THE winter session of Kerala assembly began on a stormy note on November 30 with the Left Democratic Front stepping up attack on the government, seeking excise minister K Babu’s resignation in the bar bribery scam, within and outside of the House. The CPI(M)-led opposition raised the banner of protest as soon as the 11-day session began. The moment Speaker N Sakthan invited Babu to reply to a question, the entire opposition was on its feet. The opposition kept up its protest every time Babu rose to reply to supplementary questions.

THE Assam state unit of All India Kisan Sabha successfully organised the first ever state-level convention of vegetable growers at Sarbhog in Barpeta district, which is known for large-scale cultivation of vegetables by small and marginal farmers. The two-day convention was held on November 21-22 in the historic Gandhi Hall of Sarbhog. The convention ended with a massive rally of around five thousand peasants on November 22.The surrounding area of Sarbhog, popularly known as Barnagar area, is a hub of vegetable cultivation in the state.

THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU), in a statement issued in December 2, have expressed profound grief at the death of around 200 people in continuing heavy rains in Tamil Nadu, particularly in the northern and coastal districts. The rains have broken a hundred year record for the month of November and created havoc in Chennai and other coastal cities. Houses, roads, railway stations and even the airport are submerged.  Life has come to a standstill.

SO COP 21 (Conference of Parties) is finally here and fingers are crossed all over the world that the summit will deliver a definitive outcome. Problem is that nobody is particularly optimistic about how effective that outcome will be in terms of dealing with the clear, present and immediate danger posed by climate change. At the same time, almost everybody is sure that COP21 will end with some concrete agreement, probably named after Paris much like the Kyoto Protocol that it will replace, that will be greeted with applause and hailed as a success.

Below we reproduce the excerpts from the speech made by Jitendra Chaudhury, Lok Sabha MP from Tripura on November 27 who spoke on discussion on commitment to India’s constitution as part of 125th birth anniversary celebration of Dr BR Ambedkar.TODAY we are celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of Dr BR Ambedkar.