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The insecurity of both the Congress and the BJP has turned Afzal Guru’s hanging into an unedifying game of political one-upmanship. What should have united the two parties and the rest of the country into a show of solidarity against terrorism has not only widened the gulf between them, but has also shown how cynical political calculations dominate every aspect of life in India, including one which poses a direct threat to the country’s integrity.

Global solutions are needed to ensure that tax systems do not unduly favour multinational enterprises, leaving citizens and small businesses with bigger tax bills.

The hanging of the 2001 Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru on Saturday has pushed into the background the raging controversy over the ‘fatwa’ (religious edict) issued by Jammu and Kashmir’s Grand Mufti Syed Bashiruddin against the Valley-based all-girl rock band “Pragaash”.

LUCKNOW: With the apprehension of early Lok Sabha polls, the bonhomie between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress is diminishing very fast.

The Finance Minister Mr P Chidambaram faces a Herculean task to revive growth, which had sunk to a decade low of 5 per cent, as now officially projected for the current year, when he presents the Union Budget for 2013-14 on February 28, with twin goals of fiscal consolidation and restoring growth momentum.

BHOPAL: Even as the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan makes strenuous efforts to win over the electorate in view of the forthcoming Assembly elections, the prestige of his Government has been hit by certain sensational incidents which took place during the last few days.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A disturbing feature of the PJ Kurien issue, which has inflamed Kerala in the wake of the Supreme Court verdict in the Suryanelli rape case, has been the convergence of views between the two national parties, the Congress and the BJP.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the students of Shri Ram College of Commerce, tried to shed his image of a hardcore Hindutva icon and presented himself as a man of development with catchy phrases. He targeted the constituency of young. The under-35 demographic is now the majority in India, and Modi attempted to address to their perceived grievances with the system. He employed catchy phrases to sharpen his message like — skill and speed, minimum government and maximum governance, mouse charmers, and not snake charmers.

In the years to come the geopolitics in Asia will depend much on the influence of two emerging contending powers namely China and India. The Himalayan kingdom, Bhutan placed in the midst of two rivals, therefore, assumes strategic importance.