The Surat diamond industry is likely to face a loss of around Rs 8,000 crores in next two months as Hong Kong, which is a major export destination, has declared a state of emergency due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, say experts. Hong Kong is a major business hub for the Surat diamond industry, but schools and colleges have been closed there till the first week of March and even businesses are seeing a dip in view of the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
When Home Minister Amit Shah, who was in Gujarat to cast his vote in the urban body polls, learnt of the poor voter, instead of heading home he went to the Motera stadium, organised a control room, and was on the phone with practically everybody assigned duty on the ground: MPs, MLAs and BJP office-bearers. His single commandment was to check the voter list and phone or personally get people to the booths, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
'Gujaratis, among all Indians, are supposed to be born businessmen, but if more than 80% of them do not have the ability to do basic arithmetic, the future is grim.' 'The big issues are in society and they cannot be changed by an HRD minister no matter how brilliant she may be or think of herself as being,' says Aakar Patel.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Purshottam Rupala was not granted visa to attend the World Gujarati Conference
Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
The prime minister further alleged that the work of Congress while in power was mere pretentiousness.
'With English the most rapidly growing medium of instruction in India's schools and accounting now for more than one-sixth of the total (next only to Hindi, which accounts for a half), India is not about to turn its face away from a language that has global currency,' notes T N Ninan.<
'He doesn't think anyone else has his brilliance or integrity. And he cannot bear to stand a rival,' says journalist Aakar Patel, a long-time Modi observer who has translated Modi's poetry and his biographies of RSS leaders.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi met Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday at the latter's residence in Mumbai, first time after his elevation as the chief of Bharatiya Janata Party's election campaign committee.
Isha is set to tie the knot with Anand Piramal this week.
According to Owaisi, the CAA was only made towards making India a Hindu Rashtra.
'Rishi Kapoor is what sustains our interest when the humour evaporates and 102 Not Out slumps in a cesspool of soppy disclosures and exploited emotions.' 'The sequence where he walks down memory lane alone is testament to his artistic extensity.' 'No one makes the viewer vulnerable like Rishi,' says Sukanya Verma.
Celebrities attend an awards show. Looking at the pictures.
The soap opera is set to air on Star Plus from February 25.
Director Sunil Shanbag shares the experience of staging the Gujarati adaptation of All's Well That Ends Well at the historic Globe theatre in London.
In a breather for the Maharashtra ATS, arrested Yasin Bhatkal has confirmed to his interrogators that Gujaratis travelling in first class compartments of Mumbai locals were the target of 2006 train bombings as the IM wanted to avenge the 2002 Gujarat riots. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'One investor told us one leader in Gujarat had sent him to Konkan to buy land.' 'How did these people come to know about this project in advance when locals didn't know?' 'It means those who are running the country are somewhere interested in selling the country's resources to private businessmen.'
'The armies that are lined up and firing at each other without ceasing, without much change on the ground and without much benefit, are replaced by civilians (also in uniforms, of team colours) screaming abuse,' says Aakar Patel.
Experts believe that under-reporting is likely to cause an underestimation of the spread of the disease.
Here's what your favourite celebrities are tweeting.
'Three hotels with exceptional food left me hankering to go back to feast at their tables,' says Rahul Jacob.
In a veiled reference to reports that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had rescued 15,000 Gujaratis from Uttarakhand, former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati on Sunday said the Bahujan Samaj Party condemns a political party whose leader seeks to become a prime ministerial candidate but talks about saving people only from his own state.
The news report that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi helped in the evacuation of 15,000 Gujaratis from Uttarakhand in two days has come under fire from various quarters. Even if one disputes the figures, Modi's detractors can learn how the entire operation was handled meticulously. Sheela Bhatt reports.
'The home minister of India has given his assurance to the MP of Lakshadweep.'
Served at Rajwadu, in Ahmedbad, the thali is inspired from the fights of Baahubali.
Taking a dig at the construction of a wall on a plot having several slum structures in Ahmedabad ahead of Trump's visit there, the Sena said the US president's trip would neither stop the fall of rupee's value in forex market nor offer betterment to those (slum dwellers) behind the wall.
The festival of nine nights is upon us all and the city of dreams shows how to party.
The Indian American community on Sunday gave a rousing reception to Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Madison Square Garden in New York.
On being asked why he doesn't talk about his humble background like Modi, Singh said, "I don't want the country to take a pity on the basis of my humble background."
Assets worth Rs 14 crore have been amassed by public works department executive engineer Satish Madhukar Chikhalikar, who has been arrested along with a colleague for allegedly taking Rs 22,000 as bribe, the Anti-Corruption Bureau said.
The Gandhi statue to be unveiled in Parliament Square will be his second in London. There is another one at the city's Tavistock Square. Aditi Phadnis reports
For the BJP unit in Uttarakhand, Narendra Modi's rescue mission has come as a shot in the arm. The manner in which the entire operation was planned and executed should be applied as a role model for other states, the party says
Zafar Sareshwala tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt why Muslims are better off under Narendra Modi's rule than they were under the Congress.
Asserting that he has given a new meaning to "development" during his 12-year rule in Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said that the greatest challenge facing India is restoring the trust of the people.
Punjabi has been revealed as the third most spoken language in the United Kingdom after English and Polish, according to 2011 census data released by the Office of National Statistics.
According to the makers, the CBFC was not happy with references made to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and use of real names in the film.
'Both Nehru and Patel were thorough gentlemen and whatever their differences never disrespected each other.' 'Neither Modi nor Rahul Gandhi has much in them to claim such legacies.' 'They are symptomatic of the sad days that have befallen the nation midwifed and contemplated by Nehru and Patel,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
