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Is Punjab joining the list of India’s worst governed states? Yes, if one goes by the spate of events that have been taking place in the state. The latest is the case of law and order. One of the major criteria to judge the state of governance, it has witnessed deterioration nobody could have imagined a few years ago.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The vindictive politics being practised with a vengeance by the Oommen Chandy-led United Democratic Front (UDF) Government suffered a telling blow when a single bench of the Kerala High Court quashed the FIR against former chief minister V S Achuthanandan in a land allotment case.

During my five-day visit to Gujarat (Dec 3-7), I interacted with people belonging to various sections of the society. I met teachers, doctors, traders, auto drivers, workers employed in hotels and other establishments, government employees and journalists.

Thanks to the two political parties of Uttar Pradesh, the ruling SP and the opposition BSP, Congress led UPA could defeat the opposition BJP's motion against FDI in multi-brand retail in India. At the time when FDI in retail is a certainty, the country must think about protecting itself and its people, the concern that has been raised by almost all, except those politicians and business people who expect huge profit from allowing such ventures in the sector that is expected to reach business to the tune of about Rs 49500 billion by 2014 as per a petition filed in the Supreme Court of India.

KOLKATA: Myanmar can emerge as a possible competitor for Bangladesh in the near future, according to Japanese development experts.

A particularly painful moment in the Lok Sabha FDI debate saw ‘Netaji’ Mulayam Singh Yadav take the name of Ram Manohar Lohia. He talked about Lohia and Gandhi. Even as he made tired statements to the effect that he opposed FDI in multi-brand retail in principle, it was getting ample clear to everyone that he and his party would walk out when the moment of truth would come in the form of voting. Paralysis and hypocrisy are two conditions where one’s action is not in line with publicly expressed wish.

Politics brings together strange bedfellows and this was amply seen in the debate on FDI in both houses of Parliament. Arch rivals — the Left parties and the BJP — joined hands to frustrate government’s move to bring FDI in multi-brand retail. Mamata Banerjee tried to woo her foe number one — the Marxists. On the other hand, sworn enemies — Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav — came on one platform to bail out the government in voting in Parliament and, thereby, defeated the opposition-sponsored resolution comfortably.