'There was an overt campaign and there was a covert campaign. The overt campaign may be development, government, and all this nonsense. But the covert campaign, which Mr Amit Shah was doing, was far more important with the help of RSS cadres. This has been an RSS election. From day one I have been saying, this is not Congress versus the BJP, this is Congress versus the RSS,' says Jairam Ramesh, one of the key strategists of the Congress party.
'If the Kasturirangan Committee report is implemented, the mining and quarrying lobbies will flourish... It will be disastrous for the environment... There will be water shortage, there will be pollution. Finally, farmers will have to quit the area.' Dr V S Vijayan, a member of the Gadgil Committee, points out how the Kasturirangan Committee report will hit both people living in the Western Ghats as well as the plains.
A Mumbai lawyer and a Beed engineer joined arrested climate activist Disha Ravi in creating a protest toolkit backing the farmers' agitation with the aim of 'tarnishing the image of India' and collaborated with pro-Khalistani elements, Delhi Police officials said on Monday.
MPs will first attend a 'Farm Progress Show' in Iowa, then visit the Monsanto headquarters in St Louis, Missouri.
Rejecting Rajya Sabha's five amendments and opposition's appeal not to make "haste", the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the legislation that aims at better targeting of subsidies through the Aadhaar unique identity number within hours of the Upper Housing returning it.
We dance on every small achievement and forget the long-term objectives: Ajit Gulabchand, MD, Hindustan Construction Company.
Sourcing bauxite from other states to add Rs 600 crore to cost.
'Defaulters like Mallya can't be offloaded, but activists like me are. And that too for raising questions.' 'Today, what is the meaning of development?' 'Take over land, water and forest from the Adivasis and hand it over to corporates.' 'I am surprised how a minister who is supposed to protect the forests and the environment is happy reaching out to investors for more and more clearances.'
It is regrettable that the IB has tried to devalue the expertise available both within the concerned ministry and in the scientific community by its allegations. Governments and NGOs in many western nations have not been accused of being 'anti-national' when they put their foot down on questionable practices by cash rich agri-business companies, says Rashme Sehgal.
Senior journalist Darryl D'Monte reports exclusively for Rediff.com from Paris.
For more than half of all Indian households, the very personal act of defecation is an open affair, says Joel Rai
'Why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty?' 'At one level, it is pure politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'Being authoritative is one thing -- Nehru was that -- but being authoritarian is quite another -- the current prime minister is clearly one.'
It's election season in Tamil Nadu and all political parties are tying themselves in knots over the banned jallikattu but none more than the BJP, says R Ramasubramanian.
'This prime minister thinks he knows everything.' 'He has to consult, he has to talk and he has to mobilise the best people, but having seen him function, I have no expectations from him.'
All the three issues raised by China at the Modi-Xi meeting are either intractable or peripheral to the bilateral relations and suggest conventional methods to placate the other side without yielding much, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
Almost every home in this area has a slogan 'Jal, Jangal, Jameen' painted outside. Rashme Sehgal reports for Rediff.com on the four-year battle to save the Mahan forest in Madhya Pradesh.
After placating sitting MP Suresh Kalmadi who was sulking over denial of ticket, the Congress managers are confronted with a tough task of retaining the Pune Lok Sabha seat by overcoming the main challenge from a resurgent BJP in a quadrangular contest which is on cards.
'He depended too much on assurances given by sadhus and sants. He may not be culpable, but he was wholly responsible for December 6, 1992.' 'While Manmohan Singh came to reforms out of conviction, Rao came to reforms out of compulsion. If the compulsion had not been there, I don't know how he would have responded.'
Were river experts excluded from IIT consortium on the Ganga River Basin Management Plan? Rashme Sehgal reports.
ISB professor Krishnamurthy Subramanian tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com that Modi government's continuation of tax terrorism is driving away investors.
India is likely to announce its targets for the Paris deal by September-end.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
Modi government is pushing GM food crops without adequate safety assessment and transparency, claim activists.
A report submitted by the consortium of seven Indian Institutes of Technology on way to rejuvenate the Ganga river is at heart of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious plan to restore the glory of the river.
Dhirendra Mulkalwar, one of the protestors who raised a protest banner at Essar's Mumbai headquarters, on why he joined Greenpeace's Junglistan group that is working to save India's forests.
'Greenpeace has been brutal in targeting both India and the Manmohan Singh government. The push to go after Indian coal is driven by its long-term agenda. What is surprising is that China has not been meted out the same treatment, despite the fact that the rise of China as an economic power has been built around generating power from coal. 'Being richer and more affluent, yet far less democratic, there is less room for an NGO such as Greenpeace to drive home a complicated global agenda, so there is more of a tendency to go along with anything the Chinese offer despite China being the biggest by far with regard to coal use. But for India, it reserves tougher prescriptions, notably for its middle class, says Srinivas Bharadwaj.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
Is it inconsistency in policy, or the lack of robust support?
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
If the AAP wins 20 to 40 Lok Sabha seats, which is conceivable unless it botches up on governance in Delhi, it will become a significant bloc comparable in influence to or even bigger than several major regional parties, feels Praful Bidwai.
'She was the only prime minister who won a decisive military victory.' 'She won a real war; she didn't play video games on prime time TV over surgical strikes!' 'She understood power better than any other politician, saw it as her birthright and used it with inborn expertise.' 'Every politician today who tries to be a "supremo" through populism and absolute control over his or her party is referring to the Indira Gandhi playbook!'
'Good politics is not just staying in power. You cannot sacrifice everything at the altar of trying to ensure the coalition remains in power.'
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
What is Narendra Modi like? What is his politics about? What will he do? What are his priorities? Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com speaks to Swapan Dasgupta to find out more about the man of the moment.
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