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The “debate” in Parliament on the issue and the “resolution” prepared by all parties to be passed in this session, exposes starkly the “concern for the aam admi” of both the government and its opposition.

Two months after the latest round of furious protests by the Kashmiri people began, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh finally chose to address the issue. This was at an “all-party” meeting convened in New Delhi to discuss the situation in Kashmir, from which many parties to the struggle there were conspicuously absent. Manmohan Singh’s remarks at the meeting were enough to dispel any illusions that his government was going to launch any fresh initiatives to solve the problem.

Imagine the US turning Washington DC into a large and dusty excavation site to greet the world as hosts of the international championships in kabaddi. Or picture China spending ten times its total sports budget on conducting a rugby championship, one of the few games the Chinese have not yet shown interest in.

Several new taxes were introduced in the state budget (March 2010) and again in May that have imposed a heavy burden on the working people. Noting the increase in expenditure on projects and schemes related to the CWG, the Delhi Minister for Finance, Dr.Walia said, "Our revenue collection through taxes has not been adequate due to recession. Therefore, it has become essential to look for measures to generate additional revenue to sustain development."

The British Prime Minister David Cameron came to our country in July to forge a "special relationship" between the rulers of the two countries.

Dear Sir, I am writing to support the call given in the article of the July 16-31, 2010 issue of PV entitled "The people of India are demanding – "take measures to control prices, or quit!"''. I would also like to join the CGPI in extending its congratulations to the people of India for carrying out the successful Bharat Bandh on July 5, 2010. 

Following international protests against the savage working conditions of garment workers in the export sector in India, Britain's best-known high street stores — Gap, Next and Marks and Spencer — have been forced to inquire into abuse of working regulations at their Indian suppliers, which have resulted in children as young as six being left alone while their parents work in outlets in Delhi and in the satellite township of Gurgaon on its outskirts.

The Trade Union Coordination Committee, representing the nearly 4,000 private sector workers serving the Cochin Port Trust, has served a notice of strike from August 11.

Employees at Tata Memorial Centre, the country’s premier facility for treatment of cancer, can now agitate against unfair labour practices legally and put up their grievances before the local labour commissioner. On August 9, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that they are governed by the state labour laws.

We have reported in an earlier issue of Mazdoor Ekta Lehar of the prolonged struggle for rights of tea workers of tea plantations owned by the Tata's in West Bengal.