GERMANY marked the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall on November 9 with a great deal of pomp and pageantry. The streets of Berlin were jam packed as crowds gathered to mark the day that led to German reunification. 8000 lighted balloons were released into the night sky with the music of Beethoven playing in the background. In attendance were stalwarts of movements that led to the collapse of the Socialist Bloc, like the Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa. The fall of the wall has been characterised as a triumph of good over evil, of democracy over dictatorship.

THE condition of education in Bihar is not as encouraging as the state government wants us to believe. The government claims that lots of works have been done in the field of education in the state and the attendance ratio in schools has increased with every child going to school. But as one takes a closer look at the prevailing situation what he/she finds is that the government claims are far-fetched and detached from ground reality.

THE week-long impasse over Union minister Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti's controversial remarks ended in the Upper House after the government agreed to let Chairman Hamid Ansari make a general statement on behalf of House appealing ministers, MPs and leaders to "maintain civility in public discourse" and uphold constitutional values. After the statement, the House went ahead with the scheduled work.

ANYONE following the climate negotiations, especially since the disastrous pattern set at Copenhagen in 2009 and even more so given the tepid progress made since the wishy-washy Durban summit in 2011, could have seen it coming. There were low expectations from the Lima Conference of Parties (COP 20) to begin with and, true to form, the summit ended with a whimper of a statement, low on ambition on all fronts, emissions reduction, finance and technology, but full of statements with dark portents for the future.

VETERAN leader of the railway workers of India, former general secretary and president of the National Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU), former vice president of the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF), one of the senior most members of the CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee and chairman of the Comrade B T Ranadive Memorial Trust, Comrade P R Menon passed away in Mumbai at the age of 81 on December 5, 2014.