THE state conference began in the Kalibari Hall which was named as Kapoor Singh Supahya Hall after the former state committee member who died because of a prolonged illness. The conference was inaugurated by Prakash Karat. He spoke about the challenges the Party and the Left is facing in the country. While dwelling on the upcoming 21st Party congress in Vishakhapatnam he said the tactical line is being reviewed to enhance the growth of the Party on both fronts ie, the aberrations in the line and also in its implementation.

THE 14th Delhi state conference of the CPI(M) took place on December 20-21, 2014 in Comrade Mohan Lal Hall at Ambedkar Bhawan, Delhi. The conference began with flag hoisting by Delhi state secretariat member Rampal and laying flowers at the Martyrs Column. A condolence resolution was adopted condoling the deaths of former Polit bureau members, R Umanath, Samar Mukherjee, state secretariat members, Mohan Lal and Vijendra Sharma, along with Hugo Chavez and Nelson Mandela. The conference also condoled those who were martyred in struggles of the people.

THE US, based on FBI reports, has blamed North Korea for hacking the Sony, the entertainment giant. In return, Obama threatened cyber attacks or what he called “proportionate response” against North Korea; the North Korean Internet did go down after Obama's threats. North Korea denied the US allegations and has called for an international enquiry to establish who are behind the Sony attack.

THE coal workers’ federation affiliated to CITU has called one-day strike in the coal industry on January 13, demanding withdrawal of the Coal Mines (Special provision) Act which has been brought through the Ordinance route bypassing suggestions of the central trade unions. The CITU-affiliated All India Coal Workers’ Federation (AICWF) has also extended its support to the five-day strike call by four national federations affiliated to INTUC, BMS, AITUC and HMS, commencing January 6.

A DELEGATION of the Left Front led by Biman Basu (chairman, West Bengal Left Front committee), Sitaram Yechury (MP, leader of the CPI(M) group in Rajya Sabha), Abani Roy (ex-MP, Revolutionary Socialist Party) Surjya Kanta Mishra (leader of the opposition, West Bengal legislative assembly), Pallab Sengupta (Communist Party of India) and Ali Imran Ramz (member, legislative assembly of West Bengal, Forward Bloc) met the prime minister on December 22, on the issue of financial irregularities and fraud committed by financial companies in West Bengal.