WEST Bengal emerged as a powerful epicentre of the July 9 nationwide general strike, with unprecedented working-class participation across all sectors protesting anti-people policies of the central government. Despite adverse weather conditions, the strike paralysed normal life in many districts. However, the ruling party and police reportedly responded with aggressive repression, including assaults on peaceful protesters, including an 80-year-old woman – drawing sharp public outrage.

TENSIONS increased in southern Syria as Israeli warplanes bombed the Ministry of Defence in Damascus and areas around the presidential palace as well as villages in As-Suwayda. At least 250 Syrians died in these air strikes on July 16, 2025. The transitional authorities in Syria led by the former al-Qaeda chief Ahmed al-Sharaa condemned the attacks, which Israel justified as necessary to stop the fighting between the Syrian forces, the hastily organised Quwwat al-Badu (or Bedouin Forces), and the Druze Harakat Rijal al-Karama (Men of Dignity).

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on July 21, 2025, on the death of Comrade V S Achuthanandan in Thiruvananthapuram today at 3:20 pm, after prolonged illness.THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its profound grief at the death of V S Achuthanandan, an outstanding leader and veteran of the communist movement. V S Achuthanandan was a former member of the Polit Bureau. He was 101 years old.Fondly called VS, Achuthanandan was an able organiser who spearheaded various struggles in Kerala.

KERALA has long stood as a frontrunner in Indian higher education. National quality assessment agencies like the NAAC (National Assessment and Accreditation Council) and the NIRF (National Institutional Ranking Framework) have consistently affirmed the state's achievements, with Kerala's universities reaching significant milestones and gaining national recognition.Three of Kerala’s universities – along with NIT Kozhikode – have earned placements in the prestigious “overall” category, which evaluates institutions across the country.

ON July 9, 2025, as the urban proletariat launched a powerful strike, the villages of India also echoed with the sound of resistance. In a historic show of unity and determination, agricultural workers, rural labourers, peasants, and other toiling masses across the country rose in a massive rural strike. The rural proletariat responded forcefully, turning the day into a historic moment of collective assertion. The strike was called by a joint platform of Central Trade Unions and independent sectoral federations.