Kerala Govt Wants to Operate Thiruvananthapuram Airport

THE NDA government has decided to privatise five airports at Lucknow, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangalore and Ahmadabad and decided to hand over these airports to Adani Group. Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour on June 24, CPI(M) MP K K Ragesh said that LDF government in Kerala is willing to take over the Thiruvananthapuram airport.

ILO Supports Political Right-wingers, Opposes Hike in Workers’ Wage in Venezuela

THE International Labour Organization (ILO) became a part of the Modi government-appointed so-called expert committee deciding on the methodology of calculation and fixing national minimum wage in India. In the process, it conveniently ignored all existing tripartite forums and existing laws, including a Supreme Court judgement.

Facebook’s Funny Money – or Facebucks – and Real Money

FACEBOOK’S proposed currency Libra – or as a wag put it, Facebucks – has created a storm. Libertarians see Libra, a variant of a cryptocurrency backed by Facebook’s big bucks and the bevy of companies that it has put together, bringing the day when cryptocurrencies will truly challenge all global currencies and fulfilling Hayek’s dream of The Denationalisation of Money.

President’s Address: One Dimensional View

THE president’s address to the joint session of parliament, the first after the Lok Sabha election, was expected to spell out the vision and priorities of the second Modi government. But President Ram Nath Kovind’s speech was sparse in detail and more went unsaid than said.

It is clear from the speech that the ruling party sees the “New India” as radically different from the India before 2014. The RSS notion of a Hindu nationalist Bharat underpins their vision of a ‘New India’.

DUJ Writes to MPs on New Labour Codes

THE Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) has submitted a memorandum to parliamentarians on June 25, drawing their attention to an urgent issue that concerns journalists today. The minister for labour Santosh Gangwar has announced that new labour codes will be introduced in the forthcoming session of the Lok Sabha.

Crisis of Women’s Employment Deepens under Modi

ONLY about 22 per cent of women of working age (defined as 15 years of age or more) were gainfully employed; unemployment among women has doubled and women’s wages/salaries languish at half to two thirds of what men doing similar jobs get. These are some of the shocking revelations contained in the recently released report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for 2017-18, carried out by the government. It may be recalled that the report was ready in December 2018 but the Modi government deliberately suppressed it till after the general elections.

KARNATAKA: Comrade B Madhava

VETERAN CPI(M) and trade union leader Comrade B Madhava passed away at his residence in Mangalore recently. He was 81. He was ailing for last few years. He is survived by his wife and three sons. He was associated with the CPI(M) for over four decades.

Stop Privatisation of Indian Railways: CITU

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on June 21, has opposed the privatisation measures incorporated in the 100 days Action Plan proposed by the ministry of railways with the approval of the minister of railways. The railway board has directed that immediate action be taken to implement the action plan by August 31, 2019.

BSNL Clears Confusion Created on its Survival

THE BSNL Employees Union (BSNLEU) has issued a press statement on June 26, seeking to clear certain confusions created by the letter dated June 17, 2019, written by the BSNL management to the department of telecommunications. In that letter, the BSNL management has stated that the company’s financial position was critical and that payment of salaries to the employees for the month of June 2019, as well as continuing with the operations of the company, would be difficult, without immediate infusion of adequate liquidity.

TUI of Workers in Agriculture, Food, Commerce & Allied Industries Meets in Paris

THE extended executive committee of the Trade Union International of workers in agriculture, food, commerce and allied industries met in Paris on June 5-7, 2019. 39 members from 22 countries took part in the discussions. Suneet Chopra, AIAWU joint secretary and executive committee member of TUI and V S Nirmal, (national secretary, BKMU) who was present on behalf of Nagendranath Ojha, attended the meeting. The discussion was centred on continuing the work and decisions taken in its secretariat meeting in Havana from January 18-20, 2017 followed up by the Lisbon meeting in April 2017.

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