THROUGH a statement issued on January 15, 2014, by its general secretaries Murali Manohar Prasad Singh and Chanchal Chauhan, the Janvadi Lekhak Sangh (JLS) expressed its deep sense of grief over the demise of Namdev Dhasal, renowned Marathi writer of dalit literature. He was seriously ill since September 2013, was in a Mumbai hospital for treatment and the doctors had diagnosed him as suffering from a kind of cancer. He breathed his last on Wednesday, January 15.

THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its deep grief at the passing away of Shyamali Gupta, member of the Central Committee of the party and president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association till recently. Shyamali Gupta fell ill at the AIDWA all-India conference held in Bodh Gaya and died after she returned to Kolkata. She was 68 years old.

Shyamali Gupta joined the Communist Party in 1963 after being active in the student movement. She played an important role in the Bengal Provincial Students Federation.