The Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met in New Delhi on August 4-6, 2023.  It has issued the following statement on August 7.MANIPURThe Central Committee expressed its indignation at the fact that for over three months now the ethnic conflict with communal dimensions in Manipur is raging leaving hundreds dead, tens of thousands displaced and surviving in relief camps under inhuman conditions. The culpability of the state government is clear enough.

COMMEMORATING the 135th birth anniversary of Muzaffar Ahmad, affectionately known as Kakababu, the West Bengal state committee of the CPI(M) held a meeting on August 5, in Kolkata.

AT 3 am on July 26, 2023, the presidential guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum in Niamey, the capital of Niger. Troops, led by Brigadier General Abdourahmane Tchiani closed the country’s borders and declared a curfew. The coup d’état was immediately condemned by the Economic Community of West African States, by the African Union, and by the European Union. Both France and the United States – which have military bases in Niger – said that they were watching the situation closely.

MANY economists have been advocating a universal basic income for India, an idea that was mooted even in the official Economic Survey for 2016-17. Of course the practical proposals towards this end have varied, some suggesting a common universal transfer to all persons below a certain income, and others suggesting a graded transfer depending on how badly off an individual happens to be.

THE ministry of finance sub-committee (central) announced the strategic sale of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited (RINL), popularly known as Vizag Steel, on January 27, 2021. The then recognised union, CITU, united all permanent workers' unions, contract workers' unions, and officer's association on one platform, forming a struggle committee to save Vizag Steel Plant from privatisation.