ON September 28, 1864, St. Martin Hall, London, witnessed a meeting of workers and refugees from various European countries. They represented various workers’ organisations with heterogeneous ideas. In fact, the meeting started on September 26th itself where representatives of the suppressed Polish workers uprising were felicitated. However, the meeting on the 28th led to the foundation of the First International.
THE Himachal Pradesh state secretariat of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has strongly condemned the despotic state government run by the Congress party for its midnight scoop on September 20, in which it lifted eight protesting girls from the HPU campus. This shows the desperation in which the government is working in connivance with the HPU authorities to cow down the popular voice of the students who are protesting against the phenomenally large increase in the fees of various courses in the undergraduate and post graduate.
BOOTH capturing and wide spread rigging was unleashed across the state of Tamil Nadu on September 18 as the by-polls for local bodies including mayoral elections for Coimbatore and Thoothukudi cities were held.
TO our readers, this caption may appear as something alien – foreign. But those who frequent the social media – this insignia has become familiar over the last week or more. This is the sign post of a massive student movement that started in Jadavpur University (JU); but has subsequently spilled over across West Bengal and beyond. The measure of resonance of the movement can be understood from the fact that on September 25, there will be a protest across hundred cities of the world, going beyond geographic frontiers of the country.
THE fourth factor impinging on caste-contradictions in a neo-liberal economic regime arises from the tendency of this regime to get into crises and periods of prolonged stagnation. Growth under a neo-liberal regime depends essentially upon the formation of “bubbles” in asset prices. When such bubbles get formed, especially in the economy of the United States, which is the leading capitalist power in the world, the entire world capitalist system, and with it Indian capitalism as well, experiences high growth.
A GROUP of individuals and organisations has expressed concerns over the central government’s move to review India’s positions on the issue of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States.
THE deputy chairman of the Planning Commission that has just been wound up, when asked on one occasion about the exorbitant fees that private educational institutions, whose weight in the education system has been increasing at an astonishing pace of late, were charging, replied that it did not matter, since students could always study on loans. He was simply articulating the neo-liberal position that since education enabled one to increase one’s earnings, the acquisition of education was like the acquisition of an asset.
SUDDENLY the RSS is showering Dalits with lots of love. Suddenly? Or is it planned? As things are unveiling, it appears more of a design than a spontaneous realisation. The RSS leaders, reports indicate, have written forewords to three books on Dalits written by the spokesperson of their political arm – the BJP. Whenever the RSS and its associates dabble with history, it is sure to evoke enormous interest.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 24.
THE putting of the Mangalyaan satellite into the Mars orbit is a significant achievement. It has demonstrated India’s technological potential in space. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) congratulates the scientists and staff of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for this achievement.
In order to take this forward it is necessary to focus on launching the GSLV for future space exploration.
THE Chinese president and general secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan paid their maiden three day State visit to India. This is the first visit of the Chinese president after his election to these positions in 2012. Sixteen agreements and memoranda of understanding have been signed, eleven of them with the central government and another five with the state governments of Gujarat and Maharashtra.