The Latest: Top stories of the day
1. Narendra Modi draws attention to the Tamil Nadu floods and climate change in his monthly "Mann Ki Baat" address.
2. Kerala Sunni Muslim leader calls gender equality un-Islamic.
3. Thirteen Indian soldiers chasing smugglers held by Nepalese security forces.
4. Blow for Goa tourism as Russia declares India unsafe.
5. A former Trinamool Congress student leader has been arrested in Kolkata for alleged links to the Pakistani spy agency ISI.
6. Prime Minister Modi will push for "Climate Justice" at the UN climate change summit in Paris.

The Big Story: Brace yourself, winter (session) is coming
While the winter session of Parliament got off to a rather smooth start on November 26, things are expected to get rockier from this week for the government. The first two days of the session saw legislators debate and discuss various aspects of the legacy of BR Ambedkar on his 125th anniversary. Naturally, no one disrupted that. But now the gloves will be off.

The first session on the agenda: the intolerance debate. Opposition parties have already decided to push this strongly at the all-party meeting held on November 25.

After the washout of the last session, the government has been far more conciliatory this time around. Prime Minister Modi had already reached out to the Opposition with a conciliatory speech in Parliament on November 26. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu said the government was willing to discuss the issue of intolerance if the opposition allows the House to function.

The silver lining for the government in this is that it has managed to drive a wedge in the opposition ranks with West Bengal’s ruling Trinamool Congress echoing the treasury benches in not allowing Parliament to be disrupted.

"We want the House to discuss every issue including intolerance, but there should no disruption," said Sultan Ahmed of the Trinamool Congress. "Disruptions are also a kind of intolerance!"

The Trinamool support holds out promise for the ruling BJP which is keen to pass the Goods and Services tax bill.

The Big Scroll: Scroll.in on the day's big story
If all else fails, here are four ways for the Bharatiya Janata Party to break a potential parliamentary deadlock. Of course, the government could also bypass Parliament for legislation altogether. And a gentle reminder: disrupting Parliament was a core part of the BJP’s strategy when it was in the opposition too.

Politicking and policying
1. Gujarat civic polls see brisk voting.
2. A contest in 2019 between Nitish Kumar and Narendra Modi too early to predict?
3. Shiv Sena seeks Modi's view on Farooq Abdullah's PoK remark.
4. Economic growth seen picking up, RBI may hold rates steady.

Punditry
1. India isn’t a serious target for al-Qaeda and now ISIS but instead of being thankful for this situation, a number of Indian journalists and policymakers seem anxious that the country be recognised as a victim of globalised terrorism, and so an ally of the Europeans and Americans fighting against it, says Faisal Devji in the Hindu.
2. Ahead of the Paris climate change summit, India has been again targeted as a spoiler. It must stand its ground till the end says Shyam Saran in the Indian Express.
3. In the Indian Express, Ashutosh Vandana writes a first person account of his detainment at the film festival in Goa for wearing an FTII T-shirt.

Don't miss...
Dilip D'Souza notes that India's blockade of Nepal reminds him of the US embargo on Cuba.
"In Cuba, we could hardly miss how the US blockade has affected the economy. Cars were few because petrol is expensive. A qualified doctor we met moonlighted as a taxi driver to earn dollars. Cuban pesos bought us a minimalist meal whose foul taste I still remember; dollars were our ticket to elaborate meals in a “parador” – restaurants in homes. So many women – some looked as young as 15 – were prostituting themselves; on our last night in Havana, we actually met a man and wife and he was pimping her."