THE Left and progressive forces in the Latin American continent are passing through turbulent times. Marta Harnecker, in her recently published book, A World to Build, Monthly Review Press, (Indian edition by Aakar) 2015, discusses very briefly the background in which the present Left, progressive governments had come to power, their character, differences between these governments and the challenges they are facing.

THE heaviest rainfall never before in the history of Tamil Nadu caused massive flooding in many parts of the state driving thousands of people from their homes, shutting the factories, IT hubs and paralysing the airport in the capital city, Chennai.   The micro and small industries sector have also been worst affected.

After all, the prospect of failure at Paris was too scary and all national governments were under pressure, both international and domestic, to deliver.The Paris Agreement certainly represents a breakthrough in the prevailing stalemate in the sense that it binds more than 195 nations to some commonly agreed and binding framework for a joint struggle against climate change with far-reaching measures to combat the crisis. It is the broadest, officially-backed recognition of the reality of human-induced climate change, and the need for a low-carbon pathway to tackle it.

AT the invitation of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (IDCPC), a four-member delegation of the CPI(M) led by Venkatesh Athreya and consisting, in addition, of Vijoo Krishnan (invitee to the CPI(M) Central Committee), KN Harilal (Professor, Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram) and Archana Prasad (Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University), took part in the seminar on the ‘Theory and Practice of Capitalism in South Asia’ organised by the CPC in Beijing on December 7, 2015.

PROTESTS were organised against the India-Japan Nuclear Deal at various places across the country between December 11 to 13, during the Japanese Prime minister Shinzo Abe’s visit to India. The protests were co-ordinated by the Coalition for Nuclear Peace and Disarmament (CNDP). The deal with Japan is actually a missing piece in the massively destructive nuclear energy expansion that India has embarked upon after signing the disastrous Indo-US nuclear deal.