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Marx is back. For his 200th birthday, the socialist revolutionary’s bearded image is popping up everywhere. Books, seminars, and conferences devoted to his legacy and enduring relevance abound across the capitalist world—from Brooklyn to London to Berlin—as well as in the countries which still declare their loyalty to his communist ideals.

The campaign in Karnataka Assembly elections has touched a new low with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi descending to personal level. Such a low level of campaign has never been before seen. In no-holds-barred attack on each other, neither Modi nor Rahul talked of policies and programmes and what they proposed to do if their party comes to power.

Chinese President for life Xi Jinping has given thumbs up to Marxism in China. But even he will admit that if the Chinese people don’t get their individual material needs, Marx will be out the window of Chinese history. And so shall Xi be. The ‘life’ in the title apart, there isn’t much of a difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping. Or, for that matter, between Xi Jinping and B S Yedyurappa or Siddaramaiah.

Every year 6.3 crore people of our country are pushed below poverty line because of out of pocket expenditure on health. This fact is admitted by the National Health Policy document 2017. Nearly 67% of this expenditure is incurred on drugs. Therefore, it is important that prices of drugs should be brought under control. To regulate the pharmaceutical companies, a Uniform Code of Pharmaceutical Marketing Practices (UCPMP) was prepared by the department of pharmaceuticals, Government of India in 2011. But it was said to be voluntary for some time. A letter of the ministry of chemicals and fertilizers, department of pharmaceuticals dated 12 December 2014, had mentioned that this will be voluntary for a period of six months with effect from 1st January 2015 and will be reviewed thereafter.

Ignoring Washington’s frown, India has decided to turn to old and time-tested friend Russia to acquire state-of-the-art S-400 Triumf missile air defence system at a cost of about Rs. 40,000 crore. Washington is against the deal not only because it has imposed a sanction on Russia and does not want Moscow to conclude such a huge deal but also because it wants India to be solely dependent for its defence needs on the United States and its allies and Israel. Some hard bargaining is now going on between the Russian and Indian sides over pricing. India, apparently, is unwilling to pay as much as the Russians are demanding.

One dare invites another. That is the order of dares. And the gods were no different. What, the challenge set to win the hands of Sita and Draupadi were itself dares! Then again, everybody worth a tongue and a slight to complain dares. Yellow-bellies walk away from a dare. Those with fire in the belly follow through. ‘You just wait…’ are the most famous three words associated with dares and counter-dares.

BHOPAL: Kamal Nath’s visit to Bhopal and the mammoth reception he got opened a new chapter in the politics of Madhya Pradesh. The mature way he behaved has forced the ruling BJP to realise that the challenge was real and it can’t afford to be complacent.

What forces shape today’s world and why? How can they be harnessed and directed in the interests of the people and our planet?

For quite a while, Arvind Panagariya was deputy chairman of Niti Aayog. That was his ‘job’. Then, he quit this job and moved on. That is what happens. Most people with jobs are always looking for another job. Call it the ‘restlessness of the job or the restlessness of the job-seeker’, India’s job market is currently hot news. Four years after Narendra Modi taking charge of India, with elections demanding answers, there is an urgency to place his jobs-record in the public domain. On that will depend whether Modi retains his job or not in 2019.

Young Indian men are squabbling outside the Aligarh Muslim University campus over a portrait of Mohammad Ali Jinnah on the wall of the AMU Students’ Union office. It has so far not become one ‘helluva fight’. But it will if the portrait, removed from the wall and sent for ‘dusting’ the day after it became grist for mill, returns to its place on the AMU Wall.