Union minister Jairam Ramesh is back to doing what he does best: working out the logistics for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
'His politics is pure power politics. It's defined by the struggle that he has gone through.' 'Like Indira Gandhi, he is always suspicious about the people who surround him, he is lonely as he does not trust anyone. And he will not allow anyone to challenge his superiority, be it individual or institutions,' says Ashutosh.
'While they were respectful of the PM, it was clear that as ministers, they owed their positions as much, if not more, to Mrs Gandhi.' 'When attacks were mounted on the PM, there was very little coordinated effort by the Congress, UPA ministers or other politicians to speak up in his favour and strongly defend him.' B K Chaturvedi, Cabinet Secretary during the early years of UPA1, reveals how the Manmohan Singh-Sonia Gandhi equation worked. A riveting excerpt from Chaturvedi's memoir, Challenges Of Governance: An Insider's View
'We are in touch independently with leading players, and they are denying it as well.' 'The Indian digital footprint is rising, creating new opportunities.'
The Chinese Communist Party's all important 19th Party Congress is just months away, and President Xi Jinping finds himself confronting unlikely challenges to his pre-eminent position, says former RA&W officer and China watcher Jayadeva Ranade.
'There will always be hiccups given that the Namami Gange programme is spread over different sectors and involves several agencies.'
PTI leader Naeenul Haq told media on Saturday night that consultations are on to complete the number game.
'With the top court's judgment declaring the Right to Privacy a Fundamental Right, the powers under the provision need to be looked afresh.' 'To utilise such sweeping powers in the right manner will also be a challenge.'
The railways was not intimated about a Dussehra event along the tracks that led to the deaths of at least 61 people in Amritsar.
Two thermal power stations at Vijayawada and Kadapa went into steam on Friday as power employees in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of Andhra Pradesh resumed work after calling off their indefinite strike "temporarily" in view of cyclonic storm Phailan.
Chief Minister Kumaraswamy, on private visit to the United States, said he was keeping a tab on the developments while the state Congress attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, alleging the opposition party was trying to destabilise the government.
Rajnath Singh, under whose stewardship the Bharatiya Janata Party has stormed to power with its highest-ever tally, took charge as the Union home minister.
10 women and six minors are among the injured, the officials said.
'What if Kim is alive as the latest reappearance suggests, but unable to rule?' 'Will his sister be installed as the leader to continue with the Kims's hereditary dynasty that began with the present ruler's grandfather?' asks Dr Rajaram Panda.
Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh is coming under increasing fire from his own party colleagues for quite a few reasons, says Anita Katyal
Indian economy is expected to improve marginally in the current financial year with its GDP at market price projected to expand by 3.4 per cent from 3.3 per cent in the previous fiscal, think tank OECD said.
Yogi Adityanath on Monday completed 100 days in office as Uttar Pradesh chief minister but it was a low-key anniversary with no big event to showcase the achievements of the government.
The total number of positive cases has increased by 106 in the last 24 hours to reach 1,024.
Delivery of a great operational machine must not get affected to settle political scores, says Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd).
Cabinet may tweak Rangarajan formula; new price may be further delayed.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
To prevent exploitation of women, especially those in rural and tribal areas, the government has prohibited foreigners from commissioning surrogacy in the country and has drafted this comprehensive legislation.
Singhdeo was the main architect of the Congress party's poll manifesto, which he said was made after feedback from about 80,000 people from across the state.
In 2010, Gujarat government is believed to have allotted 250 acres of land next to Gir Lion Sanctuary to Wildwoods Resorts and Realties Pvt Ltd for setting up a resort which was allotted at a price of Rs 15 per square metre or Rs 60,000 per acre.
Naresh Chandra, former cabinet secretary, diplomat and well-known strategic thinker, tries to explain what the Modi government is up to and assesses what will work and what may not work and why. He spoke to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, also, on diplomatic issues.
Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi can and will downsize the government, and the Union Cabinet could be cut by half its present size, Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former Union minister Arun Shourie reveals as explains what could be the new PM's masterplan ahead of Cabinet formation in an exclusive interview to CNN IBN.
'There is no secrecy clause to the price (of the aircraft).' 'There can be secrecy on the capability of the nuclear payload of aircraft and things like that, but the price is hardly a secret.'
Possibly for the first time since Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called upon the nation to donate/sacrifice for the 'Bangladesh war' efforts, and also suffer blackout at nights with patience and pride, has the nation reacted so very positively to the government's diktat, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The choice of Dhoka La for the intrusion by Chinese troops is significant and suggests a twin objective of pressuring Thimpu to allow Beijing to establish an embassy there and reinforcing Chinese claims on Arunachal Pradesh,' warns former RA&W officer Jayadev Ranade.
Rattled by the poll debacle, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul on Monday got into a huddle with senior leaders to carry out a post-mortem of results in the four states amid talk that some heads could roll.
In the same breath, the RPI-A leader said, "No one can challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- neither Congress president Rahul Gandhi, nor SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, nor BSP supremo Mayawati."
'After a strategic pause though, Beijing will revive its policy of slowly creeping towards acquiring sovereignty over the South China Sea.'
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa's decision for early release of Rajiv Gandhi's killers invited a sharp reaction from the Congress, which termed it as "irresponsible, perverse and populist".
Earlier, BJP leader Ram Lal said the Goa government is stable and no demand has been made for a change in the leadership.
Rahul Bedi explains how 'miscellaneous' factors have posed a major hurdle in negotiating the Rafale deal.
Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the ruling Communist Party and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after the founder chairman Mao Zedong to remain in power lifelong.
Congress leadership would take a call on who would be its deputy chief minister on Tuesday.
Here is an explainer and a timeline relating to India's purchase of 36 combat jets.
'The non-implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission, almost a year after it was implemented for civilians, is gradually beginning to hurt morale in the armed forces,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Members of Parliament (MPs) across the political spectrum have written to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) and the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), seeking a probe into a stake sale deal between Jet Airways (India) Ltd and Gulf-based carrier Etihad Airways.
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