Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan is a cut above the rest in Indian politics today, precisely in his remarkable ability to look beyond the horizon. His was probably the only government that began planning for the incoming pandemic as early as in February, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
Eminent economist and noted author Ashok Mitra, who served as the finance minister of West Bengal in 1977 and 1982, worked closely with Jyoti Basu. In his autobiography Apila-Chapila, Mitra fondly recalls his bitter-sweet association with Basu, and the latter's penchant for clipped sentences, good food and note-taking.
It is worth wondering how far the fulsome national coverage Jyoti Basu received this week was warranted, except on the basis of his record as India's longest-serving chief minister.
A top Chinese diplomat has described Jyoti Basu as "China's great friend" and India's "greatest communist" while paying floral respect to the departed leader.
In the turf war between the battered Communist Party of India-Marxist and its arch rival, Trinamool Congress, veteran Congressman and Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has found a new place of prominence.
'Temperamentally, they are quite alike.' 'Ahmed Patel avoided the limelight and was not a power seeker.' 'The Gandhis too are not power wielders, but trustees of power.'
'Sridhar had the ability to paint a vision, for an activist faced with the toughest personal problems so as to see a way out by combining one's personal desires with the needs of the movement.' Arun Ferreira remembers his fallen comrade Sridhar Srinivasan.
The heroic duo of Pakistan's 1992 World Cup-winning side met, along with their spouses. And, it was a fun time it seems.
It is eyeing the proposed Food Security Bill as one of the areas of pro-active involvement, even as the government is not much interested to consult the estranged comrades. The Bill has the potential of being the biggest social sector programme of the second Manmohan Singh government, just as the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act did during the first UPA regime.
Jyoti Basu, the 95-year-old communist, has lost touch with many of his comrades. But this morning the former chief minister of West Bengal did not forget to call his favourite Congressman to say, "Happy Birthday!"
Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu said government facilitates freedom fighters and gives pension but revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh are not even give the status of a martyr leave aside any financial support to their families.
Khadim Hussain Rizvi is now gone. But the mass appeal of fundamentalism among Pakistan's burgeoning, young, illiterate, unemployed and angry population isn't, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The judge said 'such books' and CDs prima facie indicated they contained some material against the state.
Although the CPI-M has emphasised that the railway panel's post is its top choice, Congress floor managers have already conveyed to the comrades that 'it will be difficult' to fulfil their dreams. The CPI-M is likely to get the chairman's seat in the Standing Committee on coal and steel or energy.
In a major boost for the government and the state security forces, 20 top leaders of the tribal militant outfit All Adivasi National Liberation Army, including its chief Biren Gond alias Sanjay Lakra, have surrendered in Assam. Lakra, along with his comrades, surrendered at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong hill district of Assam on Sunday. The surrender of the top leaders of the outfit came after the recent arrest of its previous commander John Toppo in Nagaland.
Kobad Ghandy, the politburo member of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist, will utilise his time in Tihar Jail to write a book on wife Anuradha, who was his comrade- in-arms for two decades in the naxalite movement. Sources said the 59-year-old Ghandy has requested the authorities for paper to write the book.
'It is worrisome that religion, politics and strong regional biases have pervaded our police force.'
Tamil Tigers and their supremo V Prabhakaran are facing imminent defeat at Kilinochchi as the Sri Lankan army is on the verge of overrunning Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's defacto capital, former top LTTE commander Karuna Amman has said.In an interview to state owned Independent Television Network, Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, once the second in command in the LTTE, said the rebel leader was about to be "punished for his insensate crimes".
'The Left is dying, but its economic ideology rules, unchallenged.' 'Modi is its newest standard-bearer.' 'Even in today's bitterly polarised politics, if there is one thing on which not just the BJP and Congress, but all other parties agree, it is that socialist economics is the only way to survive,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Former colleagues recall the veteran political leader as a visionary with strong ground connect.
Air Commodore Nitin Sathe reveals what he learnt from the Indian Air Force, which he served for 35 years. An Air Force Day Special.
'There is little doubt that China today stands in the dock, charged with misdemeanour with regard to the health and well-being of its own citizens and of the people of the world,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
Aurangzeb, who was in blue jeans and t-shirt was being asked by suspected Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists about his duties, posting and encounters in which he participated in 1.15 minutes video probably shot in a forest area, they said.
Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who passed away at the age of 93 after prolonged illness, would be creamated on Sunday August 3, at 4 pm according to a press release issued by the Communist Party of India-Marxist
Will Malik's worldview, shaped by his years with the socialists, Charan Singh, the Congress and V P Singh, help him govern the troubled state? Or would his rule have the imprint of the party he joined in the latter years of his chequered political career?
'If questioning and dethroning hierarchies is your primary motive, why not put an end to the practice of announcing your shining star, your box office draw, in big flaming letters and mentioning everyone else's name in small font at the bottom of the screen?' asks Sreehari Nair.
In its sway over national politics now, the Modi-Shah BJP is what the Congress was under Indira Gandhi. Why would they indulge coalition partners, their greed and egos now, asks Shekhar Gupta.
The government took the step following recommendation of the National Implementation Committee for observing the anniversaries of major events in India's history like First War of Independence, birth centenary of Bhagat Singh and 60 years of independence.
Harry, 23 a Household Cavalry Officer, has spent the past 10 weeks secretly serving in war-ravaged Helmand Province. The deployment had been cloaked in secrecy under a news blackout deal, agreed across the United Kingdom media to prevent details reaching the Taliban and endangering Harry and his comrades' lives. But the arrangement broke down after news was leaked out on the US website, the Drudge Report.
The Indian-origin head of an extremist Maoist sect, accused of enslaving three women in his home here for 30 years, tried to convince his British followers he was Jesus Christ, a former activist has claimed.
Velikakathu Shankaran Achuthanandan, popularly known as 'Comrade VS,' heading the CPI-M-led Left Democratic Front government, reached the Sabarimala hilltop on Sunday night after a three-hour-long walk along with thousands of pilgrims pouring into the shrine to have a 'darshan' of Lord Ayyappa during the peak pilgrimage season.
A 75-year-old Indian-origin Maoist cult leader was on Friday found guilty of rape, child cruelty and falsely imprisoning his daughter for 30 years by a British court.
Vajpayee said those who have worked or interacted with Advani know him as a man who has never compromised on his core belief in nationalism, and yet has 'displayed flexibility in political responses whenever it was demanded by the situation'.
The media in Australia cried foul, blaming the defeat to India's financial clout and the game's "weak-kneed" governing body.
He also said the Naxals were spreading in urban areas and were trying to mislead the people.
'If there is one thing our politicians, especially those with their ear to the ground, understand, it is the reality that their voters want three things from their children's schooling: English, English, English', notes Shekhar Gupta.
In a time of crisis like this, a government needs its people and politics united. A nation of India's size and diversity can't fight a stronger rival with fraying social cohesion, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The Maoists blew up the tracks near the Bhalui halt station on the Jhajha-Kiul section of East Central Railway around 2 am, disrupting train services on Patna-Howrah main line
Leave of all senior police officers had been cancelled in view of the event as there were apprehensions that the outfit might create disturbance.
'Captain Haneef-ud-din, pulling his sinewy body forward, crawled, rifle in hand, in the snow on 6 June 1999. He died on this craggy mountainside exactly two years after he had passed out of the IMA...'
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