Every twist and turn in KMC's civil service career is attributed to serendipity, an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident. He plays down his capabilities, which took him to the top of the civil service as the Cabinet Secretary or his misfortune in losing a daughter in her prime and suggests that his career was indeed serendipitous, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'I have seen Bishan paaji get worked up when he felt the game was losing its character because of some individual.'
Shortage of ICU beds, oxygen, ventilators, vaccines, doctors, nurses and crematorium space in India has dominated headlines around the world in the past few weeks with Covid-19 cases surging beyond control and the government failing to deliver. Yes, election rallies, Kumbh Mela, blatant flouting of social distancing and mask protocols coupled with a messy vaccination process are said to be responsible for the health crisis of colossal proportions that India is facing today. But an analysis of Budget speeches made by finance ministers over 75 years also offers a glimpse of how low on the priority list healthcare has featured for the political class and policy-makers, which is a significant reason for the current situation.
Mamata's 'there is no United Progressive Alliance (UPA)' remark after a meeting in Mumbai with Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar, an ally of Congress in Maharashtra, evoked a strong response from the party, currently being led by interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday spoke to his deputy G Kishan Reddy and enquired about the incident and the prevailing situation at Bhainsa town in Telangana where prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure were imposed following a clash between members of two communities.
A reward of Rs 5 lakh was handed over those who helped the police identify the vandals who defaced the Amar Jyothi Memorial in Mumbai.
This is the first reshuffle in the Council of Ministers by Prime Minister Modi since he assumed charge for a second term in May 2019.
They entered the Bihar poll battle to protect and carry forward their fathers' political legacy, but many of them could not win their own seat though some tasted victory.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Modi's move was aimed at helping a few of his 'crony capitalist friends' and had 'destroyed' the Indian economy, prompting a strong response from the BJP which said the exercise was an 'attack' on corruption and black money that were rampant during the 'lost decade' of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and other ministers took charge of their respective offices on Thursday, a day after taking oath at a ceremony held in the Darbar Hall of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
What these elections prove beyond any doubt (if ever there was one) that Modi's hold over public mind and Shah's mastery of election management are unparalleled. It doesn't seem likely that they will be matched any time soon in the Indian political scene, reaffirms Shreekant Sambrani.
Vithal, a 1950-batch IAS officer, died early on Friday morning due to old age ailments, his son Sanjay Baru, media advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, told PTI.
Not only did Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reject Union Home Minister P Chidambaram letter of resignation, but the PM also stood solidly behind him, by directing Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar to write to all Union Ministers not to criticise the government's handling of the Maoist issue and not to vent their feelings on Left Wing extremism in public fora.
Is anyone in the BJP listening -- to what Nitin Gadkari had to say, but possibly left unsaid? asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Rajneesh Gupta presents the interesting numbers from the second day of Kingston Test between West Indies and India
Taking the 2G probe to the doorstep of the Prime Minister's Office, the Public Accounts Committee is likely to ask Principal Secretary to the PM, T K A Nair, and Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar to appear before it this fortnight in connection with the telecom scam.Sources said Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, headed by senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M M Joshi, has called Nair, Chandrasekhar and Central Bureau of Investigation Director A P Singh to depose.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is underwriting the revival of a vintage Dakota as a gift to the Indian Air Force.
For the Congress to be taken seriously, it has to convince those around it that it could actually double its Lok Sabha seat share from the existing 52, and vote-share by a third more from the stagnating 20 per cent in 2014 and 2019, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Pulok Chatterjee, a long time loyalist of the Gandhi family and Dr Manmohan Singh, is likely to succeed K M Chandrasekhar as the Union Cabinet Secretary from January 2010. Chatterjee has served as the district magistrate of Rae Bareli and later worked with Sonia Gandhi, when she was the Leader of Opposition, during the National Democratic Alliance regime. When the United Progressive Alliance came to power, Chatterjee was made the Joint Secretary in PMO.
As polling begins on Friday for the remaining 25 Rajya Sabha seats in six states, here's a list of some of the bigwigs who are seeking to be elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour.
Taking at dig at Indian Cricket Board's president-in-exile N Srinivasan, spin legend Bishan Singh Bedi said it was a mystery to see the BCCI, which was born in Delhi and flourished at the Eden Gardens, being hijacked by Tamil Nadu.
The chief minister's statement is significant as several non-Bharatiya Janata Party parties are trying to forge unity in a bid to form a grand alliance to take on the ruling party in the Lok Sabha elections this year.
An astute thinker of the game with copybook technique of the famed 'Bombay School of Batsmanship', Wadekar was more than just the captain, who led India to twin series victories in England and the West Indies in 1971.
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
Virat Kohli is the second fastest behind Don Bradman to score 25 Test hundreds, notes Rajneesh Gupta.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari will head a committee which will reach out to social and volunteer organisations while his Cabinet colleague Sushma Swaraj will head a group that will produce literature for the polls.
Rejecting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal, Telangana protesters on Monday threatened to intensify their agitation if the Centre does not immediately announce the formation of the state even as Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrasekhar Rao declared he may go on a fast-unto-death.
Mayawati was outmanoeuvred by the BJP in the race for the Rajya Sabha in Uttar Pradesh just days after she helped the Samajwadi Party snatch two Lok Sbaha seats from the saffron party in bypolls.
Dashing the last hopes of the Congress high command, Telangana Rashtra Samiti President K Chandrasekhar Rao on Saturday categorically ruled out even an electoral alliance with the party for the forthcoming polls to the Lok Sabha and the state assembly.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has directed all Union ministers to declare their assets and liabilities and indicate their business interests.The prime minister's directions were circulated in a six-page letter to all Union ministers by Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar on June 2. Dr Singh's direction comes in the wake of Textile Minister Dayanidhi Maran and former telecom minister A Raja getting embroiled in the massive 2G scam.
Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Bishan Singh Bedi, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Erapalli Prasanna, won the lifetime achievement award.
Attorney General Goolam Vahanvati and Law Secretary D R Meena have been called by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee to give evidence in its probe into the 2G spectrum allocation scam.The committee, which has also called Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar, Principal Secretary in Prime Minister's Office T K A Nair and Central Bureau of Investigation Director A P Singh, have asked all of them to depose before it on April 15-16.
On the eve of an all-party meeting on Telangana, Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief K Chandrashekhar Rao on Monday said the Centre should follow its announcement on creation of a separate state with a resolution in Parliament but set no deadline for it.
The April 11 polling will decide the fate of several political bigwigs.
Cine actress and Telangana Rashtra Samithi MP M Vijaya Shanthi on Thursday joined Congress at a time when the possibility of TRS merging with Congress seemed to have hit a roadblock.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the 2G scam will resume its proceedings next week when former Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrasekhar appears before it as one of the 'essential witnesses' before the panel starts writing the draft report.
No comments could be obtained from the spokespersons of either Reliance Industries Limited or Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group.
At places in the border districts of Barmer and Jaisalmer, people walked miles through the desert to cast their votes.
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