Ambassador Venu Rajamony, who served as press secretary to President Pranab Mukherjee during his tenure, salutes the statesman and political legend, who passed into the ages on Monday.
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
'In his demise, the world of Telugu language and literature has lost a bright star. The void caused by his loss can never be filled.'
'But an overthrow of the Afghan government would really embolden regional militant groups in a big way.' 'LeT and JeM could be emboldened, and prompted to replicate in Kashmir what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.'
'The BJP has been tinkering with the Indian Constitution every now and then.' 'Instead of celebrating November 26 as Constitution Day, the BJP was more interested in (the VHP's) Dharam Sabha which was called that day.' 'This shows they believe more in the Ram mandir than in the Constitution.'
Barack Obama became the second United States president to address the Parliament after Bill Clinton in 2000 on Monday and though the joint session opened to a packed central hall, the buzz, excitement and sheer charisma of Clinton was missing.
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Wednesday kept the hopes alive of many a ministerial aspirants by promising a "more expansive" exercise after the budget session of Parliament which concludes in May.
The elections to the Wolesi Jirga (the Lower House of Afghan Parliament) scheduled September 18 has raised crucial questions on the feasibility of holding elections in a warring nation.
Dr Vasudevan Maitreyan, was virtually the face of the AIADMK in New Delhi since February 2002, finds himself ignored by the current leadership.
Reiterating his earlier stance, BJP's Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to sack RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.
A delegation of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders from Uttarakhand on Monday met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and demanded the imposition of President's Rule in the flood-ravaged state on the grounds that the Congress government there had failed to deliver. The delegation, led by former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and comprising Tehri Garhwal Member of Parliament Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah among others met, Dr Singh for 30 minutes.
As his fast unto death entered its eleventh day on Wednesday, the condition of Telangana Rashtra Samiti president K Chandrashekar Rao has turned critical. Tension was mounting in the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, where Rao has been kept under observation in the Intensive Care Unit.
People in India on Friday woke up to the news that the Hyderabad Police had killed the four accused in the Hyderabad veterinarian's rape and murder in a police encounter. While some leaders of political parties celebrated, some questioned if this was the way to go.
The 124th birth anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on Tuesday was observed with traditional fervour across Maharashtra.
What goes behind the scenes for an American President's visit?
China's National Health Commission on Thursday said the country reported only four new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number to 82,862, while no death due to the disease was registered. The virus has claimed 4,633 lives in the country.
Some people, who talk about the high expenses of nuclear programme, do not know the importance of nuclear capability, Dr Samar Mubarakmand, Member Science and Technology, Planning Commission of Pakistan, said.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has rebutted Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Randeep Singh Surjewala's allegations regarding "wilful defaulters, bad loans and write-offs", and stated that they have "attempted to mislead people in a brazen manner".
'Pakistan has to take responsibility and start cracking down on terrorists.'
Dr Kalam is on a five-day visit to France and Greece.
'A false narrative is being created, that Modi is a habitual offender when it comes to lowering the political discourse in the country.' 'Nothing can be farther from the truth,' argues Sudhir Bisht.
Were the May 1988 nuclear tests a success? 20 years after Pokharan, a look back at those decisive atomic tests through the eyes of someone who knew.
With the signing of the pact, the Quad grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US is set to gain more heft now, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'Today, Dalits can become IAS officers, doctors, IPS, MLAs, MPs and even the President due to the Constitution of India.' 'And if you destroy India's Constitution, then poverty will never disappear.' 'If the BJP is pro-Dalit, they must implement policies which are pro-Dalit.' 'It cannot work if they only talk.'
Stung by Congress President Sonia Gandhi's rejection of the demand for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said such an attitude by the ruling party is not helpful in a democracy as the demand "is based on facts".
Colombo seems to be veering to the middle path between China and the US on global matters, but in regional matters of strategic security, it is increasingly identifying with India, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Home Minister P Chidambaram has categorically stated that India has nothing to do with Balochistan. He also made it clear that the Congress will rally behind the government over the Indo-Pak joint statement when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh speaks in Parliament next week. "We are not involved in Balochistan. We have nothing to do with the internal problem of Pakistan. In fact, a Baloch leader has said that he gets no support from India," he said.
75 MPs of both houses of Parliament belonging to three major opposition parties the Bharatiya Janata Party, Communist Party of India-Marxist, Bahujan Samaja Party and All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham have signed a four-page petition to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, urging him to make a statement in both houses of Parliament on issue of Union Minister A Raja's being accused by a Chennai High Court Judge of trying to influence a case.
Applying balm on the wounds of the two religious groups is a better course of action for the rulers. Common sense dictates the verdict be accepted in good grace by all sides, suggests Virendra Kapoor.
'How ironic that a party that seeks to arrogate the mantle of nationalism to itself is actually behaving like the imperial oppressors.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com presents 10 dynasts of the BJP who have managed to get elected this time round.
Nationalisation has served its purpose. It's time to move ahead, keeping majority ownership of the government in a few banks to serve the people, argues Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday said India would like to see a "strong, stable and prosperous" Pakistan. He also said that he was happy to see democracy flourish over there as he received a Parliamentary delegation from that country. Dr Singh also told the delegation, led by Chairman of Pakistan's Senate Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, that closer relations between parliaments in the two countries was necessary for strengthening bilateral relations.
'India has to ensure its borders are properly sealed and there is no infiltration from PoK.
The government was hoping to roll out the GST regime from April 2016.
'Too many things happen in India... that is the root of the problem, not Raghuram Rajan'
'This is the "naya/new J&K" after Aug 2019. We get locked up in our homes with no explanation. It's bad enough they've locked my father (a sitting MP) & me in our home, they've locked my sister & her kids in their home as well'
Ahead of the Parliament session beginning November 22, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is meeting leaders of the United Progressive Alliance constituents and outside supporters to firm up a strategy to unitedly face any Opposition onslaught on issues like the Foreign Direct Investment in retail and price hike.
Once the tanks roll back, a zero-based assessment of future equations with China is necessary. Given the conflict situations that China is imposing on India time and again, the red, amber and green lines of interactions with China need to be laid down and communicated in no uncertain terms, asserts Srikanth Kondapalli, the leading China expert.
'The Indian government wakes up after the fact when it can do nothing, or rather lacks the will to prosecute military actions to reverse these adverse PLA-driven developments.'
