Seven years is a long time for any of Modi's promised actions to show up. If voters are angry and cynical today, it is because the rhetoric stings, argues Ramesh Menon.
Infra sector is neglected by the Modi govt.
Had Finance Minister Sitharaman thought a little more about the middle class, disadvantaged sections, and the poor who are struggling, it would have been an inclusive Budget that would have made history, notes Ramesh Menon.
If we basically expect the government to use taxpayers' money to intervene every time when there are some 'sunsets,' then I think you introduce possible moral hazards: Subramanian.
Referring to the ugly scenes witnessed in the Rajya Sabha recently and indicating action against those involved, he reminded elected representatives of their responsibilities.
S&P Global Ratings on Monday expressed scepticism over allowing corporate ownership in banks given India's weak corporate governance amid large corporate defaults over the past few years. It also said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will face challenges in supervising non-financial sector entities at a time when the health of financial sector is weak. Last week, a RBI panel had proposed that large corporate may be permitted to promote banks, as well as raising the cap on promoters' stake in private sector banks to 26 per cent, from15 per cent at present.
An astrologer told Ramesh Menon that he was increasingly having worried parents asking him about the future of their children who were showing serious behavioural changes like lack of tolerance towards others, shunning social interaction, and even violent behaviour. They were worried because they had never ever seen such traits in their children before the pandemic.
Aseem Chhabra brings you the Best of the Berlinale.
Ex-UEFA chief Michel Platini was arrested, on Tuesday, in connection with a probe into the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, a source close to the investigation said.
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
China and India evoked the highest levels of confidence among major economies at 45 per cent and 40 per cent, respectively. The US was at 36 per cent, Canada at 27 per cent, the UK at 26 per cent, Germany at 20 per cent, France 18 per cent, and Japan having the least optimistic CEOs with only 11 per cent very confident of growing revenues in 2020.
"We have seen the same thing after 2014 (elections) in the name of 'award wapsi', this is just part two of that," the minister said
'Our senselessness on caste issue has gone so deep that we need to have a sensitivity test on why we as Indians have become so numb to such mindless violence.'
Belying all expectations, the Trinamool Congress registreted a landslide victory in West Bengal assembly elections, overcoming the might of the Bharatiya Janata Party after a bitter campaign that had turned into a virtual duel between Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'I hope that the incoming Biden-Harris Administration works with India to address some of the most profound geopolitical transboundary challenges.'
'The CEA suggested that could be as high as 19 per cent.'
'Had these three farm laws existed it would have become a huge election issue.'
'Despite the pandemic, we aspire to maintain the momentum of last year.'
Had he not been a student, admirer and follower of Amartya Sen, T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan feels it might have been a Padma Bhushan.
Jyoti Punwani reports on the strange case of Prashant Rahi, MTech, journalist, activist, now in solitary confinement in a Maharashtra prison.
I tried to reason in my mind that wouldn't beating Pakistan again and again -- in the league matches and in the knockouts if they made it -- be a better tribute to our martyred soldiers? A revealing excerpt from Vinod Rai's Not Just A Nightwatchman: My Innings In The BCCI.
Tennis ace Sania Mirza wins the Khel Ratna award. Last week, the Sports Ministry confirmed that Wimbledon doubles champion Sania Mirza had been recommended for the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna.
Aseem Chhabra lists the films that won his heart at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
Independent directors of Future Retail Ltd are collating information and will expose the details of contradiction and misrepresentation made by Amazon before the Competition Commission of India (CCI), said FRL independent director Ravindra Dhariwal. Speaking to PTI, Dhariwal said the independent directors are "collating" all the pieces of information together, going "deeper into each and every representation" which Amazon had made before the CCI and showing how its "intent was totally contradictory." "We are going out to point exactly to CCI, this is what they have told you and this is what the internal documents are saying. "We are going to expose the details of contradiction and details of misrepresentation, which they have made," Dhariwal said adding "We are going to show the true face of Amazon to the whole world". In November 2019, Amazon had acquired a 49 per cent stake in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd (FCPL), a company that holds a stake in FRL.
Protests at this time when efforts are underway to strengthen the PLA and keep morale high would be worrying for the military leadership, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the retired senior RA&W officer and distinguished China expert.
'The bhadralok would have earlier baulked at the very idea of wearing a coloured dhoti; now, with Dr Banerjee wearing, it is quite likely to be the hot fashion item during Durga Puja next year,' says Uttaran Das Gupta.
China has been taking "incremental and tactical actions" to press its claims at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with India and has unsuccessfully sought to prevent New Delhi from deepening its relationship with the US during and subsequent to the standoff, the Pentagon has said in a major report on China's military modernisation.
Kamala succeeded as she identified herself with the larger minority groups rather than narrow ethnicity, prodded by her mother who did not want to return to India, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who has done multiple stints in India's embassy in Washington, DC.
Crises are teachers. There are lessons to be learnt from the current one as well, says Suman Bery.
The pandemic has brutally highlighted the inadequacy of India's administrative systems. And, the government has demonstrated its culpable inability to speed up vaccination in a timely manner, says Jaimini Bhagwati.
Arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari, who is under the scanner of multiple investigating agencies, may have fled the country, a media report claimed on Thursday.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Time magazine lists 100 'people who inspire us, entertain us, challenge us and change our world'.
People from all walks of life carrying posters, pictures and placards gathered at the airport to welcome Banerjee. Slogans of 'Bharater Gorbo (pride of India) Abhijit Banerjee' echoed in the airport.
rench President Emmanuel Macron and Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.
Does Abhijit Banerjee's Nobel Prize help India reduce extreme poverty, asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
India lost around 38.5 thousand hectares of tropical forest in the last decade. Nearly 14 per cent of the country's tree cover! It is one thing for Modi to announce that India will reach a net-zero level of emissions in 2070. But if it is serious, it needs to start today, points out Ramesh Menon.
'The term 'pro-growth' must be qualified somewhat because, while a rising tide will lift all boats, it will not necessarily do so equally.'
J R D Tata and Air India... Mrigank Warrier explores one of India's eternal love stories.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances