'Corruption is rampant in every office in the state from the villages right up to Gandhinagar. I have witnessed all these issues first hand... Before Narendra Modi became chief minister Gujarat had a debt of Rs 25,000 crore to Rs 30,000 crore. Today it is Rs 180,000 crore. There has been six-fold jump in public debt in Gujarat in the last ten years... Every child born in Gujarat owes a debt of Rs 30,000 today. How can you call this development? Look at how high taxes are in Gujarat. Look at the condition of our public health system. There are not enough doctors or nursing staff in government hospitals; not enough teachers in schools and colleges.' Three-time BJP MLA Dr Kanubhai Kalsaria rips apart Narendra Modi's policies.
'James Crabtree ignores the emergence of a nexus between business and politics going back to the 1920s and talks of it as a new child of 21st century India,' says Shivanand Kanavi.
Indian-American business leaders meet to discuss ways to make this initiative a success.
IndiGo Airlines signs $2.6-billion leasing and financing MoU with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China.
If the protests have cemented the ties between the peasantry and the traders, the political implications for the BJP might become too serious to be disregarded because its core base was made up of the urban Khatri merchants.
'There is now a new paradigm and that is also somewhat begrudgingly recognised by China. They are not all that thrilled that we have come to all these agreements.'
The Modi government is just continuing old ideas with a new twist -- of interference in matters where the State should not venture, says Mango Indian.
India's real risk is not that crony populism would fail, but that it would succeed, consolidating a path that is fundamentally a trap, both in terms of social inequalities and long-term growth, says Michael Walton.
Indian billionaires do not believe in sitting on their wealth.
Forbes said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "economic experiments" barely affected India's billionaires while none gained more than oil-and-gas tycoon Mukesh Ambani, who cemented his decade-long hold on the top slot by adding a staggering USD 15.3 billion (67 per cent) to his last year's wealth to become one of Asia's top five richest.
With facts and figures, the CAG report has highlighted how Gujarat was far from a role model for states across India, and that the progress made in this province in western India in improving agriculture, education, healthcare and empowerment of women and children, was not exactly creditable, says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
Modi is the first Indian Prime Minister to attend Davos meeting in about 20 years since H D Deve Gowda in 1997.
India Inc is ready to diversify into unchartered areas.
'A perception has been built in our country that whatever Modi says you cannot challenge that.'
The combined networth of India's 100 wealthiest is $381 billion (nearly Rs 25.5 lakh crore), a rise of 10 per cent from $ 345 billion in 2015
In the Forbes rich list Mukesh Ambani is ranked 39th.
The man who owns close to 94 per cent of the shares of Patanjali Ayurved, an unlisted company, does not, however, take a salary or receive dividends.
How Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar find themselves in a huge controversy.
A majority of India's billionaires gained wealth in the last one year in spite of the stock market decline.
With the Apollo Hospitals chairman saying that she has recovered, the party can go back to business as usual.
'Amid the different versions of truth on the Ishrat case, what is certain is that Ishrat's mother Shamima Kausar, who has continued to maintain that Headley's confession was nothing but an attempt by powerful people to save themselves in the case, is unlikely to find a closure anytime soon.'
'Haven't you heard of the magical EVM machines? They can negate all our votes.' 'There is no hope. Modi is India's Putin.'
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has cancelled his visit to WEF annual meeting after a deadly Taliban attack in his country.
'Given the past record, no one will be prosecuted, especially since the beneficiaries comprise the most powerful people in the country. They will pay a fine and be let off.'
'There was never really a doubt, but now it can be conclusively stated that the prime minister has unusual mental and physical stamina,' says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com who is covering Narendra Modi's visit to the United States.
Gujarat was among the earliest civilisations in the sub-continent, dating back four millennia.
Branded residencies, designer-stamped homes have a snob value and are sold at a high premium, to willing buyers
'AAP's real value must be measured not by the number of Lok Sabha seats it wins in the election -- which may not exceed 10 or 15 -- and not even by the number of votes it takes from the BJP, but by its ability to deflate Modi's superhuman '56-inch chest' image and the charisma so assiduously manufactured around him by the corporate-controlled media.'
Mr Modi, it came across, did not want to be seen as favouring any one business group.
'The economy will pick up in 2020 or a little later... When it picks up, will it reach 10%, 8% or still lower? It all depends on how realistic are the diagnosis and the prescriptions that follow,' says Professor K J Joseph.
From Arvind Kejriwal to Priyanka, this has been a media-determined election. Two forces stand poised, the people inventing new politics and the media inventing its own version of that politics, says Shiv Visvanathan.
Those scheduled to attend the five-day WEF Annual meeting, beginning January 21, include more than 40 heads of state or government, including those from the UK, Australia, Japan, Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Brazil, Italy, Mauritius, Republic of Korea and Switzerland, WEF announced on Wednesday at a press conference in Geneva.
'Four years into his tenure and Modi still has no idea what is wrong with the agriculture sector!'
While its performance in Bihar, has boosted fund collections, corporate contributors are still waiting to see its performances in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal before committing funds to the Congress.
'Fiscal purists would quarrel with the idea of selling assets to pay for current expenditure -- such as the payout to farmers and the health insurance programme -- for the obvious reason that the process cannot go on forever.' 'At some point, the list of assets available for sale will run out,' notes T N Ninan.consultations -- something already aired in connection with the lease of airports to the Adani group, says T N Ninan.
Glimpses of the change Narendra Modi promised million of voters were visible at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Modi has now no excuse, but to perform and change India for the better. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports from the presidential palace. A feature on the swearing-in ceremony like none other.
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
'The Budget has maintained fiscal prudence while announcing a number of steps to boost growth, particularly in infrastructure and rural sectors.'
'It is easy to dramatise the events of today, but it is far more important to focus on the fact that we have a radically overvalued financial sector. It is a house of cards.'
Coal industry expert Sunjoy Joshi tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com that the NDA's e-auction of coal blocks will not solve the fundamental problems that dog the industry.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances