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The high—level Indo-US economic talks in Washington, where two senior Ministers of Government of India, Finance Minister Mr P Chidambaram and Commerce and Industry Minister Mr Anand Sharma engaged US Congressmen, policy-makers and business leaders (July 10-12), may not have been altogether an exercise in futility.

The Chidambaram magic is no longer working. When P Chidambaram took over as the finance minister last year, with Pranab Mukherjee heading for Rashtrapati Bhavan, it was thought his replacement would work wonders. He withdrew the controversial tax measures like retrospective taxation of corporate income and the general rules for tax avoidance by multinational corporations operating in India. It has given some temporary boost to the markets. But then nemesis appears to have taken over.

It seems Congress thrives on controversies while it makes its opposition succumb to those surrounding them. Having mastered the art of weathering scams - one after another in the last four years and seemed potentially devastating when they first unfolded - the poll-bound party seems to be hell bent to court another round of political slugfest by dishing out permits, licences, subsidies and approvals worth almost Rs. 30 lakh crore ($ 500 billion) in their total business impact.

The Supreme Court’s order stipulating that MPs and MLAs will be disqualified the moment they are convicted in a criminal case has been wholeheartedly welcomed by those who want to clean up the polity of criminal elements. The apex court’s verdict that there is no reason why elected representatives should be protected from disqualification pending appeal is a landmark ruling that could, in future, cleanse India’s politics of legislators with criminal record. The offences for which a legislator can be convicted are specified in the Representative of the People Act.

BHOPAL: The defection of the senior Congress legislator Rakesh Singh Chaudhury from the Party on the day the no-confidence motion against the BJP led Madhya Pradesh Government was scheduled for discussion, has given a big jolt to the Congress party in the election year. The Party was unprepared for such a damaging development and the BJP took full advantage of the opposition embarrassment.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee desperately wants the central government to dismiss her Trinamool Congress (TMC) Ministry. On June 5, she took a provocative step in this direction by ordering a TMC boycott of an all party meeting convened by the State Election Commission (SEC) to discuss the coming panchayat election.

More than the falling GDP growth, large trade and current accounts deficit, high fiscal deficit and depreciating Rupee, it is the gross trade and economic mismanagement by the UPA government which are becoming a matter of increasing concern. It seems the policy makers are working hard to systematically ruin the country’s economic advantage to benefit overseas nations and their agents at home.

New Delhi: Vietnam has urged India to play a leading role in the Indio-Pacific region.

New Delhi: The ambitious four nation Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) gas pipeline project is likely to be completed by 2017. It has been decided to set up an international company, TAPI Ltd and select a suitable consortium leader outside the four countries to implement the project within the timeline.

Will Telengana become a separate state? The vexed problem is about to be solved if one goes by the mood in the Congress Party. The lawmakers from Telangana have so far accused the Centre of following a ‘one-step-forward-two-backward’ approach when it comes to addressing their demand for a separate state but the leadership cannot afford to dillydally anymore. The AICC General Secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh Digvijaya Singh has just submitted his report to the party chief. Coming down to two options – to keep it as a united Andhra or to give Telengana – the leadership has to take a call this week.