The saving grace of Shankar's expanded universe is the masterful precision with which Kamal Haasan drops himself into a messy setup, only slightly to elevate the pulpy tendencies of Shankar's vision, observes Arjun Menon.
Market chatter suggests that the BJP could win fewer than 300.
Years before the Supreme Court struck down as 'unconstitutional' an opaque political funding tool that allowed individuals and companies to donate money to political parties anonymously and without any limits, the then finance minister Arun Jaitley -- the prime mover of electoral bonds -- had termed them legitimate and transparent.
Moveable assets accounted for 46 per cent of the wealth of the 10 richest candidates in the first phase of the 2024 elections.
Forty-two of the 102 Lok Sabha seats going to polls in the general election's first phase are constituencies that have three or more candidates facing criminal cases, according to a poll rights body.
The government will come out with a White Paper on the mismanagement of economy prior to 2014 with an aim to draw lessons.
'They were very vocal on the defence of the Constitution, reservation, SC/ST Act and democratic rights.'
He stressed that reform for him was just a way station on the long journey to the destination and the destination is the transformation of India.
"The voter turnout data for the first two phases of the ongoing 2024 Lok Sabha elections published by ECI on April 30 has been published after 11 days of the first phase of polling... on April 19 and four days after second phase of polling... on April 26.
'If the NDA comes to power with 320-330 plus seats, then we could see some correction. We could possibly see a level of 19,500 to 20,000.' 'If the NDA comes to power with a majority of 400-plus, we could see the markets going to about 23,500-24,000 levels.' 'And from there we could see some correction because markets are expensive at this point of time and a correction is overdue.'
"People forgot about income for farmers. But for the first time, this thinking has been changed," he said and listed steps the Centre has taken for the welfare of farmers.
Skyroot Aerospace has become the first private company in India to give wings to the Indian space programme, after the sector was opened to private players by the Centre in 2020.
The representation of women in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls continues to remain dismally low, as only about 12 percent of the candidates in the fray in the fifth phase are female, according to an analysis by poll rights body ADR.
The Bharatiya Janata Party said it is pro-economic reform but wants the government to stoop before it can conquer on securing its support for key legislative changes, chiefly in banking, insurance and pensions, which form part of the reform agenda.
The committee has been tasked to come up with policy measures to boost agriculture exports, raise growth in food processing, attract investments in modern market infrastructure, value chains and logistics.
'Union Budgets are often used as political instruments and that was the intention of this government too.' 'But while the exercise has settled two fronts, it has left open several others and this has the potential to aggravate with time,' predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Even though the NIA claims that more than 90 per cent of cases charge-sheeted have ended in conviction, the figure is likely misleading. To date, very few cases investigated by the NIA have resulted in a completed trial, points out former CBI joint director Navneet Rajan Wasan.
Barclays said Indian equities have had a strong first half.
The idea of modernising railway stations under a PPP arrangement was aired several years ago by the then railway minister, Lalu Prasad, who visualised attracting Rs 15,000 crore (Rs 150 billion) investment in 22 stations.
The ministry and the Central Board of Secondary Education will hold consultations with school principals next month for conducting board exams twice a year, the sources said.
Barclays said Indian equities have had a strong first half.
'I think some of us, like Mukesh Ambani, myself and those of us who head industrial units, ought to really focus on what we can really do to make the world a safer place, maybe 50 or 100 years from now.' 'For instance, how can we deal with climate change and global warming, right now?' 'The effects of it may not be felt now; in fact, we may pay a price for it today, but it will help the generations to follow.'
'After a long time, we have a governor who is approachable. The RBI's interactions with us are now much better.'
Rajeev Chandrasekhar outlined his ideas to turn Thiruvananthapuram not only into a hub for higher education, but also a knowledge city, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is contesting 88 seats out of the total 89, tops this list among major political parties in the fray with 36 per cent of its candidates having criminal cases. Thirty per cent of its candidates are facing serious cases such as murder, rape, assault, kidnapping, among others, the ADR said in its report. The number of candidates having criminal cases fielded by the AAP is 32.
Modelled loosely around the National Highway System of the US, he in 2001 launched the Golden Quadrilateral and the North-South & East-West Corridor projects to build 4/6 lane highways between four top metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata as well as from Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Porbandar to Silchar.
An ambitious long-term vision to ensure economic connectivity between India and the rest of Southern Asia is critical to India's trade policy objectives.
'With this amendment, permanent employees will cease to exist.' 'The government should give a human touch and human face to labour reforms.' 'Ideas like survival of the fittest, might is right, etc, are rules of the jungle.' 'They cannot give new terms like hire and fire to jungle law.'
The Supreme Court appointed Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha-panel on Tuesday categorically instructed the Board of Control for Cricket in India to implement a 15-step reform by October 15 ranging from constitutional reforms to principles of awarding various contracts, including the lucrative television rights.
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
Indian economy is on growth path, says US diplomat.
The RSS wants to transform society and believes that victory of society must not be judged on wealth creation but religion, he said.
'I was living in a fools' paradise, thinking I could win over anyone with my good intentions.'
The ECI data covers 20,421 bonds worth Rs 12,769 crore. The ADR data, however, collated information on 27,811 bonds worth Rs 16,492 crore. The gap is nearly Rs 4,000 crore and involves over 7,000 bonds.
The climate for 'doing business' remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before, points out Debashis Basu.
Mizoram will be voting for total 40 seats in a single phase while polls in Chhattisgarh (90 seats) will be conducted in two phases on November 7 (20 seats) and remaining 70 seats on November 17.
Of these, 200 are fielded by the BJP, 196 by the Congress and the rest belong to other political parties.
A government that confuses PowerPoints for policy is delaying structural change too much.
'it's not just youth in India who are left behind because of their inability to find jobs; nearly two-thirds of Indian women of working ages do not participate at all in the paid labour force.'
