The interim Budget proposals that will be presented on February 1 in the backdrop of the general elections scheduled in April/May 2024 are likely to have a hint of populism, believe analysts, but are unlikely to derail the government from its path of fiscal prudence.
The big names of Indian cricket including World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev, Madan Lal, Virender Sehwag and Kirti Azad paid their last respects to the spin great.
Here are the 10 key issues likely to be the centre of discussion in the seven-phase general elections that begin on April 19.
The Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust has sent invitations to 7,000 people, including 3,000 VVIPs, for the consecration.
The RSS chief, who is engaged in a campaign to increase contact with Muslims, on Thursday visited Masjid and madrassa in Delhi and met Chief Imam of All India Imam Organisation Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, who called the RSS chief 'the Father of the Nation'.
The RSS does not mind playing politics with religion-based census data despite knowing well that it is completely flawed, says Syed Firduas Ashraf.
The outfit suggested that the government amend the Information Technology Act to classify all such content as pornography, which people should only be able to access by punching in their Aadhaar details or their fingerprints. Archis Mohan reports
Immediately following its ban being lifted on July 11, 1949, the RSS began debating entering politics in the pages of its house organ, The Organiser. Thus was born the Jana Sangh/BJP, points out Aakar Patel.Thus Was Born Jana Sangh/BJP, asserts Aakar Patel.
Sudarshan retires, Mohan Bhagwat new RSS chief
Political power has now been outsourced fully to the Modi government. Even if the RSS is still, in principle, his guru, nobody would dare to whisper a word of advice to Modi, forget some whiff of criticism. When the shishya grows into such a popular and domineering leader, the guru has to applaud from the sidelines, points out Shekhar Gupta.
"Frequent elections not only impose a huge burden on human resources but also impede the development process due to the promulgation of the model code of conduct. Therefore, a sustained debate is required on the subject of simultaneous elections and all political parties need to arrive at a consensus on this issue," he had said.
Speaking at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's Dussehra rally in Nagpur, Bhagwat said community-based population imbalance is an important subject and should not be ignored.
In the meeting, which has come at a time when the Gyanvapi mosque issue is being heard in courts, it was decided to build a platform for strengthening communal harmony in the country.
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman finance minister, had in July 2019 ditched the colonial legacy of a Budget briefcase for the traditional 'bahi-khata' to carry Union Budget papers.
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.
HAM leader Jitan Ram Manjhi on Monday said statements of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat about a review of quotas could be one of the possible reasons for the NDA's debacle in the polls.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, who stoked a controversy a few days ago saying that rapes do not take place in rural but urban India, has created a fresh row now with remarks that a woman is bound by contract to husband to look after him.
A new idol of Ram Lalla sculpted by Mysuru-based Arun Yogiraj has been selected for installation at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, temple trust's general secretary Champat Rai said on Monday.
Experts recommend awaiting the findings of the 2021 Census, which is yet to be conducted, before introducing population control policies.
'Rama is Lord God of maryada. Today's maryada is the Constitution.'
Now that the economy is growing at a higher-than-expected rate, it is time to accelerate the pace of fiscal consolidation, and the Budget could be a good starting point, argues Rajesh Kumar.
'When Rajiv Gandhi was PM, Roman Catholic missionaries were allowed to enter Arunachal Pradesh and they made full use of this. They had the blessings of Sonia Gandhi'
The new Ram Lalla idol was consecrated at the Ayodhya temple on Monday, an event led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and watched by lakhs of people on television at their homes and in temples across the country.
Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com decodes Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech after the Pran Prathistha ceremony at Ram Temple in Ayodha.
Likening India's progress to that of a vehicle that only has accelerator and no brakes, the RSS chief said those trying to stop it will either step aside or be eliminated.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Brinda Karat on Friday lashed out at Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat for his remark that rapes are rare in 'Bharat' (rural India) but occur frequently in 'India', saying this reflects the mentality, which refuses to accept the reality of caste oppression or class driven exploitation of women.
Bishan Singh Bedi's family paid tribute to the spin legend who left for his celestial abode on Monday after living an inspiring life.
'He was a terrific bowler. His use of crease and angles were just stunning. Batsmen often were made nervous by the prospect of facing him, he had just about every trick up his sleeve, not to mention his flight'
The much-awaited Ram temple consecration will be held in Ayodhya on Monday in a grand ceremony with Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending the rituals, following which the shrine will be opened for the public a day later.
The RSS chief's comment that if war broke out, the military would not be ready for at least six to seven months is correct as it faces a shortfall in training and alertness and an even greater lack of funds for defence preparedness, notes Ajai Shukla.
The Bombay high court said on Tuesday it was satisfied with the measures adopted by anti-terrorism squad police in connection with the alleged conspiracy to murder Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Rashtriya Swamyamsevak Sangh Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday said if India wished to carve its own identity vis-a-vis China, it should not forget the scars of the 1962 war though the present situation was different.
Wouldn't it be better to join the celebrations with the vast Hindu majority while at the same time criticising Mr Modi/BJP/RSS for politicising it? notes Shekhar Gupta.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said violence does not benefit anybody and emphasised the need to bring together all communities and preserve humanity, comments coming against the backdrop of the recent clashes between different groups in several parts of the country.
The Royal Opera House in Mumbai fusion of a different kind as three dance forms came together.
In the last 9 years, the BJP govt has marked some anniversaries and events with more zeal than Congress-led governments.
'To the believers of crypto regulations, I have only one question to ask, how will you regulate it?'
'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
So how do you rate the Modi government's 11th budget?
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee makes momos at a local stall in Darjeeling.
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