SANMAR Group, Chemplast (Plant III) in Mettur, Salem district, Tamil Nadu, dismissed 94 workers for joining the general strike call given by trade unions on January 8 and 9. Recently, 100 workers of the Plant had joined the CITU and despite serving prior strike notice to the management, 94 of them were dismissed and were obstructed from entering the Plant on January 10.Chemplast had many examples of worst industrial relations and intolerance towards trade union activities in the past.

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions, in a statement issued on January 25, has heartily congratulated the defence sector civilian employees and their federations for the heroic countrywide three days strike on January 23-25, 2019 in all defence sector production, research and service establishments to defend country’s defence sector production and service network, against the onslaught of outsourcing and privatisation by the present BJP government at the centre.All the defence employees’ federations including the All India Defence Employees Federation have jointly given the strike call to prot

THE United States has declared war against the legitimate government of Venezuela headed by President Nicolas Maduro.This is the meaning of the brazen act of interference in the internal affairs of Venezuela with the Trump administration announcing the recognition of a rightwing opposition leader, Juan Guaido, as the interim president.  Alongside this illegal act came also the call to the Venezuelan armed forces to withdraw support to the lawfully elected president. That Guaido declared himself as the interim president on January 23, which was immediately endorsed by the United States, show

AT first sight it appears to be an enigma. India has been recording, according to official statistics, one of the highest GDP growth rates among all the countries of the world, so much so that epithets like “emerging economic superpower” and “a global powerhouse of growth”, have been freely used to describe India’s achievement. Bourgeois commentators display much pride over the fact that India is in the process of surpassing even China in terms of its growth-rate. The IMF is now talking of India leading the world in 2019 in GDP growth.

INDIA became a republic on January 26, 1950, when the constitution, steered by Babasaheb Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly, came into effect. It is the constitution that guarantees that all sections of people – irrespective of race, religion or caste – have full rights to the nation, including the right to a decent standard of living. It is this vision of democracy and a secular republic that is under threat today.This week is also important as January 23 is celebrated as the birthday of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.