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.

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, Xi Jinping’s tour of South Asia in the third week of September ended with his three day visit to India. Before reaching Indian shores, the Chinese president had visited the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Both sides have described the visit of the Chinese president as successful. The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, speaking after the return of President Xi to Beijing, said that “cooperation” between the two countries was the main theme that dominated the summit meeting with the Indian prime minister.

BY the time this issue of People’s Democracy is printed, by-polls for thousands of local bodies in Tamil Nadu would have been held. The polling is on September 18. The issue at stake is ‘democracy’.

The presence of around 20 state ministers in Coimbatore city for the mayoral elections by-poll has raised suspicion. Their arrival appeared to be for reasons other than campaign. AIADMK cadres were busy in distributing cash for votes till the late night on September 17. Not only in Coimbatore city, but everywhere across the state they indulged in cash distribution.

EXPECTATIONS about the improvement of bilateral ties between India and Pakistan were buoyed after the Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif accepted the newly elected Indian prime minister’s invitation for his swearing in ceremony. Sharif had come to Delhi at short notice despite the misgivings expressed by many in Pakistan, including those in the powerful security establishment. Narendra Modi on the campaign trail had targeted Pakistan as a threat to India’s internal security and had pledged to take a tough and uncompromising stand on the Kashmir issue.