THE policy announced of lateral entry into the civil service at the level of joint secretary has raised a number of questions.  The central government has advertised for ten posts of joint secretary to be recruited by a committee headed by the cabinet secretary. The applicants can be from either the public sector, universities, or, the private sector including those working in multinational companies.  The requirement is that they should have 15 years experience in the job. This is just a thin end of the wedge.  Lateral entry is being pushed by none other than the prime minister himself.

DONALD Trump’s leaving the G-7 summit without budging an iota on protectionism is indicative of the disunity among the leading capitalist countries on the strategy to overcome the capitalist crisis. Trump has decided that the US would go its own way, by enlarging the fiscal deficit, not just for giving tax concessions to the corporates, which would have little demand-stimulating effect anyway, but also for increasing government expenditure which would have this effect, and at the same time by protecting the domestic market.These two strands of Trump’s strategy have to go together.

THE CPI(M) launched a campaign, ‘Poraduvom Tamizhagame’, in Tamil Nadu to sensitise the people about the suppression of democratic rights, excesses committed by the police, unbridled corruption, administrative bungling and the anti-people attitude of the AIADMK government.As part of the campaign -- ‘Poraduvom Tamizhagame’ (Tamil Nadu Protests), six rallies were taken out from different parts of the state and these culminated in Trichy with a public meeting on June 14.

THE Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan (Peoples unity, peoples rights movement) is a newly formed platform of mass, class and social organisations, employees federations, teacher’s organisations, unorganised sector unions, dalit and tribal organizations, progressive non-government organisations and individuals. In its general body meeting, it decided to organise massive protests all over the country against the misrule of the anti-peasant, anti-working class, anti-minority, anti-dalit NDA government and expose the utter failures in its four-year rule.

COMING out of the historic summit that took place in Singapore on June 12, between the Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the US, the president of DPRK, Kim Jong-un declared, “The world will see a major change”. Donald Trump, US president joined, stating that “Anyone can make war, but only the most courageous can make peace!” Analysts across the world, including nay-sayers are poring through the one and half page declaration adopted in the summit and passing their judgements.