FOR quite some time, corruption and black money has been agitating the public mind in this country. This was particularly more so, in the urban landscape.  This was elevated to an unprecedented height in the run-up to the last general elections in 2014. The background music was provided by the anti-corruption campaign under the banner of India against corruption led by the `Gandhian icon’ Anna Hazare.

KERALA Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was accorded a hero’s welcome in Madurai in Tamil Nadu. His visit to Tamil Nadu came days after the LDF government decided to appoint people from the Scheduled Castes and other socially-backward communities as priests in government-managed temples, realisation of a dream of social reformer Periyar E V Ramasamy.

The Second National Convention of the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch was held in Madurai, Tamil Nadu from November 4-6. The conference venue was named as Rohith Vemula Hall. From 21 states, 452 delegates including 55 women attended the convention.The convention began with an inaugural session on November 4 in the evening at 4.00 pm. The Venmani Jyoti (torchlight) against the Venmani killings was received by A Lazar and P Suganthi and the torchv against Honour Killings was received by S Bala and P Uchimahali.

Below we reproduce excerpts from the lecture delivered by Brinda Karat at an international conference on the Centenary of October Revolution organised by the Centenary Committee in London on November 4.AT a time when the world is facing the challenge of an offensive of imperialism, of right wing forces, of xenophobia, of racism, of bigotry, of increased violence against women and marginalised social groups, the need for an alternative vision of human development cannot be over emphasised.

THE centenary celebrations of the Great October Socialist Revolution concluded in Moscow with a rally on November 7. It was attended by not only comrades from Moscow but also leaders of over 100 communist and workers parties from across the world, as the 19th International Meeting of Communist and Workers’ Parties (IMCWP) was held in Russia. In the morning, on November 7, there was a military parade at the Red Square in front of the Kremlin, marking the 76th anniversary of the Red Army Parade at the time of preparing for countering the Nazi invasion of the USSR.