures trade in all commodities, universalising of PDS, rolling back the oil price hike, strengthening of the essential commodities law for checking hoarders and change in petro-products taxation structure.

The article maintains that there was unanimity among the leaders of the Left and the UNPA regarding the causes behind the price rise and also on the solutions. It says that the struggle will be intensified on the streets till the government is forced to take measures to curb the price rise.

The PD has also given a detailed account of the agitation carried out by the Left against price rise in various states.

Problem No. I

In an article titled 8216;Inflation: How much and why8217;, noted economist C.P. Chandrasekhar says that inflation is the number one economic problem that the country faces today. 8220;Inflation today threatens not just the livelihoods of the poor but the high growth that the government has been showcasing,8221; he says. According to him, the widespread impact of the current inflation is because its incidence ranges across a wide range of commodities.

There are two fundamental reasons behind the current inflation, according to him, and they are the neglect of agriculture reflected in declining real investment and the inability of the government to use the procurement and distribution mechanism as a means of controlling the domestic prices of cereals and pulses.

The hope that greater integration of Indian and global markets would benefit consumers and not producers has obviously been proved wrong by circumstances, he adds.

8220;Given the wide ranging nature of the current inflation, the policies to counter it must be directed at its multifarious sources,8221; he says, and adds that it would require reversing many elements of liberalisation. 8220;The difficulty faced by the current government in combating inflation is that it is unwilling to come to terms with this reality,8221; it concludes.