'When the mill strike started, there was crisis in every mill worker household.' 'One entire generation went without education.' 'Hunger forced them to take to crime.'
Here are the 10 key issues likely to be the centre of discussion in the seven-phase general elections that begin on April 19.
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
Even as India strives to climb the development mountain, the fact is that the mountaintop is already crowded. If it got there in 2047, India would be very much a late-comer, observes T N Ninan.
Underlining the urgency of finding solutions to the major challenges facing Africa, India has called on the international community to effectively implement all its commitments and assist the continent to come out of "poverty trap".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi heaped praise on the Christian community on Monday for its role in giving direction to the society and sense of service, and said the country proudly acknowledges its contribution.
Who is a poor Indian? One who earns below Rs 35 a day? Or one whose salary is in four figures? While the debate rages, the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, the organisation that governs the affairs of the Zoroastrian community in Bombay, has said that any Parsi who earns less than Rs 90,000 a month (or Rs 10.8 lakh a year) is poor and therefore eligible for its help in finding a house.
President A P J Abdul Kalam on Wednesday asked the industry to encourage entrepreneurship to achieve an economic growth of 10 per cent and help eliminate poverty in the country.
The Rangarajan panel says anyone spending up to Rs 47 a day in urban areas and Rs 32 in villages would be considered poor as of 2011-12.
The most important lesson is that you have to build your political proposition, and sell it yourself. You can't leave it to the courts, media, NGOs and civil society and expect them to play the role of the Opposition. That's precisely what Mr Modi's challengers have been doing and we know the results, notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The opposition parties didn't want voting as it would have exposed the cracks in their alliance. They ran away from the House'
"This 'trishul' is like Lord Shiva's third eye which will reduce to ashes those who work against the common man," he added.
Though Beijing asserts the Dalai Lama's successor needs its approval, observers say it remains concerned as the present Panchen Lama, the number two spiritual leader who was appointed by it after unseating the boy nominated by the Dalai Lama, has not gained much traction in Tibet.
The multilateral body has also asked the policymakers to take action to reduce risks arising from increased scarcity of oil resources.
Modi said he is seeking a third term not to enjoy power but to work for the nation. "If I had thought of my home, it would not have been possible to build homes for crores of people," he said.
Various experts have opined that the Planning Commission has reduced the calorie intake from 2,100 per day in urban areas (2,400 in rural areas) to about 1,800 per adult Indian.
The proportion of people living on less than $1 a day decreased from 40 to 21 per cent of the global population between 1981 and 2001, says the World Bank's latest annual report.
The Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana scheme will help eradicate poverty and curb corruption at the grassroot level, industry said.
Several leaders of the TMC slammed the rural development minister for his comments on the chief minister attending the Kolkata International Film Festival.
'I have made a new rule: When I'm having my morning tea, a guy keeps the harmonium on my bed.' 'So while I'm writing what my plan for the day is, that harmonium is in front of me and I do riyaz of 40-50 minutes.'
'When I looked closely at people and stories from that region, I realised that the landscape contributes a lot to how people behave.'
This time Modi has no emotive message to take to the stump. Muscular nationalism doesn't work against the backdrop of China's successive inroads into Indian territory. Rising prices is a sore point that cuts across class and caste barriers; unprecedented levels of unemployment has the youth in a ferment. This has reduced the BJP campaign to a laundry list of recycled grievances and thinly veiled communal appeals, neither of which are working as well as they have in the past, argues Prem Panicker.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Tuesday met Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das and discussed various issues including financial inclusion, payment systems, microfinance and digital lending among others. "Mr.@BillGates visited RBI Mumbai today and held wide ranging discussions with Governor @DasShaktikanta #RBI #rbitoday #rbigovernor #shaktikantadas #BillGates," RBI said in a tweet. Gates Foundation pursues a lot of activity in India including promotion of financial inclusion, health sector and climate change.
India continues to battle poverty, child and maternal deaths, according to a United Nations report on the Millennium Development Goals that said while several key global targets have been met, more sustained effort is needed to cover disparities by the 2015 deadline.
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has officially confirmed that 2023 is the hottest year on record by a huge margin, smashing global temperature records.
Cricketers, shaped by diverse journeys from unexpected corners of the country, serve as a testament to the power of unwavering belief.
Notorious for drugs and crime and afflicted by large-scale poverty, the Khayelitsha township in Cape Town is better known for being one of the biggest slums on the planet. But World Cup-winning coach Gary Kirsten is attempting to change the image for good through cricket.
Addressing the conference, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said as a developing country, China may boast a fairly large economy, but its per capita income ranks around 90th in the world.
Buoyed by rapid economic growth, Asia has made dramatic progress in the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, halving the number of people living on the equivalent of a dollar a day, a just released United Nations report has said.
The Guinness Book of World Records is monitoring the campaign, which is also aiming to find a place in record books for its scale and diversity of participation.
Chaudhary Charan Singh, who on Friday was conferred with India's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna, is popularly known as a champion of farmers.
'The sense of Constitutional propriety and political morality seems to be vanishing fast.' 'There are many things in today's politics of governance which Manmohan Singh would have never dreamt of saying or doing.'
Her days of scorching the astro-turf might be over but legendary former India captain Rani Rampal has absolutely "no regrets" as she believes in making most of whatever opportunities that come her way.
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
There should be transparent national standards and parameters to decide who the poor are
The Lok Sabha contest in Thiruvananthapuram is shaping up to be a significant battle involving key candidates like Shashi Tharoor, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, and Panniyan Ravindran. This three-cornered fight highlights the political dynamics in Kerala's capital city, with each candidate bringing their own vision and promises for the region's development, notes Rajeev Srinivasan.
The new idol of Lord Ram was placed in the sanctum sanctorum of Ayodhya's Ram Janmabhoomi temple on Thursday afternoon, ahead of the January 22 consecration ceremony.
'They know that if they do not tie up with the Congress, then the minorities will move to the Congress.'
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