-The Telegraph   The CPM and the BJP closed ranks today, with Sitaram Yechury heading to Sushma Swaraj’s chamber in Parliament to plot strategy on the government crackdown on Anna Hazare. General secretary Prakash Karat’s stringent anti-Congress line prevailed in the CPM, which has so far consciously avoided being seen with the “communal” BJP, and a reluctant Yechury followed party colleague Ramchandra Dome to Sushma’s room after the politburo issued a second statement...

-The Hindu   The Communist Party of India on Friday urged the government not to club the caste census with survey work on poverty apprehending there would be inordinate delay in compiling the caste data in the absence of any timeline for completion of the task. Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha through a special mention, Syed Azeez Pasha (CPI) said that while the government had inserted the caste column into...

-PTI   The Gujarat government has made a request to the Centre not to ban Endosulfan, an agriculture pesticide found to be an organic pollutant, Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar said in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Answering questions, he said production, sale and use of Endosulfan has been banned by Supreme Court, through an interim order, on May 13 in the country. “What the Supreme Court said, we will oblige,” he said. In reply to...

-The Hindu   The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Monday urged the Government to reconsider the present design of Below Poverty Line (BPL) census expressing apprehension that the current format would result in “undercounting” of the poor. Referring to the Independence Day speech of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the CPI (M) Polit Bureau member Brinda Karat found it “objectionable” that Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh called the BPL census design “non-negotiable.'' “I find...

-IANS   Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat on Sunday said the food security bill in its current form will curtail the food security as it caters to certain sections of society. "This will not be a good food security legislation as they are trying to restrict the food security to certain sections of society. They have already given a quota - 46% of the population in rural areas...