Shortage of ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, vaccines, doctors, nurses and crematorium space in India has dominated headlines around the world in the past few weeks with Covid-19 cases surging beyond control and the government failing to deliver. Yes, election rallies, Kumbh Mela, blatant flouting of social distancing and mask protocols coupled with a messy vaccination process are said to be responsible for the health crisis of colossal proportions that India is facing today. But an analysis of Budget speeches made by finance ministers over 75 years also offers a glimpse of how low on the priority list healthcare has featured for the political class and policy-makers, which is a significant reason for the current situation.
If India wants to become a globally competitive manufacturing hub, it will have to rethink the notion that the traditional SMEs will form the manufacturing backbone, argues Prosenjit Datta.
The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a Public Interest Litigation seeking quashing of all proceedings against suspended Indian Administrative Service officer Durga Sakthi Nagpal, who had cracked down on illegal sand mining in Uttar Pradesh.
The problem is not that more people are not watching more TV, but that they are not finding anything of interest on Hindi television, says Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
Terry Walsh quit as coach of India's men's hockey team on Tuesday after his demands were not met by Hockey India and the Sports Authority of India. The 60-year-old Australian, who guided India to the men's hockey gold at the Incheon Asian Games, however, said he could return if his demands are met.
'Why has the peace been kept?' 'Basically because there is a balance.' 'Maybe they think that balance has changed.' 'People can make mistakes. People can miscalculate.' 'If that is the cause, then I think what we have done, matching their build-up, etc, it is giving a good account of ourselves in the face-offs.'
'If you look at the entire protest on April 2, you will find it was not only about the Atrocities Act dilution, but the accumulated anger of the Dalit community against the BJP over the last four years.'
'Astad had the courage to plough a lonely furrow. He made a life of his own, on his own, and created a path-breaking dance style.' 'Only a few in the performing arts could do what he did.' 'A classical dancer can fall back on tradition, but Astad created something absolutely new.'
'He could relate to strategic and security issues almost instantly.' 'He had the ability to grasp, absorb and come out with actual rectification.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday caught Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on the wrong foot as he cited the state's website which says life in Uttar Pradesh is "short and uncertain".
'Silencing citizens has become a major institutional process under this regime.' 'The anti-Indian argument is a bogey -- meant to silence independent thinking people in India and turn us into goats and sheep.'
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first trip to New York as leader of the world's most populous democracy, will draw perhaps the largest crowd ever by a foreign leader on US soil when he takes the stage on Sunday in Madison Square Garden before a crowd forecast to total more than 18,000 people.
'Even if the BJP does not come to power, the system has changed.'
The article is in stark contrast to the TIME cover story done on Modi earlier this month titled 'India's Divider in Chief', written by Aatish Taseer, son of Indian journalist Tavleen Singh and late Pakistani politician and businessman Salmaan Taseer.
A day after his dramatic announcement to quit, Terry Walsh decided to continue as India's chief hockey coach after the country's top sports officials assured him that his concerns will be addressed in a fresh contract.
'Your family, your kith and kin are also under stress, some of your relatives will die, without getting appropriate treatment.'
With references to politicians and bureaucrats coming up in the chopper scam trial in Italy, the Defence Ministry is expected to seek clarifications on the issue from alleged middleman Guido Haschke during the next hearing of the case there.
The PM is keen to fill 40 per cent of joint secretary level openings with outsiders.
PM Modi would be the fifth foreign leader Trump would have spoken with over phone after being sworn-in as the US President on January 20.
Addressing the 'Namaste Trump' event at the Motera Stadium in Ahmedabad, Trump said that both the countries are in the early stages of discussion for an 'incredible' trade agreement to reduce barriers of investments.
The first dimension of this vision will be to build physical as well as social infrastructure for a $10-trillion economy and to provide ease of living: Goyal.
Jaspal Bhatti's feel for the grime, the confusions, and the madness in our system was so complete that he could take on every kind of woman or man God ever gave to the institutions of India, feels Sreehari Nair.
Many public infrastructure projects in India proceed at a glacial pace or never get off the ground because of bureaucracy, property disputes and apathy.
'At a time when the economic situation in the country warrants the closest attention of the government, India can ill afford a situation where the citizenry and the government enter into confrontation on the roads'
After the euphoria over winning the gold medal at the Asian Games, Indian hockey suffered a major jolt on Tuesday with the resignation of the team's chief coach, Terry Walsh.
The real issue in India is not between Make or Made/Create in India or basic or applied research. We need both. The solution is to create an eco-system where new ideas can flourish and convert themselves into new technologies and products, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The BJP has begun identifying officers who can 'rid' the administration of SP-BSP 'hangover'.
'GIFT City is now on a growth trajectory,' says Tapan Ray, MD and group CEO, GIFT City, 'The time has come for the GIFT City to take the big leap and emerge as the next financial hub of Asia.'
'Mr Modi, unless he changes his approach, may further legitimise the idea that it is perfectly all right for Hindus to dictate terms to the minorities.' 'Indira Gandhi's political expediency did permanent economic damage. Mr Modi's may end up causing permanent social damage,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
American CEOs on Friday identified poor infrastructure and bureaucratic delays as major deterrents to US investments in India, while making a strong pitch for further liberalisation in the financial and retail sector.
'To identify with the common man, Modi had to look like one.' 'The disastrous suit with his name written on it never made its reappearance.' 'Frequent dress changes during the day, which led Arvind Kejriwal to calculate that Modi spent crores on his attire ever year, too stopped.' 'Instead, a newer Modi emerged: Humble and eager to serve.' Narendra Modi has cleverly repositioned himself as a man of the masses in the past three years, says Aditi Phadnis.
'The real significance of the visit lies in the extent of the receptivity in Myanmar of the account of Chinese perfidy given by India's military and civilian top brass and how they assess the danger to themselves of dancing with the dragon,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Especially at a time when truth is being twisted and a new narrative is being manufactured.'
Critics say Modi scores high on oratory but has delivered on few of his election campaign promises.
Regardless of how the stalemate ends, the government needs to learn that regardless of its parliamentary strength it cannot take people for granted. A little bit of humility would do it a lot of good, recommends Virendra Kapoor.
Combining affordable IT with native Indian ingenuity and entrepreneurship F C Kohli believed would enable Indian small businesses match anyone and thrive.
We must seize the opportunity provided by the COVID-19 crisis to kick-start indigenous research efforts, recommends Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
With the political class coming under severe attack for undue interference in the functioning of the bureaucracy, the United Progressive Alliance government has decided to amend the Model Code of Conduct for ministers to include a reference to the need for upholding the impartiality of the civil service.
