right Purged Name Omitted In Birthday Celebrations Moscow, Dec. 24, Considerable speculation was arouse ed in political circles here yesterday by the failure of the Soviet press to mention M. A. Zhbanov, chief of the Leningrad Communist.|Party, in connection with M. Joseph Stalin's 60th birthday celebration.
The "Pravda" and other leading Moscow newspapers contained tributes to all of M. Stalin's closest associates but none of the journals mentioned M, Zhbanov, who for many years has been a member of the Political Bureau—M. Stalin's eabinet—one of the four secretaries of the Communist Party anu President of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Supreme Soviet.
As Secretary to the Leningrad Party committee since 1934, M. Zhbanov has been a driving forcing and guiding spirit in Soviet-Finnish relations. As far back as three years ago he urged that stern action be taken against Finland for allegedly harbouring anti-Soviet ambitions.
No exact significance to-M. Zhbamov's omission ín the press could be ascertained, but it is not believed that ihe omission was accidental as his own paper in Leningrad also failed to mention his name.—United Press.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.