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Where does Congress go from Udaipur Chintan Shivir? Was the conclave an exercise in futility, or will it revive the party? It all depends on the implementation of the decisions taken at the conclave.

Few will disagree that the US-led 30-member North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is using Ukraine to test Russia’s military capability and patience. The increasing supplies of arms, money and even clandestinely despatching soldiers to Ukraine indicate that NATO is fighting a proxy war against Russia cleverly using Ukraine as a pawn. The Russia-Ukraine war, which started on February 24, is showing no sign of ending as NATO is continuously supplying weapons worth billions of dollars to Ukraine to counter the Russian invasion of Ukraine to protect itself from further expansion of NATO towards the east.

The seismic shift in the global crude oil market has begun to take effect. This is expected to manifest in tightened crude markets as well as unprecedented shifts in trade flows, most notably of Russian oil from Europe to Asia. Russia is expected to redirect as much volume as possible to alternative markets an d India, along with China, would be key players in this shift.

India’s record of taking up labour issues in a progressive manner predates the observation of May Day, on May 1, 1891, as the first international Labour Day. In 1884, seven years before the commencement of May Day celebrations in 1891, Narayan M. Lokhande, hailed as the father of trade union movement in India, founded the Mill Hands Association, constituting the beginning of the labour movement in India. In the absence of any safeguards for their safety and security, workers were forced to work in harsh and unhealthy working environments, and suffered untold misery and exploitation. Moved by their plight, Lokhande launched a movement against mill owners, and exerted pressure on them to concede to their demands for fair wages, a healthy working environment, and protection of their rights and liberties.

Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who is now being eulogized by some of the Indian politicians particularly during the elections, did not care for Muslims staying back in India and was willing to sacrifice them to ensure the well-being of those who opted for Pakistan. In an interview Ishtiaq Ahmed, professor emeritus of political science at Stockholm University has said Jinnah also did not want a mere partition of India but also dismembering and balkanisation of India into Dravidastan in South India and separate state for Sikhs.

Workforce in India is being crushed between inflation and joblessness chiefly on account of wrong policy stance of the Narendra Modi government and the pandemic may be just an additional excuse. Retail inflation (CPI) in April soared to a 8-year high, ie the entire period of Modi Raj, and touched 7.79 per cent as against 8.3 per cent in May 2014, which he had strongly criticized during his election campaign. In place of the promise of providing one crore job every year, his government actually delivered unprecedented level of joblessness in decades, further exacerbated by the pandemic.

When Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, he laid down a marker for a critical mass of world leaders who, like him, think in civilizational rather than national terms. In the minds of these leaders, the stakes in Ukraine are about much more than the future of a former Soviet republic or the rejiggering of Europe’s security architecture.

In a Batch of petitions challenging the law of sedition, contained in section 124A of the Indian Penal Code, the Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a slew of interim directions. Things came to a head because the Central Government, instead of defending the constitutionality of the provision, proposed to reconsider the law purportedly because the Prime Minister wanted it to be reviewed in the spirit of “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.”

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Thursday that her country should apply to join the NATO military alliance “without delay.” Signing up with NATO, Marin said, was necessary to guarantee the security of Finland’s citizens. She also called for the international community to step up sanctions against Russia.

The present strategy and structure of trade unions, evolved during the period when welfare economics prevailed and existing technology saw the evolution of big corporations with big manufacturing units, employing hundreds and hundreds of workers. The evolution of Fordism with assembly line production, deskilling of workers, etc, was seen during the period. But constant class struggle that was unfolding, power of workers to stop production was an important factor in increasing their bargaining strength along with the existence of socialist world, which also helped in increasing power of workmen vis-à-vis capitalists.