WELL into the second week of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, the climate summit is shrouded in a dense fog of uncertainty, confusion and broken or empty promises, while activists both inside as observers and outside fume and fret in sheer frustration. As the days wind down to the conclusion this weekend, various multi-lateral agreements between voluntary sets of countries which are not binding at the level of the COP, are being pushed and signed.

THE Left parties staged protests against the steep hike in prices of petroleum products throughout Andhra Pradesh on October 28. These include rasta rokos, sit-in dharnas, pulling autos with ropes, cooking on firewood etc.

ON September 8, Tripura witnessed widespread attacks on CPI(M) offices and the houses of CPI(M) cadres across the state.  More than a score of offices were burnt down or ransacked.  Even the state committee office in Agartala was not spared.  Vehicles in front of the offices were burnt. Many houses of Party leaders and activists were set on fire or ransacked.  These coordinated attacks by mobs of BJP men were meant to suppress the CPI(M) and stop its activities among the people.These fascistic type of attacks are an onslaught on democracy and a brutal attempt to suppress the opposition.

SINCE the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades back, efforts to rubbish the November revolution and its underlying principles continue. It is another matter that the questions raised and the answers provided to some of the profound issues confronting the human society cannot be ostracised for good. They stand up with the full range of its ideological posers. In fact, with the passage of time they raise new vision in engaging with the current and evolving reality under contemporary neo-liberal capitalism.

 THERE are a number of misconceptions about Indian agriculture which, if not removed forthwith, can have potentially adverse effects on the ongoing kisan agitation against the three farm laws. The first of these is the belief that corporate encroachment on peasant agriculture is a matter concerning only the corporate encroachers and the peasants. This is wrong: corporate encroachment on peasant agriculture is a matter that affects the economy as a whole; it concerns everybody. This is not a rhetorical statement; it is literally true.