CPI(M) West Bengal State Committee has announced the immediate launch of an ongoing campaign against the Election Commission (EC). The party contends that the EC is using the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process as a mere pretext for the intentional deletion of the names of legitimate voters in the state. State Secretary Mohammed Salim announced that a major protest rally, involving all Left parties, will take place in Kolkata on October 29, specifically targeting these alleged attempts at voter disenfranchisement.

According to the Second Advance Estimates of Production for 2024–25, farmers cultivating the 20 major Kharif and Rabi crops could have earned nearly Rs 3 lakh crore more if their produce had been procured at prices determined by the Swaminathan Commission’s recommended formula of C2 + 50% (see table -1). The 20 crops include paddy, cotton,  soybean, maize, groundnut, wheat, gram, arhur (tur), rapeseed, jower, urad, moong, bajra, lentil, ragi, sesamum, barley, sunflower, safflower, nigerseed.Since milk, all commercial crops, vegetables, fruits, meat, egg, fish, etc.

The ceasefire in Gaza and the end to the Israeli bombardment and hostilities have been a great relief to the long-suffering people of Gaza. With over 67,000 dead and thousands unaccounted for, tens of thousands injured, and much of Gaza reduced to rubble, the ceasefire has come as a welcome deliverance.The release of twenty Israeli hostages still alive and the reciprocal release of nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, 250 of whom were serving life sentences, have also brought joy to the Israelis and Palestinians.

SLOWLY, a full picture of the devastation of Gaza by Israel is becoming clear. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) released a report around the time of the ceasefire that began to lay out the numbers: Israel’s bombardment of Gaza resulted in the total destruction of 190,115 buildings and the almost total destruction of another 330,500 housing units. The constant artillery and aerial fire for the 734 days of the genocide resulted in the wrecking of eighty-five percent of Gaza’s water and sewage system.

The brutal sexual assault of a second-year MBBS student in Durgapur, West Bengal, has sparked a severe political backlash against the state administration. The outrage stems not only from the gravity of the crime but primarily from the Chief Minister’s subsequent comments, which suggested that girls should avoid staying out late.