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.
This is the full text of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's address to media persons ahead of his interaction with them in New Delhi on Friday
'Anti-incumbency, especially in Maharashtra; the BJP's success in creating a new social coalition; and the sheer force of the party's campaign which overwhelmed its opponents,' argues Praful Bidwai, brought the BJP victory in Haryana and Maharashtra, not the Modi effect.
'With the appeal of both the Left and the Congress fading, Banerjee fears the saffron brigade's inroads into her citadel,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'It is clear that nature is not in a mood to give us leeway to be lazy, inefficient or just do business as usual.' 'It is telling us that we have no time to get things wrong. We need to take drastic actions - now
'It is possible that Akhilesh has set his sights on 2022.' 'By then, his present day enemies will be more or less a spent force while he himself will still have a clean image and, at 49, will be regarded as young.'
'This has to be seen in the context not only of the legacy we inherited, but also of global economic weakness.'
'If after inheriting the very bad situation we have reached this level despite consecutive years of drought and no growth in the world economy, it is no accident.' 'It is a result of the sound macro economic policies followed by this government.' 'We have eschewed populism and stuck to a path of fiscal prudence.'
'Your constant reiteration on the lack of religious freedom in India has sown doubts about the kind of information that you are being fed and based on which you seem to be making adverse references to India and its tradition of religious tolerance.'
PM extended some old schemes and finally said yes to one that was legally mandated for past 2 years.
'History will never forgive Manmohan Singh for having ended the Indian growth story and created a culture of entitlement instead of creating a culture of hard work and development,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Many anticipate that by the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP may come to power, says Mohammad Sajjad.
How the Congress vice president conducts himself over the next few months will determine whether or not he has understood his serendipitous situation
'We've been unable, or unwilling, to be vigilant about how the government and its proxies are changing the character of India.' 'We have accepted public relations as fact, kept our heads down instead of risking our interests, and allowed militant chauvinism to define love of country,' says Mitali Saran.
Cracks in the Mahagathbandhan in Bihar is frittering away the ground gained in social justice and contributing to increasing polarisation in the state, says Mohammad Sajjad.
The post mandate comments that 'darkness has descended on India' shows the kind of opposition Modi has to overcome. It is this aspirational India that is attempting to throw away shackles of Macualayism. Make no mistake it is a tectonic shift and a beginning of the end of Maculayan mindset that has 'ruled' India for close to 60 years, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
The former finance minister also criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the words he chose to attack his predecessor Manmohan Singh, saying he should remember that the Chair he sat on was used by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and even Atal Bihari Vajpayee and hence he should use right language.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
If this Budget was not packaged and sold as a Budget for the poor and for farmers, Narendra Modi would have lost the next election.
'The top level will be development and then sab ka saath, sab ka vikas.' 'But at the street level, the tongue will be vicious.'
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
'They are innovating and a new Dalit leadership could be seen at the horizon'
'The AAP is likely to take root in some metropolises -- although it won't be easy to replicate the small-scale Delhi model with equal intensity or cadre-strength in a large state,' says Praful Bidwai.
Education remains one of the key focuses of the new government.
Expecting an annual CSR spending of Rs 15,000-20,000 crore (Rs 150-200 billion) by India Inc, Corporate Affairs Minister Sachin Pilot has asked companies to see the new law as an investment opportunity to create a better work environment, rather than a forced expenditure.
Pushing a barrel of oil back to around $100 would require a reduction of production of about two million barrels a day - a cut that would fall predominantly on Saudi Arabia.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday addressed the first joint sitting of Parliament as mandatorily required under the Constitution after the general elections. The address is the political, economic and foreign policy road map of the Narendra Modi government and covers virtually all crucial areas.
Seeking to woo Muslims as well as upper castes, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday promised quota in police and other government jobs for minority community, release of "innocent" youths jailed on terror charges and constitution of an upper caste commission in its manifesto brimming with sops.
'How is it okay for a woman to show her private parts to the world just because she wants to go to the toilet?' 'She can't show her face -- you want her to pull her ghoongat till her navel -- but you are okay with her flashing to everybody!'
ITC is one of those few enterprises in the world that has traversed a 100 year journey and has yet managed to remain contemporary, relevant and competitive.
The State is trying to curb the students movements, therefore, there are suspicions against some of the Subramanian report on education's recommendations, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Muslims need to get out of their Isolation Syndrome, argues Mohammad Sajjad.
The 'secularists'are more adept at the politics of intense and alarmingly exaggerated fear-mongering, as this kind of politics provides easy votes of Muslims without making them answerable for the concrete issues of poverty, unemployment, lawlessness, and of basic needs like roads, electricity, etc, which is exactly how Nitish Kumar was defeated in the elections, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'If there is any industry that is unfit for modern corporate form it is the diamond trade.' 'But no one was asking the right questions.' 'The music was playing and so the game was on,' says S Murlidharan, former MD, BNP Paribas.
Without civilisational moorings, India, more a sub-continent than a country, could not exist. Primacy of Dharma has been the cornerstone of Indian civilisation, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In his address to the Harvard class of 2017, Thursday, he shared his Harvard memories and spoke about finding purpose and meaning in one's life.
More Indians are watching films across screens, TV, online and other platforms than ever before. Whether it is by tackling costs, processes or revenues, the trick is to find a way of making money from all of them, says Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
'Indian nationhood is indeed at the cusp of alarming redefinition -- hate-filled, and exclusionary.' 'Nations are not built this way, instead these are the ways of liquidating nations.' 'We must pre-empt it.' 'Can we?' asks Mohammad Sajjad.
It is time to take a few macroeconomic risks to kick start the growth.
'The Congress can't return to power unless it reins in prices, lowers interest rates, taxes the rich,' says Praful Bidwai. 'If this means sacking those most responsible for the UPA's pro-big business policies including Finance Minister Chidambaram, so be it!'
'So you have a middle class, and an elite that have seceded into outer space and they look down and say, "What's our bauxite doing in their mountains?" and "What's our water doing in their rivers?" There's a sense of entitlement there.' Arundhati Roy captures minds with her thoughts on capitalism, Indian politics, war, and more in New York.
