The civil services seem to have gone sour under the NDA government. Ministers exercise executive power in a partisan manner. Consequently, a regime of favouritism holds sway over the corridors of power, feels Ram Ugrah.
After the 18-member 'Assam Advisory Committee' suggested the two organisations to form a political party, a source close to the development said the new outfit will be launched within the next 10 days.
'What Kamala Harris' rise and rise underscores is that our old ways of identifying the Indian-American Diaspora need to change...' 'None of this detracts from her Indian-American identity, which makes us feel as if we are Americans too,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Insisting that there was no wrongdoing in the arrest of Anna Hazare, Home Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the government would deal with him "administratively and politically" but made it clear that his Jan Lokpal Bill was not acceptable.
Few leaders have been more defined by their speeches as the current leader of the free world.
South Africa will remain on the lowest 'level 1' of its five-level lockdown strategy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic despite the global panic around the detection of the Omicron variant in the country, President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced .
Security of tenure is important for a bureaucrat to work efficiently. There has to be some rationale behind posting a bureaucrat to a particular department, says former cabinet secretary T S R Subramanian
'A close relationship between India Inc and the government cannot help the BJP win elections.' 'While Opposition parties may feel good about Mr Bajaj criticising the Modi regime, the BJP should be seeing the indictment as a political boon,' says A K Bhattacharya.
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
B D Pande was Punjab's governor during Operation Bluestar. In this excerpt from his memoir, In the Service of Free India: Memoir of a Civil Servant, Pande reveals what really went on behind the scenes during those dark days in India's history.
'When you sow a small plant, then you keep watch on it so that wild cattle should not eat that sapling.'
The core group of Anna Hazare's team would discuss invitations to Kashmir and Manipur during its meeting on September 10 and 11 at Anna's village Ralegan Siddhi.
Rights activist Binayak Sen, released on bail while serving a life sentence for sedition and links with Maoists, on Monday night asserted he is not a 'traitor' and said the Supreme Court observation in his case will have 'deep political implication.'
In the letter dated July 23, the celebrities have said that "exemplary punishment" should be meted out "swiftly and surely" in such cases.
At the hearing while India demanded the immediate suspension of the former navy officer's death sentence, Islamabad accused it of using the world body as a stage for "political theatre" through a "misconceived" plea.
Making an electrifying debut in high-profile Delhi Assembly polls in which it routed Congress, the Aam Admi Party on Sunday ruled out taking support of any political party to form the government, saying it will play the role of a "constructive opposition".
The Uttar Pradesh government, on being asked by the Centre's Department of Personnel and Training to explain its suspension of the officer of the Indian Administrative Service, Durga Shakti Nagpal, has replied by saying that her actions were "untimely, lacking in vision and reflected poor administrative acumen".
We are becoming more cruel and less civilised
'Coupled with e-filing procedures it would really enhance the ability of the judiciary to provide speedier justice.'
By aligning with the BJP, even if they were arm-twisted into doing so, the AIADMK leadership has yielded their political space in the state to the aunt-nephew duo of Sasikala-Dinakaran, and the parliamentary election to the DMK-Congress combine, says A Ganesh Nadar.
'The autonomy of essential institutions is clearly under question as the Modi government seeks to influence them politically.' 'The credibility of institutions such as the EC, the CBI, the CVC, the UPSC, the RBI, media, and universities, has been compromised,' notes Zoya Hasan, the distinguished political thinker.
"Modiji reminded that nation bows before Constitution and not him!"
Over 400 students from different US universities have expressed solidarity with Jamia and AMU students. The students and scholars at Oxford University staged a protest march against the CAA.
'The Gogoi episode can lead to our evolving a rational way to get better people who will head our checks and balances of democracy,' says former Chief Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi.
Will Indian democracy benefit from the potential that Shashi Tharoor stores in his mind, spirit and intellect? Or will it be the saga of another leader who promised much but delivered too little, asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
Former World chess champion turned Kremlin critic Garry Kasparov has asked Latvian politicians to grant him citizenship to help him pursue his political activities in Russia.
The claims of the activists have evoked a strong reaction from the state police chief RR Girish Kumar who insisted that there was no truth in these allegations. These are false baseless allegations against the police, he said adding that the vested interest at the behest of CPI Maoist were misquoting the contents of the post mortem.
Harris remembered her late mother Shyamala Gopalan, a cancer researcher and civil rights activist from India, saying she has always carried that lesson from her mother with her throughout her career from serving as the first woman District Attorney of San Francisco, to the first woman Attorney General of California, and the first woman of colour to represent California in the United States Senate.
Other Indian-origin personalities on the list are Instacart founder and CEO Apoorva Mehta, doctor and Executive Director of nonprofit Get Us PPE Shikha Gupta and founder of nonprofit Upsolve Rohan Pavuluri.
Indian star pugilist Vijender Singh on Saturday paid rich tribute to legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who passed away at the age of 74 after losing his long-standing battle against Parkinson's disease.
HRD Minister Javadekar responding to criticism of politicising the event said the UGC communication reflected "patriotism not politics", and it is not compulsory for the academic institutions to organise any such event.
Special judge DE Kothalikar, who rejected Swamy's bail plea on Monday, said in his order, which was made available on Tuesday, that based on the material on record it seemed Swamy was a member of banned Maoist organisation.
We celebrate Dassera and regard it as an auspicious day as a day of victory of good over evil! So was 16 December! It is time we regard this day as auspicious as Dassera in future, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Rahul Khullar's guiding credo was that a civil servant must never lose sight of his client: The little guy. The evil men are those who are decision-makers but abdicate their responsibility of taking decisions, leading people to lose confidence in public institutions.
'Every strongman leader is faced with the same opportunity: Harness the increased societal panic to amass more power,' warns Mihir S Sharma.
Charging NGOs like Greenpeace with violating Indian laws, the RSS on Sunday called US as "the global police of democracy" and questioned its defence of the two organisations.
The recently released poster Mental Hai Kya is like an abuse aimed at those who are fighting a disorder that demands support and social understanding, says Tarun Vijay, the former BJP MP.
The writer and producer died "peacefully" on Sunday evening surrounded by his wife and family, a spokesperson said on Tuesday.
The apex court, while hearing a plea raising grievance over the programme, said that the manner in which some media houses are conducting debate is a matter of concern as all kind of defamatory things are being said.
In its short history, Pakistan has become a geography synonymous with terror.
