THE joint platform of Central Trade Unions (CTU) and Sectoral Independent Federations and Associations, in its meeting held on July 8, reiterated its support to the defence production employees, protesting the central government's policies to privatise defence production sector and ordnance factories network.The CTUs noted with concern that, simultaneously, a substantial part of the defence-related production is being outsourced to the private sector, both indigenous and foreign, permitting 100 per cent FDI.

THE creation of a separate ministry for cooperation at the centre with Amit Shah as the first cooperation minister of India raises a number of uneasy questions with respect to country’s federal structure and development of cooperatives. Cooperatives is a state subject as per Schedule 7 of the constitution. So far cooperatives have been under the regulatory control of registrar of cooperatives of different states. There are a few hundred multi state cooperatives (MSCs) in existence. But the numbers are too small to warrant a separate ministry at the centre.

ELAMARAM Kareem, Rajya Sabha member of the CPI(M) criticised the union government for issuing an ordinance banning the employees engaged in essential defence services from taking part in any agitation or strike. He said that the ordinance was passed in an attempt to thwart the indefinite strike by the employees of the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) on July 26.He wrote to Rajnath Singh, the union defense minister on July 3, seeking withdrawal of the ordinance, and said that there is widespread protest from all sections of the society against this ordinance.

The Communist Party of China (CPC) organised an online World Political Parties Summit on July 6, 2021 on the theme ‘People’s Well-Being: Responsibilities of Political Parties’. Leaders of more than 500 political parties and organisations from over 160 countries participated in this summit. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC inaugurated the summit and delivered the keynote speech. Below we reproduce the intervention of Sitaram Yechury general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) at the summit.

ON the twin occasion of 46th anniversary of the imposition of emergency and completion of seven months of the farmers’ movement at Delhi’s borders, Save Democracy Forum organised a virtual public meeting on June 26. The meeting was attended by leaders of the working-class, peasants’ and agricultural workers’ movement who were arrested during the emergency under the draconian Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). The leaders shared their experiences during the emergency and compared it with the policies of today’s BJP led government calling it an undeclared emergency.