'The significance and timing of the PM's start of the campaign journey from Silchar is a clear message that the Barak valley is a priority in his scheme of things,' notes Subimal Bhattacharjee.
In the light of the global scenario on infiltration for economic gain what Modi said in his speeches in Assam and West Bengal recently was perfectly legitimate. Intellectual dishonesty marks this discourse in our country, argues Ram Madhav.
The IPL has produced more controversies in its short lifespan than any other sporting league in history.
It is mischievous to imply that the proposed bill to grant citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists from other nations implies that Muslims and Christians are not Indians, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'The cow is sacred to many of us, but these killings are definitely not part of the Hinduism we know and practise,' says Jyoti Punwani.
Indians want change and progress. They should be willing to accept tough decisions, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'People feel concerned about the future, whether it is the land or the jobs.' 'The BJP came to power in Assam with promises of maati, bheti (home, hearth and identity), land, jobs and culture.' 'Are these going to taken care of? I think those are real concerns.' 'The Assam chief minister (Sarbananda Sonowal) was one of the leaders of the All Assam Students Union which fought for and is one of the signatories to the Assam Accord.' 'Today, his comrade-in-arms (Samujjal Bhattacharya, chief advisor, AASU) is leading the opposition in the streets.'
Contract workers are paid much less than regular workers. This year's Economic Survey estimates wages are on an average 20 times higher in the formal sector than in the informal sector. Arindam Majumder reports.
'The Nagas want a flag of their own, to share the Kohima skyline with the national tricolour.' 'The the government says you can have a flag for cultural and ethnic occasions.' 'The Nagas say that will be a bit like an NGO having its own flag,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
'It is best Sidhu shuns his role as Kapil Sharma's Paaji and instead concentrates on serving the people of Punjab,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Ganguly, only the second Indian captain to take charge as the BCCI chief, sounded a pleased man on his first day at his new office at the BCCI head office
"Terrorists won't win," New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said after a blast at the Port Authority terminal in Manhattan during the morning rush hour on Monday, which injured four.
Digital services work best when the seller designs a system where default options are designed to help the buyer, says Debashis Basu.
The Enforcement Directorate has managed to sniff out over Rs 9,000 crore as suspected haul from money laundering in a decade, but it has yet to link those against anyone successfully in a court.
'Someone is needed to restore India back to Indians. So you decided you won't vote for Modi. But then, who will you vote for? List your leaders from the north to south and east to west, and ask your heart and mind, will any one of them be able to deliver and bring back India from the darkness it has fallen into?' asks Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay.
'Why has the peace been kept?' 'Basically because there is a balance.' 'Maybe they think that balance has changed.' 'People can make mistakes. People can miscalculate.' 'If that is the cause, then I think what we have done, matching their build-up, etc, it is giving a good account of ourselves in the face-offs.'
'The one thing India has over these two States, whose toughness awes us, is our ability to embrace diversity with ease. 'The way ahead lies in learning from Vajpayee's method, not in Xi Jinping's,' says Shekhar Gupta.
A glance back at some of the important ups and down Indian Inc faced in 2018.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
Trinamool leaders have claimed the NRC process and subsequent verification is vote bank politics. Other critics call it as modified ethnic cleansing. But putting poll rhetoric aside, the issue dates back to a time when many of these leaders had no political relevance.
Manobi Bandyopadhyay, India's first transgender principal of a college, speaks of her struggles in a moving interview.
'The control of the Church over Christian people regarding politics has become weak...' 'People have started to think independently and it is not for sure that they will obey whatever the Church asks them to do.'
Accusing the Congress of putting its interests above the country's, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tore into the Oppposition, saying unlike earlier when opposition parties stalled Parliament against scams, Congress- led parties are now doing so against government's steps to curb black money and corruption.
'When workers in other industries enjoy protection, why should sex workers not receive similar protection?' 'Sex work should be treated as work and brought under the work schedule of the labour department.' 'We will only end up giving immunity to the pimps and brothels to buy or sell human beings. This will in turn increase trafficking of young women and children.' Rashme Sehgal reports on the debate over legalising prostitution, a bugle in whose favour has been sounded by the new chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Lalitha Kumaramangalam.
'The nation State can thrive if all communities believe they have a stake in it; that their interests will be safeguarded; that there will be no discrimination; that there will be justice.' 'The political leadership of this country needs to decide whether it wants to mitigate these challenges to the nation by making necessary correction or whether it wants to ignore these questions that Yakub's noose has left behind,' says Ankur Bhardwaj.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "blatant U-turn" on the issue of transparency.
How will the return of a majority government at the Centre, the new India-US friendship and the Mangalyaan triumph change India?
'As a governor, I have every right to speak my mind if I feel the security of my country is at stake.' 'Why is it that we would have to shed tears when Muslims are killed or tortured, but have to keep mum when the Hindus receive the same treatment?'
The Congress has been reduced to a C player in national politics thanks to its inability to read the pulse of the people, says Rashme Sehgal.
Since 2004 the Congress has hung onto power in a situation in which it was on track to be out of power. In each case, it effectively gamed the system through Constitutional coups, argues columnist Rajeev Srinivasan.
'It doesn't look as if any sensible, worldly wise, person is in charge in China.' 'If at all anybody is in charge, it can only be a bunch of bumpkins of whom Xi has become a puppet,' observes B S Raghavan, the veteran civil servant.
More runs from Virat Kohli. India winning the World T20 at home. A controversy-free IPL and more is what Harish Kotian/Rediff.com wants this year.
Thanks to rupee depreciation, India has a chance to fundamentally rework its stifled manufacturing sector.
'The BJP politics of appropriating icons from its ideological adversaries could only be a desperate attempt to extend the Jat-Muslim divide in Uttar Pradesh. Why this desperation when it can comfortably get votes on the plank of economic development?'
'In Assam we have lost 2,358 sq km to erosion by the Brahmaputra river! Do you know how much area is 2,358 sq km is? This is four times the size of Bombay. But who is concerned?' 'Didn't the BJP say that as soon as we come to power the Bangladeshis will have to pack their bags? Go to Google and search for 'Modi + Bangladeshi' and see exactly the statement he made... I am asking what has happened to it.'
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
Manipur needs an integrated politico, military, socio-economic approach, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'Why should the people of Odisha divert water from the Mahanadhi when 13 out of 32 districts are chronically drought prone?' 'Water is a state subject. Can you really nationalise rivers for which you need drastic amendments in the Constitution?'
The IPL, all of a sudden, may have some catching up to do with the Big Bash.
The second and final part of former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra's interview to Sheela Bhatt.
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