'The colloquial language forced a turn to the recent past and I thought about the hangings of men like Afzal Guru and Yakub Memon.' 'Whatever their deeds, proven or still in doubt, did their deaths not deserve to be mourned by a sister, wife, or child?' A fascinating excerpt from Amitava Kumar's Writing Badly Is Easy.
The Prime Minister said there is a need to have a relook at the structure of the Planning Commission and give it a new shape.
By all yardsticks 2024 isn't expected to be like 2014 or 2019. But with the mandir expected to be ready in time for the next Lok Sabha polls, Modi will have a new ally in Ram to see him through, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The protesting students claimed that when they reached Red Fort, police did not allow them to take out the march but they did not budge and said they would make their voices heard.
Quattrocchi lived in India for several years as the representative of an Italian firm, Snam Progetti, in the 1980s. He was close to the Gandhi family and in 1999 was named one of the accused in the case regarding the Rs 64-crore pay-off for the supply of 155 mm Howitzer guns made by Bofors, for which a controversial deal was signed in 1986 when Rajiv Gandhi was the prime minister.
Justifying action against the JNU and the HU students, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said if slogans are openly raised for terrorists then action is imperative.
Does Pranab Mukherjee want to be 'PM' by office, not just by initials? The very prospect, with memories of the Narasimha Rao years scarred into their memories, scares the Nehru-Gandhis, says T V R Shenoy.
Amid a controversy over the recent the JNU row, the BJP said freedom of expression does not give a right to call for the country's destruction.
No government bungalow in Delhi will henceforth be converted into any memorial, the Union Cabinet decided on Saturday, weeks after a row over Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh's demand for making his official residence a memorial of his father and former Prime Minister Charan Singh.
The Indian high commission in London is making efforts to take the manuscript to India for display.
He also rejected all charges of alleged cheating and siphoning off money by Congress in the matter.
'Taranjit has the ideal temperament to deal with the Americans who understand firmness and appreciate flexibility.' 'He can hold his ground with a cheerful face and still make it clear that India and the US are partners, rivals,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Jaitley began his speech by saying that today is the auspicious day of Basant Panjami and that "spring is the season of optimism".
'For half a century, Delhi has not seen a truly powerful ruling party president.' 'The Cabinet, chief ministers, and even the heads of the most powerful departments and agencies now acknowledge where power lies, besides the prime minister's office,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The jobless armies of youthful India are getting angrier and desperate, warns Shekhar Gupta.
Official celebrations in most states were restricted to unfurling of the national flag and chief ministers and governors addressing the people, with fewer guests in attendance.
'The autonomy of essential institutions is clearly under question as the Modi government seeks to influence them politically.' 'The credibility of institutions such as the EC, the CBI, the CVC, the UPSC, the RBI, media, and universities, has been compromised,' notes Zoya Hasan, the distinguished political thinker.
Desperate times need desperate actions, and the BJP's only option is to enforce legislation to build a Ram mandir, says Sunil Sethi.
'If tempers all over the country are so fragile that they can be lost because a couple of film stars give their child the same name as a 14th-century warlord, exactly what sort of compromises can be palatable,' asks Mihir S Sharma.
FTII students stuck to their demand for revoking the appointment of Chauhan as chairman of its governing council
The Left has ideologically become irrelevant globally, says the finance minister.
Thousands of ex-servicemen across the country on Sunday converged at Delhi's Jantar Mantar to protest over the delay in implementation of the 'One Rank, One Pension' scheme.
'Swamy's crash-landing carries a message to all loose cannons.' 'Get your rants vetted by someone higher up in the party so that you are not left high and dry,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'He can do wonders if only he dons the mantle of the leader, mentor and path-setter of the nation and for all its people, instead of remaining content with being a mere PM belonging to one of the many political parties,' says B S Raghavan.
It also dismissed Jaitley's remarks that India of 2017 is different from what it was in 1962, saying China too is different.
President Ram Nath Kovind said he was 'a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency' and would be missed by his readers.
Violence broke out in Patiala house court complex when groups of lawyers attacked journalists, students and teachers of the JNU.
Today no big militant can dream of committing terror acts, the MoD said.
Jaitley said the geographical expansion of the BJP in Kerala, after Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the South, and the 11 per cent vote share in West Bengal were 'important milestones'.
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's grand nephew would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Germany on Monday to demand declassification of files relating to the freedom fighter's mysterious disappearance in 1945.
The opposition battled it out with the Centre over farmer issues, the suspension of 6 MPs and the privileges of MPs.
The finance minister also termed Kanhaiya Kumar's speech, delivered following his release on bail, a "victory for us", saying he had gone to jail for raising anti-India slogans but came back to speak amid slogans of 'Jai Hind' and hoisting of the tricolour.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
Many BJP leaders are of the view that most key members of the previous Cabinet could be retained.
With his strong views on Bharatiya economics, his appointment to the RBI board may well presage interesting times, says Archis Mohan.
'I would rather have an HRD minister who concentrates on her job rather than bicker on Twitter.'
"Telling the story of the birth of a nation is never easy. Especially if that nation is as big and diverse as India," said Shyam Benegal about 'Samvidhaan -- The Making of the Constitution of India'.
However, independent economists are not as gung-ho as the finance ministry over the likelihood of deficit target being met this time around, says Indivjal Dhasmana.
'India's economic fundamentals are much too strong to be affected by his resignation,' says B S Raghavan.
It is likely that small parties would be given very few seats to contest, but these parties believe that they would be able to swing the result in favour of bigger alliance partners by transferring their vote bank.
