Modi will need to understand that the formula for success will have to be Local Leaders + Modi and not Modi alone...Shivraj Singh Chouhan is in the running for prime minister... The AAP will have to ally with other parties if it hopes to make any dent in the Lok Sabha election. Dr B Venkatesh Kumar, Professor at the Centre for Governance and Public Policy at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, lists some learnings from the 2013 assembly election results.
Shivaji made sure that his soldiers respected the sanctity of mosques and the Quran Sharif to ensure that his fight against the Mughals did not become fight against Islam, explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Has the Modi government been more at odds with institutions than other governments? There is no doubt that there have been more run-ins. While the RBI and CBI cases have drawn attention, there have been others, less publicised, Subhomoy Bhattacharjee points out.
Education, jobs, health and more: Experts share their wishlist.
'Arvind Kejriwal displayed crass male chauvinism and gender illiteracy in saying that "rape tendencies arise out of sex, prostitution and drug rackets." This shows a failure to grasp that rape has little to with sex, and even less with drugs. Such remarks are far worse than the deplorable comments of policemen and politicians who attribute rapes to women's "provocative" attire or their outdoor presence at night!' says Praful Bidwai.
We must see New Delhi's position as a signal of competition to the Chinese grand design for the 21st century world, says Nitin Pai.
Given the rapid changes in the Indian labour market, there is an urgent need to have current, accurate and publicly available data through regular, dynamic and comprehensive surveys. Indeed, this was the intention behind constituting the NITI Aayog Task Force on Improving Employment Data. The attempts by the government to "improve" labour data has actually made it worse, say Rosa Abraham, Janaki Shibu & Rajendran Narayanan.
New Delhi bureaucrats, accustomed to leisurely lunches, golf in the afternoon and long weekends, have been shaken out of their somnolence, say authors. Fear and suspicion hang heavy over the red-sands.
Sources also said that India meets the criteria for a US sanctions waiver for procuring S-400 missile defence systems from Russia and the Trump administration has 'enough flexibility' on the issue.
British India Corporation employs about 1,800 people
According to Yashwant Sinha, a national-level pre-poll alliance of all opposition parties should be formed or a nationwide pre-poll alliance of regional parties should be made to defeat the BJP in the general elections.
'Imran cannot escape responsibility for providing a mask to the Pakistan army to engage in unlawful activities and to wage aggression after India retaliated to the terrorist attack,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'The new order cometh, sweeping out the old,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.
Flowing from an inadequate understanding of Tamil history and politics is an urban elitist mindset that does not seem to be able to touch and feel the real angst of the larger Tamil-speaking masses, cutting across the social and economic status of the individual, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Covid pandemic has left a question mark on how the central government manages its staff.
Diplomats agree that amid stormy relations with China and Pakistan, Modi has posted impressive foreign policy successes, notes Aditi Phadnis.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
'The prime minister's advisers might have told him that going along with this AIADMK government will damage his image.'
The emphatic victory in all three municipal corporations in Delhi will enthuse the party to keep its winning trajectory for the next polls, reports Sahil Makkar.
Special Economic Zones are likely to be central to realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious Make in India agenda.
The Union government is reportedly considering doing away with the practice of presenting a separate Railway Budget.
'I would personally like to see Rahul Gandhi continue as party president.' 'I genuinely believe he has far more to offer to the party still, particularly in leading us in these challenging times that we find ourselves in.'
It is increasingly clear that Rajasthan, under the leadership of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, will lead the country in terms of policy reform.
'The variables to watch include the monsoon, resolution of NBFC liquidity issues, GST collections, and NPA resolution.'
'While economic ties are making incremental progress, it is in the security and strategic domains that the India-Japan synergy is more compelling,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
Rajinikanth's visible electoral strength is his constant mouthing of the term, 'aanmiga arasiyal', or 'spiritual politics', without he having to explain what it is. By implication, it is all that what Dravidian politics is not about. It may imply anti-corruption, being against Periyar's forgotten anti-god, anti-Brahmin dictum, but also ends up covering 'Tamil pride', which begins with Tamil language where, as a Maratha from Karnataka, he has more to defend himself. However, in the contemporary national context, aanmiga arasiyal is seen as a front for Rajini to market his brand of 'soft Hindutva' but identified even more with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in political terms, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It is certain Jayalalithaa will be in no position to attend to official business.' 'Indeed, doctors would have forbidden anything that would aggravate her condition and lead to complications,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant, advising how a Constitutional vacuum can be averted in Tamil Nadu.
Ahead of the Parliament session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday reached out to parties appealing them not to come in the way of prosperity of farmers, saying the deadlock over the land acquisition bill is seriously impacting rural development.
Scores of Congress party-affiliated National Students Union of India workers on Friday held a protest outside Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's official residence in New Delhi over IIT-Madras de-recognising a students' body for reportedly criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
At this point of time, the requirement of the economy is obviously more investment, which will create more jobs and increase purchasing power that will sustain a high level of production, says K M Chandrasekhar.
The fiscal deficit of the Centre remains a worry, running at over 6.5 per cent of GDP in April-September 2014, mainly because of revenue shortfalls from exaggerated projections in the government's July Budget and despite the relief on subsidies from lower oil prices.
B R Ambedkar's fears about personality cults in politics and money power in elections seem to be coming true, says Nitin Desai
While the government has the option of ensuring the passage of these Bills as money Bills, there are voices within the government advising discretion on the GST roll-out by April 1.
'One big leader said you might get 3 lakh votes and still lose.' 'I said if I do I will make sure you are sleepless because it will be me and three lakh people.'
'Many people thought that a Hindu nationalist party's government would take bold steps vis-a-vis Kashmir. But sadly their approach has been led by military and security priorities.' 'We would suggest to India that she initiate the dialogue following the Vajpayee model. That is the way forward. Otherwise, there is a looming threat. We are seeing educated youth joining militancy.'
Senior officials say the government might come up with an incentive package for the SEZs following the release of Foreign Trade Policy.
The world is still figuring out the man as he continues his enigmatic journey towards the first 100 days of his presidency.
'If there were no Ahmedabad programme -- no flashy town hall event in a huge cricket stadium with thousands cheering him on -- then Trump may well have decided not to go to India.'
It is up to the government to take a decision on this before it starts auctioning.
'Oommen Chandy may well prove to be the Teflon chief minister whose reputation cannot be tarnished,' predicts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
