RICH tributes were paid to Comrade Benoy Konar in a memorial meeting organised by the CPI(M) West Bengal state committee on September 24 in Kolkata. Speakers at the meeting recollected his struggling life and his contribution to the development of the Party and peasants’ movement in Bengal.Speaking on the occasion, Nirupam Sen, Polit Bureau member of the Party, recalled the exemplary courage of Comrade Benoy Konar with which he faced the brutal attacks of landowners and police in sixties and seventies and developed powerful land movement in Burdwan. He was jailed under false cases.

IN a surprising move, the Kerala cabinet has decided to impose a huge hike in taxes, service charge and new rate of water charge. This hike is imposed in the pretext of overcoming the severe economic crisis the state faces. The new burden of Rs 3,000 crore will be put on the people through these new taxes. The burden may go up to Rs 4,000 crore as the additional taxes come. New taxes are in addition to Rs 5,614 crore tax imposed by the UDF government in the past three years.

ON September 28, 1864, St. Martin Hall, London, witnessed a meeting of workers and refugees from various European countries. They represented various workers’ organisations with heterogeneous ideas. In fact, the meeting started on September 26th itself where representatives of the suppressed Polish workers uprising were felicitated. However, the meeting on the 28th led to the foundation of the First International.

BOOTH capturing and wide spread rigging was unleashed across the state of Tamil Nadu on September 18 as the by-polls for local bodies including mayoral elections for Coimbatore and Thoothukudi cities were held.

THE fourth factor impinging on caste-contradictions in a neo-liberal economic regime arises from the tendency of this regime to get into crises and periods of prolonged stagnation. Growth under a neo-liberal regime depends essentially upon the formation of “bubbles” in asset prices. When such bubbles get formed, especially in the economy of the United States, which is the leading capitalist power in the world, the entire world capitalist system, and with it Indian capitalism as well, experiences high growth.