THE blame for the collapse of prices on the stock markets, commodity markets, and foreign exchange markets (against the US dollar) around the world, which occurred on Monday, August 24 and is continuing, has been laid at China’s door. The US has asked China to carry out “reforms” in its financial sector to stem the collapse, and many Western bourgeois commentators have also urged the Chinese government to intervene for this purpose.

FOXCONN, the world’s largest contract manufacturing company for consumer electronics, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set-up a factory in Maharashtra with an investment of $ 5 billion (Rs 32,000 crores).  The Taiwan based Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, whose trade name is Foxconn, has become a giant manufacturing company which, on contract, supplies all the leading electronic companies like Apple, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Samsung and others.  That such a company is setting up hardware manufacturing facilities in India is noteworthy.  But Foxconn has another reputation that one

THE Gurdaspur attack by an extremist squad crossing over from Pakistan is a first of its kind in Punjab. The three-member group is reported to have crossed the international border a few kilometers from the site of attack in Dinanagar. Two similar attacks by Lashkar –e-taiba squads had taken place in Jammu earlier this year.

The terrorist attack killed seven people altogether, three of whom were civilians. The extremists ended up in the Dinanagar Police Station where they were finally killed by the security forces after a 15 hour gun battle.

THE BJP government is caught between its own aggressive postures and the contradictory realities as far as Pakistan is concerned. This is what has emerged from the episode of the joint statement issued after the prime ministers of India and Pakistan met at Ufa in Russia on July 10 and the events thereafter. The Ufa statement signaled the resumption of talks between the two countries. The joint statement talked of the resolve of both sides to discuss all outstanding issues.

THE Vyapam scandal in Madhya Pradesh has reached alarming proportions with the spate of deaths of persons accused in the scam or those who were beneficiaries of the racket. The Vyavasik Pariksha Mandal (Vyapam) is the Professional Examination Board. It conducts examinations for admissions to higher education and recruitment for government services.