In the Soviet Union members of the Moscow section of the Young Communist League held a mass rally in Red Square on Saturday (29 October) to celebrate the annual 'Day of Youth' and the 60th anniversary of the 1917 revolution.

SYNOPSIS: The league, known as Komsomol, is a nationwide organisation for young men and women between the ages of 14 and 28. It was formed in 1918 at the first All-Russia Congress of Working and Peasant Youth Leagues, and it has a membership in the region of 35 million.

One of Komsomol's main stated aims is to educated and develop young people in Soviet society. They are encouraged to accept responsibility, and at the present time are associated with 670 major construction projects. They represent the interests of youth in government and social organisations, and are actively involved in the work of world youth and student bodies.

The rally was addressed by officials of the Moscow branch of Komsomol. Among those watching the celebrations from the top of the Lenin Mausoleum were Politburo member Viktor Grishin, the secretary of the Moscow Communist Party committee; Boris Pastukhov, first secretary of Komsomol and veterans of the October Revolution and World War Two. A measure of Komsomol's importance is that 11 percent of the deputies on the Supreme Soviet are Youth League members.