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Gujarat Chief minister Narendra Modi may not be welcome in US Ivy league circles, but certainly enjoys a surprising popularity in economically marginalised West Bengal!

What next in Jammu and Kashmir? The question assumes importance in view of the three recent developments: resumption of killings, though yet sporadic, by militants which have shattered the state’s three year long calm; protests over the hanging of the Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru and the demand for the return of his body buried in Delhi’s Tihar jail; and, the controversy triggered by the arrest by the Delhi police of Liyaqat Ali Shah, an alleged Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist.

LUCKNOW: Much significance is being attached to the promotion of Varun Gandhi as general secretary by the BJP national president Rajnath Singh.

Crackdown on farmers and women folk for forcible land acquisition for the South Korean steel major Posco’s plant in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district and virtual breakdown of law and order situation in the entire State leading to insecurity of weaker sex, illegal mining apart from several scams and scandals and cases of abductions have been the striking features of the Naveen Patnaik’s regime.

As Chinese and Japanese surveillance ships and aircrafts shadow each other around Senkaku/Diaoyu islands tension is rising. But both the powers are also engaged in smile diplomacy to woo India, creating diplomatic openings for the country. Preoccupied with territorial disputes with Japan and its Southeast Asian neighbours, and concerned about the US pivot China is showing unusual warmth towards India.

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Shivraj Singh Chauhan, has taken several steps to woo the rural voters of the state with an eye on the elections to the state Vidhan Sabha, scheduled to take place in the month of November this year. He has adopted a three-pronged strategy to win over the rural voters. One, ensuring non-stop supply of power to villages for domestic use, two, making extensive arrangements for purchase of wheat at MSP all over the state and three, by announcing liberal relief and compensation for the hailstorm-hit farmers.

Will there be early Lok Sabha elections? Two Types of speculations—one astrological and another political — are doing rounds in the corridors of powers on the timing of the general election. There are astrologers among journalists, astrologer –politicians and practicing astrologers, who after studying the planetary position of political parties in depth, have forecast that the elections may be held in October or November, this year.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With the Kerala Congress (B) and the Janadhipathya Samrakshana Samithy (JSS) hardening their stances, the crisis bedevilling the United Democratic Front (UDF) Government is set to reach the flash point.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar knows fully well that this poll-bound UPA-II government has no power to arbitrarily accord his state a ‘backward’ status for large special fund support. So does the UPA-II government, which has badly missed the fiscal and current account deficit targets for three successive years ending 2012-13. Yet, why are the two talking about the special status and special package from the Centre and bluffing the public about exploring such possibilities during the current fiscal itself or before the ensuing nation-wide Lok Sabha election?

The Sri Lankan Tamil issue has been kicked up with an explosive bang on the political scene in Tamil Nadu, keeping the two major Dravidian rivals, ruling AIADMK and ousted DMK, at each other’s throats, in a battle of championship of rights of ethnic kinsmen in the island nation, four years after the Rajapakse Government brutally wiped out the Tamil Tigers (LTTE) demanding a separate “Eelam”.