The following is the statement issued by the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) on January 8:

THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) congratulates the coal workers all over the country for their heroic two days’ strike action in all the coal mines and establishments spread over around 40 districts braving police repressions and attacks by the contractor-mafia combine. The strike completely paralysed operations in most of the coal mines under Coal India Ltd and Singareni Collieries Ltd.

INDIA, the ‘Republic of Hunger’, has gone from bad to worse in hunger, and the fight to save the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme, which provides supplementary nutrition to nearly 10 crore beneficiaries is very important for the country’s future, said Prof. Utsa Patnaik. In a very lucid manner, she explained the plight of the people under the neo-liberal policies to the audience who were mainly the anganwadi union leaders from different states. She said that their work in the anganwadis and their fight in the union is important for the future of the country.

THE Russian President, Vladimir Putin was in Delhi in the second week of December to participate in the annual India-Russia summit that has become an annual event since 2000. President Putin and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee had signed the historic Declaration on Strategic Partnership that year. Though the Russian president was in the Indian capital for only a day, the 2014 summit has yielded a raft of substantive agreements.

THE Students’ Federation of India (SFI), Maharashtra state committee led a month-long statewide protest of students in the Industrial Technical Institutes (ITIs) with the main demand to scrap the negative marking system which was newly introduced for ITI students and which led to thousands of students failing in their examinations. More than 25,000 students successfully participated in these SFI-led protests in 20 districts of Maharashtra. It must be remembered that ITI students form part of the future working class of our country.

AS the world welcomed the first day of 2015, Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) organised a day-long event to mark the 26TH anniversary of Safdar Hasmi’s martyrdom. This year also marks his 60TH birthday. The Constitution Club Annexe, New Delhi was the venue of this politically and socially significant event. Artistes from varied walks of life came together on a common platform to remember the sacrifice of a person whose life was cruelly cut short by those who were not comfortable with his outspoken, non-conformist and radical methods.