The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in poll-bound Karnataka on Friday sought to woo farmers, women and younger generation with a slew of welfare measures in its last budget in the current term, also earmarking Rs 1000 crore towards development and renovation of various temples and maths in the state.
The outcome in UP is far more significant than in the other states going to the polls next year. An unlikely setback in UP can cramp the Modi government, virtually making it a lame-duck two years ahead of the 2024 parliamentary poll, observes Virendra Kapoor.
Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday stepped into the raging debate on intolerance by condemning the murders of dissenters and some on the basis of what they eat and said the nation is deeply concerned at the "blatant violation" of the right to freedom of thought, belief and speech by some violent extremist groups.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com reports on a revolutionary wedding in Tamil Nadu at which guests were exhorted to gift only school books -- and got 1500 of them!
Unless Punjab has a chief minister who is able to look beyond community/vote bank politics, carry all sections of society, stop appeasing while addressing genuine concerns and break the stranglehold of the SGPC over Sikh affairs, my beloved home state is bound to die and conversions will be rampant, warns Sanjeev Nayaar.
The radical preacher's brazen activities evinced his methodical efforts to undermine the fabric of society, they claimed and added that he during his speeches and sermons alleged that the government was leaving no stone unturned in its quest to disarm Sikhs by revoking their weapons licences.
Alleging that Sanatana Dharma is against equality and social justice, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam youth wing secretary and Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has said it should be eradicated.
He said in order to have a thriving democracy, one must have an independent judiciary because it is through dispute resolution that society is assured of governance by the rule of law.
Gandhi said for the first time he has seen that all sections of the society in the state were 'protesting', whether it was the Patidars, Dalits, anganwadi workers or farmers.
The consequences are dire as essential medical treatments, including dialysis, and medicines for cancer and anti-AIDS drugs remain out of reach for those in desperate need.
From the US, Modi will travel to Egypt at the invitation of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.
Modi said this 'special invitation' from President Joseph Biden and First Lady Jill Biden for a state visit is a reflection of the vigour and vitality of the partnership between the democracies.
'The Iranians are very resilient people. So even when they are throttled, they try their best to survive.'
'What's the point in lamenting widespread toxic work culture, and the capitalist system that gives rise to it if there is no alternative?' 'Actually, there is,' says Ashish Sharma.
'The space required for wild cheetah populations to thrive was grossly under-estimated.' 'Cheetahs, because of their social system and ecologically fragile nature, live at only 1 cheetah per 100 sq kms even in the best habitats of Africa.'
"Over 50 files were created on Swamy's hard drive, including incriminating documents that fabricated links between him and the Maoist insurgency," the report said.
Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL), the country's largest car maker, has initiated a service campaign to inspect a probable fault and replace a part of the clutch operation system in the Ciaz, its mid-size sedan.
In his weekly column Rokhthok in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana, Raut also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah should not sow 'seeds of hatred and divisiveness'.
The prime minister, who is visiting the US at the invitation of President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden, will join them for the state banquet along with a number of dignitaries on Thursday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Gujjar, Bakerwal and Pahari communities in Jammu and Kashmir will get reservation benefits in accordance with the recommendations of the Justice Sharma Commission which examined the issue of quota.
'If Trudeau chooses to repeat his allegations in his UN speech on Friday, it would create a whole new escalation.'
Maamannan could have been so much better with an alternate lead actor and a tighter, more gripping storytelling, sighs a disappointed Divya Nair.
BJP president J P Nadda on Sunday promised Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and 33 per cent reservation for women in government jobs in Himachal Pradesh while releasing the party's manifesto for the state assembly polls.
The BJP had reacted strongly to their letter, accusing the former officials of trying to spread misinformation and create an atmosphere of distrust in the country.
Death is a reality of life and yet we shy away from talking about it openly, observes Aarti David.
'The unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
Participating in an online session, a panel of Hindu-American women, from different walks of life, expressed their strong views in favour of President Trump.
The Kerala government has dismissed a plea by a Muslim girl student seeking permission to wear hijab (head scarf) and full sleeve dress in the Student Police Cadet project as per her religious obligation, saying such a waiver in the state police's programme will significantly affect secularism in the state.
'There exists a 'brotherhood' of sorts for a very long time and corrupt dealers and corrupt OMC officials are in it together,' Ashwani Attrish, founder, Empowering Petroleum Dealers Foundation, tells Sudhir Bisht, a veteran of the petroleum industry.
He also said the independent media, judiciary, NGOs and dynamic democracy can be misused to destroy the security of a nation.
Kejriwal said the AAP is not like the Congress and cannot be intimidated by the ruling party.
'Where was the armed police?' 'Did you see armed constables around him?' 'There was deep negligence by the UP police and this was a deep conspiracy.'
As some BJP pollsters concede, the Modi leadership's sweeping success in elections 2019, especially across central India, owed not to Hindutva ideology, but to welfare schemes, all of them borrowed from Tamil Nadu, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
Koo -- the made-in-India rival of Twitter -- will not charge users for a verification badge, its co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said as he took on the larger rival for allegedly first creating bots and now charging users for verification. Koo, which allows users to express views in Indian languages, has already crossed 50 million downloads and is now flying into the rival's nest, starting a campaign on Twitter by making itself prominently visible on verified handles and offering them better deals on its platform at no cost. Since taking over Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk has set in motion massive changes, sacking employees and talking of levying a $8 charge for 'verified' handles.
The BSP supremo also ridiculed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for "not taking cognisance" of suicides by Dalit students when his party was in power.
With nearly a million identified slums, UP urgently requires housing for the poor
'...through the will of the people and commitment of leaders.' 'It may not happen today or tomorrow, but it will happen.'
It is a difficult problem and will require the Union, state governments and civil society, meaning NGOs, to work together, points out Aakar Patel.
The doctors' bodies said that the two sides reached consensus during talks with the state government agreeing to keep private hospitals that have not availed land at subsidised rates or other benefits from it outside the ambit of the proposed law.
'Kalesaab could have easily earned Rs 1 lakh per month as rent from this place but he gave it to Muslims for free. Secularism in India is alive only because of people like him.'
