Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday said his party has immense respect for V D Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks on the freedom fighter.
'Those who feared that I would have run one hell of a campaign targeting the most powerful people in India snatched away my democratic right from me.' 'I will expose these democracy-killers.'
The go-ahead given to prosecute Arundhati Roy would be seen by supporters of freedom of speech as an announcement that the Right-Wing doesn't feel humbled by the results of the elections, argues Shyam G Menon.
A group of faculty members of Ashoka University has written to its vice chancellor claiming that free thought within universities in India is in crisis today and demanded that all decisions on matters related to academic freedom should be put on hold till the promised committee for academic freedom is in place.
'I would think that India faces less damage from opinions voiced overseas compared to the damage it suffers if the right to free speech of its citizens is curtailed in the name of image management,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
Drawing examples from history to prove his point, Vijayan said a Muslim man named Azimullah Khan had coined the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
'The BJP is racing against its opponents by putting a chain on their legs.'
'I hope that Macho Man agrees to debate her, because I think she will do spectacularly well in the debate.'
'The West has always opposed a strong nationalist leader in India and Narendra Modi is no exception.' 'The West prefers weak leaders who are amenable to Western pressure and Mr Modi's independent stance is not to the liking of the West,' asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Kharge said the leaders of INDIA parties have come together as democracy is under threat under the Bharatiya Janata Party government.
'The struggle of insurgents and pro-independence political activists is fuelled by a deep conviction that not only is a free Balochistan possible, but they also believe that Pakistan will inevitably break apart, leading to Balochistan's independence.'
An influential Hindu organisation in the United States has slammed a group of lawmakers for introducing a resolution in the House of Representatives on record of India's religious freedom arguing that it is grossly inaccurate and aims to provoke.
The British government has strongly defended the BBC and its editorial freedom in Parliament after the Income-Tax department's survey operations on the United Kingdom-headquartered media corporation's New Delhi and Mumbai offices over three days last week.
Das had claimed that the alleged electoral manipulation by the BJP also appeared to have taken the form of targeted electoral discrimination against Muslims, "partly facilitated by weak monitoring by election observers."
Fintech major PhonePe on Wednesday announced the launch of its homegrown Indus Appstore specifically for the Indian market, in a bid to compete with global incumbents like Google Play Store and Apple's App Store. The Indus Appstore is PhonePe's attempt at creating a more competitive and localised mobile app store economy for India, which is already the world's largest market for mobile apps.
Seven members of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference general council have quit the conglomerate over differences with the top leadership on "restoration of the Hurriyat constitution".
For the BJP, Telangana is a sunrise state in the South, while Karnataka is a southern success despite the ups and downs.
The India-US joint statement said as responsible stewards in the Indo-Pacific region, Trump and Modi agreed that a close partnership between the United States and India is central to peace and stability in the region.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam on Monday announced walking out of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and said it would lead a separate front for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Underscoring the importance of voter satisfaction and trust in the electoral system, the Supreme Court on Thursday told petitioners who sought its direction to go back to using ballot papers not to suspect the efficacy of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) and appreciate if the Election Commission does good work.
'It is this fear that is behind all that has happened to Rahul Gandhi.'
Rule of law prevents a government, brought to power by the strength of ballots, from betraying the trust of citizens and "lapsing into a government of caprice, nepotism and finally despotism", the Supreme Court said on Thursday.
Concealed beneath the feat, which testifies to his political acumen and survival instincts, is the fact that the 72-year-old leader could never remain at peace with his allies which also made him change partners frequently.
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday said she declined the offer of the Bharatiya Janata Party to contest elections pleading that she did not have the 'kind of funds' required for fighting the Lok Sabha polls.
Thanedar on Friday formally launched in the US Congress the caucus that aims to combat religious discrimination and promote religious freedom for Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains.
The separatist leaders were told that "restrictions have been imposed on their movement in the national capital" ahead a possible talks between NSA Sartaj Aziz and his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval.
In a statement on Sunday, the Maldivian foreign ministry said they were aware of the "derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals".
Pence and Trump will challenge Democratic Patry's presidential candidate Joe Biden and his running mate Indian-origin Senator Kamala Harris in the November election.
India must evolve its own standards on how democracy must be ranked in a diverse and multi-religious, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and pluralistic idea called India, suggests R Jagannathan.
Asserting that Indian democracy is a "global public good", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said that its "collapse" will have an impact on the world and is not in America's national interest.
Will BJP campaigners start using the term 'Ram Rajya' to refer to the nation under Modi's rule, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
However, the AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the SC committee has limited terms of reference and 'cannot bring out the deep nexus between' the prime minister and the billionaire businessman.
'Commentators have said that dealing with allies as equals will make Modi more sensitive.' 'Remember that the people Modi is dealing with are equally autocratic in their own lairs.' 'Further, Modi always has handy the threat of dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh polls.' 'Most of his own party, and certainly his allies and opponents having blown their budgets of efforts and resources in the just concluded elections, have no stomach for this.' 'They are all greatly looking forward to the loaves and fishes of office on offer.' 'That gives Modi an unbeatable advantage in any push-comes-to-shove situation,' explains Shreekant Sambrani.
The Congress has, however, countered this saying someone who is not an MP of Rajya Sabha cannot be called to the House and there cannot be any discussion/reflection on or about an MP of Lok Sabha.
Earlier this week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi held a series of meetings, including with Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav and Janata Dal-United president Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan.
Modi said he is seeking a third term not to enjoy power but to work for the nation. "If I had thought of my home, it would not have been possible to build homes for crores of people," he said.
Ahead of the day-long Opposition meeting on Friday, Samvad Bhavan, Rajkiye Atithisala and Sadaquat Ashram have got a facelift.
Gorbachev was the last leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
