The Election Commission gets cracking on caste, money and muscle power well ahead of the 2017 Uttar Pradesh elections.
The crux of the problem is change, specifically the Rs 500 note, which India's presses cannot, currently, print in adequate number, says Sahil Kini/IndiaSpend.
The jobless armies of youthful India are getting angrier and desperate, warns Shekhar Gupta.
'In India a strong leader with a majority has never yet been defeated by a challenger.' 'He (or she, as with Indira Gandhi in 1977) must defeat himself,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The least the Opposition can do, for India's sake, is try to offer one, says Mitali Saran.
The film's release was shifted from May 9 to May 23.
The Customer Complaints Council pulled up Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) for advertisement of its water purifier product 'Pureit Ultima'.
'He was the first creative person to recognise and fully realise the power of film in an era when press ads were the only competence of Indian creatives.'
We round off the week with some of the good, bad and ugly looks.
NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela said those people whose names have been excluded in the first list need not worry.
The accused has no political affiliation, initial probe suggests.
While Zee managed single-digit growth in revenue, HT Media's income dipped marginally, reports Urvi Malvania/Business Standard.
He is talking, making sense, and India is listening. Rahul Gandhi needs to listen to him, too, says Shekhar Gupta.
Modi-Shah can complain about the Congress playing caste politics but the fact is that in Gujarat it is threatening to return to the old normal. Caste again threatens to divide what Hindutva has kept united for 25 years, says Shekhar Gupta.
'The current BJP leadership believes the party's expansion across India, and thus their own survival at the top, depends on injecting communal tension into areas where it has so far been largely controlled,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'There was a universal feeling that not much is known about amateur and professional golf in India, and also how golf is developing in what is going to be a very big economy in just a few years.' 'They all want India to be ready and accessible.'
How a half-Norwegian designer found her roots in India.
Tracing the early life of the humble ballpoint pen to its present.
'Freebies are yet be proven a 'pucca' vote-catcher. But don't say that to KCR because he takes pride in two things: His record of delivery and imagination,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'My middle class upbringing has shaped me up like that.' 'I am not saying actors are bad -- they are lovely people -- but I don't know which world they come from.' 'They come with their baggage, this aura...'
Wholesale inflation shot up to a 30-month high of 5.25 per cent in January as rising global crude oil prices spiked domestic fuel cost, even as food prices moderated.
'No one institution can cleanse it: Not the courts, government or activists.' 'And least of all the Indian Police Service,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
The third quarter numbers show the effect of the slowdown on the media business. There is a decline in net profits and margins for a sample of 16 listed companies such as HT Media, Deccan Chronicle and Zee among others. But what is eerie is the similarity between the print and TV numbers, which have generally been on different growth trajectories so far.
After sorting out almost all the issues with the print media, the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Tuesday night faced a boycott of its coverage by major television channels from midnight. The decision of the channels coming under the umbrella organisation of News Broadcasters Association was conveyed by Secretary General Annie Joseph to IPL Chairman Lalit Modi tonight.
'The current crisis is a result of a clash between a coercive attempt by the government to justify demonetisation and rising digital transactions against the market and the economy fighting the unexpected pressure from atop.'
Priyanka Gandhi will strike a deal with Mayawati and not Akhilesh, says Nazarwala.
'How do we explain that on the economic, internal security and strategic fronts, India's unstable coalitions have acted more decisively and boldly than all our full-majority governments yet?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
'Sonakshi Sinha, Imran Khan and other stars say MFF is their film festival. In reality, the festival belongs to Mumbaikars, who wait in long lines, rushing from theatre to theatre.'
Awful religious practices need to be abolished. But through social and political reformers, not by courts, argues Shekhar Gupta.
The deadlock between the media and the Indian Premier League ended, at least in part, following a meeting between IPL organizers and editors from leading newspapers in Mumbai on Monday. While the print media got relief on the use of images and the number of reporters and photographers allowed, top cricket websites like Rediff.com and Cricinfo have been banned from covering the IPL.
The alliance includes a content licensing arrangement and also envisages introduction of other Forbes products in the country. The partnership will bring in strengths in the print space and synergise well with its television and new media properties.
Presenting some of the good, bad and ugly looks of the week.
According to the ABC radio report, Thomas criticised the Australian Federal Police for pursuing the lawyers who leaked the information that allowed him to write his award-winning articles. In his acceptance speech, Thomas thanked Haneef's lawyers Peter Russo and Stephen Keim for risking their careers to expose vital facts about the case.
All toppers and experts recommend this.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'Across the country -- in Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand, Manipur, Delhi, Bihar, West Bengal -- men were lynched on suspicion of being thieves by ordinary people armed with rods and sticks.' 'But none of these lynchings made big news.' 'None of these lynchings were cow/beef-related.' 'The perpetrators were unknown people, not so-called gau rakshaks.' 'So why were these instances of mob violence considered less newsworthy than cow-related lynchings?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
The media breathed life into the MNS which did not take off at a trajectory which would make it an electoral challenge to any political party... It gave him the cause. Strange, but true. And also tragic.
'UP, Maharashtra, AP (including Telangana), Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, MP, Bihar, Karnataka and Kerala.' 'We chose these nine not only as being among the biggest, but also because in these states radical change is possible,' explains Shekhar Gupta.
There is a vital difference between Bofors and Rafale, explains Shekhar Gupta.
'People should know that the so-called honest Kejriwal's desperation to win seats was so high that he ignored the cheating done by his candidate,' says senior BJP leader.
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