As India suffers and the ruling party is on the defensive, the truth is that the only way that this wave will pass is if exponential growth of the virus stops on its own, asserts Aakar Patel.
Warning that global warming and terrorism have become the world's biggest concerns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said shedding the "holier-than-thou" attitude is the key to overcoming these issues and resolving conflicts.
In the small-scale sector, the chief minister claimed to have created 12 lakh jobs.
Hitting out at Union Home Minister Amit Shah's 'Didi-Bhaipo' jibes, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday challenged him to contest an election against her nephew Abhishek Banerjee and then think of fighting her.
The internationally acclaimed annual Surajkund Crafts Mela, which showcases the skills of hundreds of craftsmen and artisans from the country and abroad, is on in Faridabad, Haryana.
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.
Asia's oldest and largest cattle fair may soon lose its star attraction.
Hardly anyone wears a mask and most brush off concerns over a pandemic. It is not just scepticism over the existence of the pandemic. A common refrain across villages is the fear of vaccines, reports Ruchika Chitravanshi.
'This experience is horrifying. Doctors need psychiatrists to handle the trauma they are going through in the face of this pandemic'
Modi, who chose to bring over his image change mid-way of his five-year term, has already held at least 25 of the 50 Garib Kalyan Melas in the state where he claims have given benefits of various government schemes to poor people directly without involvement of any middlemen.
India has, in the past, seen a number of stampedes in which hundreds have died. We take a look at the worst of the lot.
The allegations against the 80-year-old Oscar winning actor range from inappropriate touching to suggestive comments and were brought by entertainment reporters -- including a CNN reporter who co-wrote the story -- as well as people in the entertainment industry.
Modi alleged that Banerjee has let loose goons in the state, dashing the hopes of people.
In a series of restrictions, district magistrate Anuj Kumar Jha on Saturday ordered against the use of social media to "insult" deities or to install idols and hold processions related to Ram Janmabhoomi.
Banks have come to realise that recession or no recession, education loans are a low-risk business.
You need, first of all, to figure out how we messed it all up so badly. You need to fix accountability. None of that is happening, says Vir Sanghvi.
Top officers across various ministries participate in the meeting that started at 8 pm on Saturday. The meeting is currently underway. The country is currently witnessing a second and more severe wave of the pandemic.
The first 'shahi snan' of the ongoing Kumbh Mela began in Nashik on Saturday with thousands of devotees, including 'mahants' of various akhadas, thronging the ghats of the River Godavari to take the holy dip.
The fair saw children with their parents, their faces beaming as they took in the treats on offer. Then there was the other side -- child labourers selling trinkets to earn a buck, oblivious of the joyrides around them.
'When there is so much anxiety, the Government of India should assure people on the vaccine issue and help the states demanding more supply that they will be provided the required quantities.' 'Any Centre-state conflict at this point of time is counter-productive and enhances people's anxieties that should be avoided.'
Ayodhya, the birth place of Lord Ram, would virtually be turned into a fort as unprecedented security arrangements have been made for 'sawan jhula mela' after intelligence reports of a probable extremist activity during the festival, slated to begin in Ayodhya from August 4.
Modi said UP's population of 24 crore is same as that of four European countries put together but, in UP the death toll is 600 due to coronavirus and lauded the efforts of Adityanath in tackling the pandemic.
Human memory about policy issues is short. That alone can explain why many are deliriously happy with his latest slogans and ignore seven years of poor 'doing business' climate, taxtortion, extortionate oil prices, and high dependence on babus and the big State that has kept the enterprise system stifled, observes Debashis Basu.
'The government had a vaccine from January.' 'The government should have given the vaccine to all population above the age of 45, right from the start.' 'Each state has its own problems, but as far as vaccine coverage in India is concerned, there have been mistakes.'
Shifting positions on religiosity and Covid may confuse the Hindutva citizenry, but you can rely on Bengal to turn a non-arguable issue into a raging controversy, notes Kanika Datta.
Subhash K Jha remembers the flamboyant star, 12 years after he passed away.
'Let me assure the nation on behalf of the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha that our protests have not weakened at all or lost steam.'
Built by the French railway technology company Alstom, it will host a 90-metre-long digital wall for train operation, said to be the second largest in Asia.
Winning against Covid means thinking ahead, at least six months, putting in place the likely scenarios of what might happen, and then planning. Planning is the role of the government. Having planned, it should communicate what and why. Then, get out of the way, recommends Naushad Forbes.
The saffron party, which had witnessed unprecedented growth in terms of vote share and mass base over the last few years, had opened its doors wide for leaders from other parties as part of its poll strategy, but that did not go down well with many senior leaders, who had once locked horns with the newbies from rival camps, sources in the BJP said.
While the New Delhi Municipal Council area was given the 'Cleanest Small City' award, Uttarakhand's Gauchar was adjudged the 'Best Ganga Town' in the central government survey.
'Tell me, one BJP policy that Mamata has opposed and is fighting tooth and nail?' Be it Article 370, instant triple talaq, be it CAA/NRC/NPR, be it notebandi, FDI, she has aligned with the BJP.'
'It reminded me of the Ramayana, a story that runs in every Indian's blood.'
After a gap of 65 years, the pious Makarsankranti dip at Gangasagar, the second largest after Kumbh Mela, will again take place during the evening hours on Tuesday, the Chief Priest of the Kapilmuni Temple said.
This is a national leadership gone so wrong that India's most powerful prime minister in four decades has personally taken charge of medical oxygen shortages, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Seated in a Manhattan gallery, photographer Gauri Gill takes Aseem Chhabra through the decade-long journey behind Balika Mela and Jannat
Sonia's possible visit assumes significance as it comes ahead of the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Security was tight at the mela ground as policemen kept a close watch from towers and through CCTVs.
The security plan -- with high end technology -- has already been put in motion at Allahabad, in anticipation of the Kumbh Mela which begins this month and at Hoobly railway station in Karnataka
To believe that the key job of his senior ministers is to ensure that his image be kept intact whatever be the outcome of his policies is to expect too much even of someone as ambitious as Narendra Modi, asserts Rashme Sehgal.
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