Comrade Kumar Shiralkar

COMRADE Kumar Shiralkar, former member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and national joint secretary, AIAWU breathed his last on Sunday, October 2 at Nashik.

An Election of Historical Significance in Brazil

ON October 2, 2022, nearly 156 million Brazilians (out of 212 million) went to the ballot box to elect a new president, new governors, and new federal and state legislatures. Thousands of candidates went from one end of the country to the other to galvanise the population to vote for different visions of the country. The divergent possibilities of Brazil’s future were captured at the presidential level, where eleven candidates from a range of political traditions vied to lead the country.

An Invaluable Leader, A Brother

IT’S unthinkable that Comrade Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has departed from our midst. It causes deep pain. He wasn’t just like a brother, there was real brotherhood between us. We both chose to tread the same path.His concern for the Party was above everything else even under acute illness. He thought about how to handle the attacks against the Party till his last days.

Acceleration in Eurozone Inflation Rate

FOR the first time ever, the annual rate of inflation in the Eurozone, measured by the Consumer Price Index, has reached double digits: it exceeded 10 per cent in September 2022, up from 9.1 per cent in August. Energy and food prices of course drove this acceleration in inflation, increasing by 41 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, but they were not the only items witnessing an increase in the inflation rate. Even if we leave out energy and food, the inflation rate in all other commodities taken together increased from 5.5 per cent in August to 6.1 per cent in September.

Kodiyeri Balakrishnan

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on October 2, 2022THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its profound grief at the passing away of Comrade Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, an outstanding leader of the Party. He was a member of the Polit Bureau and, until recently, the secretary of the Kerala state committee of the Party.Balakrishnan died on October 1, 2022 in a hospital in Chennai after a prolonged struggle against cancer.

K-FON Opens New Possibilities for Kerala Agriculture

SWIMMING against the tide is not an easy task. The general trend in the era of neoliberal economic policies has been towards disinvestment, deregulation, dismantling of the public sector and withdrawal from social sector expenditure. Kerala under the LDF government has been swimming against the tide and with phenomenal success. At all times of crisis whether it be the floods, cyclones, Nipah or the unprecedented Covid pandemic, Kerala has steered a course that has won great acclaim worldwide.

No Interference in Parties’ Rights

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on October 5THE Election Commission’s proposal to amend the Model Code of Conduct to guide political parties to disclose how they plan to finance promises made in their election manifestos and how this would impact the financial situation of the state governments concerned or central government is a totally unwarranted move.The constitution mandates the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections. It is not the job of the Election Commission to regulate the policy pronouncements and welfare measures

Lal Salaam Comrade Kodiyeri

POLIT Bureau member Comrade Kodiyeri Balakrishnan is no more.For over three years, he courageously battled cancer. Despite this, during this period he admirably led the Party in Kerala as the state secretary to a remarkable unprecedented LDF victory in the assembly elections, negating decades of electoral history when a no incumbent government was re-elected for a second term. Following this, under his leadership the Party state committee hosted the 23rd Congress of the CPI(M) in Kannur in April 2022.

An Elder Brother and A Committed Comrade

COMRADE Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was much more than a colleague to me. Senior to me by two years, he was as close to me as a brother in a relationship spanning over five decades. It dates back to 1972-73 when we worked together as colleagues and office bearers of the SFI at the state level. His end has come now, as we were working together simultaneously at the state and national levels.Kodiyeri was at his best, working at the organisational level. His skills in this regard were quite evident even from his student days.

Dwindling Growth, High Food Inflation, Low Employment

THE post-pandemic recovery in the world economy that picked up in 2021 is likely to slow down due to expectations of rising inflation, continuing war, restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and prolonged real estate slump in China as well as a slower than anticipated consumer spending in the US. While global growth rates are revised downwards from 6.1 per cent in 2021 to 3.2 per cent in 2022 and further down to 2.9 per cent in 2023, inflation expectations are high due to soaring food and energy prices. The average inflation rate in developing countries is forecasted to be 7.3 per cent.

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