Injury-prone all-rounder Shane Watson has been named in Australia's 13-man squad for Twenty20 matches against South Africa next month as he recovers from a calf strain.
Two worthies were overheard mulling recent political developments
'Modi's health scheme has changed the national conversation. For that reason it must be supported.'
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz sharif warns that continuing US drone strikes will be a detriment to his country's efforts to eliminate terrorism; but the White House defends these strikes and vows to continue despite condemnation from the un and amnesty international too. Aziz Haniffa reports
'What is required is to make Pakistan less war-like and more modest in its ambitions. To normalise with India and to reduce the State's fondness for religion.' 'It is pragmatism and not charisma that it required and it is by being boring and not heroic that this can be achieved.' 'This is the moment of realisation which brings the Pakistani leader into conflict with the army.' 'Imran Khan will learn the lesson in time,' says Aakar Patel.
'Arguments about politics and religion do not end in name calling and abuse when they happen face to face.' 'In person we are more balanced because we are aware we are being observed.'
'Modi has also made mistakes and overpromised.' 'However, his cautious and careful approach have insulated him from criticism.'
'One hopes that in his second term, Modi spends more time reading serious material even if it bores him or is against his nature,' says Aakar Patel.
'Except for the Akali Dal and Shiv Sena, the BJP has not found any permanent friends.' 'This is because most parties are genuinely concerned about what Hindutva politics does to Indian society,' argues Aakar Patel.
'It is only for a particular kind of Indian. The thing is: Even some of those types of Indians do not like it,' says Aakar Patel.
In the next 25 years or so, we will have intelligence in computers that will exceed man's in every way.
'Sonia's term as Congress president -- which was 20 years -- was the longest in the party's history.' 'It will also go down as the period in which the Congress transformed in the way Indians viewed it,' says Aakar Patel.
'A nation can take a quick decision in a fit of passion or excitement that can be damaging to itself in the long term,' says Aakar Patel.
'This is a negative campaign, of slurs and fears.' 'The BJP has no desire to fight a positive campaign as it did in 2014, on the issue of governance and achche din.' 'Where the BJP can use these tactics, it will,' says Aakar Patel.
'The bullet train is not modernity itself. It is the product of modernity.' 'It is this modernity that we would be fortunate to be able to import from Japan.' 'It occurs to me that we seem to believe that by acquiring the toys we will become a modern nation,' says Aakar Patel.
'The Indian soldier will fight where he is asked to, and he always has.' 'It is up to us as a democratic society to see that his service and sacrifice is for the most useful causes, and that we do not needlessly ask him to die for us,' says Aakar Patel.
'Many fresh faces have come before him on both sides, and every sort of individual -- liberal, conservative, hardliner, dictator -- has come and gone.' 'I think we just seem to be happier when we hate one another,' says Aakar Patel.
'If the 'ideology' is just Hindutva, meaning cattle slaughter, temple issue, love jihad, joined with random acts on the side of economics and foreign policy, then we are in deeper trouble than we think,' says Aakar Patel.
'We should be open to looking at Ramdas Athavale's suggestion of reservations. India will not be unique if it chooses to do this, says Aakar Patel.
'We expect mobs on the subcontinent to hand out punishment without trial.' 'To have ministers doing it and then being proud about it says something about how the law is treated in India and how seriously ministers take their oath of office,' says Aakar Patel.
Demanding the case be handed over to Central Bureau of Investigation, the victim alleged that the administration has done little to ensure the security of women in the state.
'If Amazon's officials had secured their visas through proper paperwork, under what rule or law was Swaraj threatening to cancel them?' 'If she felt a crime had been committed, as a law abiding citizen she should have registered a first information report or a complaint.' 'Instead she fired off a twitter fatwa, acting like a despot.'
'Even if we expect that the economy will be hit and GDP is lowered for a few quarters by the reckless demonetisation, this will itself not be sufficient to dislodge Modi's popularity,' says Aakar Patel.
'It does not appear to me that the campaign of 2019 will be positive. By that I mean it is unlikely that there will be an 'achche din' style slogan either from the government or the opposition.'
'Singh has written that he fears demonetisation will end up a mammoth tragedy.' 'Modi has told us we will enter a better world in January.' 'Both men can't be right and we will know which one of them is wrong soon,' says Aakar Patel.
The more one thinks about it, the more difficult it is to see how India will be able to reap the benefits of a demographic dividend, says Aakar Patel.
What is required is boring leadership that ensures that the basics are right and not genius leadership that dreams of bullet trains, says Aakar Patel.
'In Bollywood, the power is disproportionately in the hands of a few men, whether they are actors or producers or directors.' 'The woman who makes an allegation against them can forget working in the industry again.'
'Till today, the RSS only speaks of Hindu Rashtra but never explains what it means. It cannot, because it would be unacceptable to even a majority of Hindus, forget the Indian Muslims and Christians,' says Aakar Patel.
'One glance at the Indians on the field compared to these visiting South Africans, and you know something is very wrong or very different. One side (not our side) looks like athletes do,' says Aakar Patel.
He was deliberately reducing Ansari to his Muslim identity by linking his career as a diplomat in the Arab world and educationist and his reflections on intolerance with his religion.
Why are states important to win for national parties? What is the significance of local power? That was what we should have a look at because the Congress has been squeezed out of power in more states today than it has ever been in history.
'I do not think that we are showing Hindu humanity and humaneness in the process of the National Register of Citizens.'
'The assumption is that the lines have been drawn and the two sides (India and Pakistan) have gone to battle. All of us, whether analysts or politicians or citizens or cricketers or housewives, must see the other side as an enemy and must reject everything it says or does even if we gain nothing from it. I am no longer able to subscribe to this stupidity,' says Aakar Patel.
'The government says it will file a review petition against the Supreme Court, but there is no conviction here.' 'It is doing this purely because it is worried.' 'It comes from the same sentiment as asking BJP MPs to spend two nights in a Dalit village,' says Aakar Patel.
'On corruption the Yadavs of UP and Bihar will find it very tough to give an answer to the accusations of the BJP and its supporters,' says Aakar Patel.
'Middle-level managers account for 10 per cent -- or 450,000 people -- in the IT industry in India.' 'And of these 225,000 would lose jobs over the next one decade as their work would get automated.' 'This is grim news for many reasons,' says Aakar Patel.
'It is unclear whether there will again be such a confrontational moment in our politics before we all go to vote in 2019,' says Aakar Patel.
The US president's four-day tour will feature talks with British PM Theresa May, tea with the Queen, and mass protests including a giant Trump baby blimp being flown over Westminster.
'If it is true that we are in a moment in time when the few economic advantages we hold are being lost, our focus must be on that rather than on finger-pointing,' says Aakar Patel.
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