IN an unprecedented verdict, the Calcutta High Court directed the State Election Commission to accept the nomination of panchayat candidates sent via email within the extended April 23 deadline. This verdict has come as a response to CPI(M)’s appeal in the court. CPI(M) has been forced to make such an appeal after hundreds of Left candidates were denied access to BDO, SDO office by TMC armed gangs. SEC was earlier asked by the court to extend the time of nomination for one day.

A FRESH round of imperialist bloodletting is on the cards in the Middle-East. They caused complete destruction of Fallujah in Iraq, they bombed hospitals in Afghanistan, and virtually flattened Mosul and Raqqa in Iraq and Syria.Trump and Netanyahu, backed by a set of reactionary monarchical Arab regimes, is out to devour one more nation to feed its insatiable imperial appetite.The US-Israeli war drive against Iran has assumed dangerous proportions. According to the UN's secretary general the Middle East is "in chaos" and the Cold War is "back with a vengeance".

THE Jan Ekta Jan Adhikar Andolan, a national platform of mass, class, and social organisations, groups and progressive individuals, has given a call for a weeklong campaign against the communal and anti-national agenda of the NDA government which will culminate with a protest action in the national capital on May 23.As part of the campaign – ‘NDA Sarkar ki Char Saal, Pol Khol, Halla Bol!’ (four years of NDA Government; Expose and Protest!) – huge mobilisations of people will be held in state capitals between May 16 and 22.

THE CPI(M) organised protests all across Kerala against the continuous fuel price hikes in India which have made people's lives miserable.Thousands of people participated in the "Prathishedha Sangamam" (protest confluence) held at Kannur on May 4. A protest march was taken out from the Collectorate to the Stadium corner, where a massive public meeting was held. People participated in the protest by pushing two-wheelers and by carrying gas cylinders.

ONE and a half months have passed since the BJP-IPFT (Indigenous People's Front of Tripura) coalition government has assumed office in Tripura and the attacks on the Left front workers and supporters continue in full swing in the state.On May 7, the state police imposed Section 144 and cordoned up the entire old motor stand areas by the paramilitary forces in Agartala.