'It was the Mughals who first established standard units of measurement and maintained offices of meticulous record keepers and auditors, departing from the more haphazard methods of earlier regimes.' 'By the end of the 16th century, their revenue and judicial administrations exhibited an obsessive preoccupation with order, the efficient management of time, and a spirit of rational self-control -- all of them characteristics of early modernity,' point out Sheldon Pollock and Benjamin Ellman.
''The Congress has forgotten how to mobilise people on political issues,' says Aakar Patel.
Here's a look at some of the hashtags that trended during the first year of the Modi regime.
Rather than talking about Khajuraho and Shikhandi, the argument should be about a Constitution that promised rights to all, says Mihir S Sharma
'Only on two occasions has the RSS thrown itself completely on the side of the BJP.' 'In 1977 in the wake of the Emergency. And in 2014 with Modi.' 'Now, I've been told that this is not going to happen in 2019.'
Keeping his secular credentials in mind and his love for all religions, a special prayer will be held at the Rameshwar temple and the Mohideen Aandavar Masjid.
'More so, if it is their daughters wanting to marry someone of their own choosing.' 'Children are seen as property. That's why the problem is so messy.' For young Indians wanting to marry outside their religion, expressing their right to love and live as they choose is becoming increasingly hazardous.
Over 20 political parties, except the Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Front, took part in the massive rally.
Annabel Mehta, Sachin Tendulkar's mother-in-law, has dedicated her life to working with the Beautiful People of the other half of Mumbai without whom the city would neither exist nor thrive. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel met the amazing lady who was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service to underprivileged communities.
Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla has stoked a controversy by reportedly calling all Indians "Hindus". However, she sought to clarify her comments on Friday, saying she had called all Indians Hindi, the Arabic term for people living in India and what she said was "not in relation to the religion but in relation to identity as nationality". She did not call them Hindus, she said.
'When Sachin Tendulkar bats, no one in India cares if he is from Mumbai or if he is a Hindu or a Brahmin or whatever.' 'We just want him to win it for India.' 'The same is with Modi and the people who voted across caste and regional lines for him.' We want him to win it for India,' says Madhu A K.
Hyperbole by our ministers and a few saffronised scientists not only defames Newton and Einstein, but also mocks ancient India's achievements in mathematics, medicine and natural science, says Utkarsh Mishra.
The Uttar Pradesh State Minority Commission on Sunday described the mass conversion of Muslims in Agra as 'an act of fraud and a dubious exercise which has no connection with the serious business of change of faith'.
"Even when Vajpayee is ill in hospital, I was the first one to visit him, since the Congress believes he has contributed to the country," he said.
Saratchandra wrote when India was under British raj, but his concerns were contemporary.
'Though not religious in everyday life, his Hindu-Indian identity was an irrevocable influence on his writings,' observes Vivek Gumaste.
Why must Indians adjust their time-tested system because of what the West needs, asks Sanjeev Nayyar.
With DMK's M K Stalin coming into his own, and the rival AIADMK too leaving no space for third parties, Tamil Nadu will remain a Dravidian stronghold for a long time, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Haryana 'incident is a manifestation of a far greater malady -- mobocracy -- that continues to afflict our society,' says Vivek Gumaste.
His remarks that some people suffer from diseases such as cancer because of sins committed in the past and that it is "divine justice" have sparked sharp reactions.
'Gandhi was ambivalent about the RSS; the Sangh, for their part, actively distrusted him.'
The famous pilgrim place of Lord Shiva, the Somnath temple in Gujarat will now be off-limits for non-Hindus as authorities have decided against entry to people following other faiths without prior permission.
In an age of patents and intellectual property rights, it would be improper to deny that yoga comes from the Hindu tradition, says Sankrant Sanu.
'No one has ever heard of a thulabharam scale collapsing before.' 'I was very fortunate to have escaped with a head injury, which could have been a lot worse if my optic nerve was hit or say if the hook had landed on my neck.'
With months to go for the Karnataka assembly elections, the man in the hot seat, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah says he'll make billionaire jeweller Nirav Modi and the Punjab National Bank scam an issue in the upcoming Karnataka elections . In an interview to CNN-News18's Deepa Balakrishnan, the CM also says that Hindutva is not a campaign issue in the state.
The action against the Lucknow passport officer was a hasty reckless decision taken by an establishment playing to the gallery to appease the pseudo-secular elite of the country, the Lutyens Delhi lobby intent on discrediting the Hindu identity, and an action that blatantly violated the basic tenets of justice, argues Vivek Gumaste.
Nand Kishore Balmiki, the main accused in the alleged forced conversion of about 100 people in Agra recently, was arrested after he surrendered before the police on Tuesday.
Contemporary records speak of Chhatrapati Shivaji's resolve to liberate Hindu holy places, and the later Maratha rulers carried forward his legacy, Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) reveals in a forthcoming book.
'Why exclude those who are curious about our faith but not born into it, to experience the temple?'
The Lord of Wisdom teaches us to act in good faith, be independent, overcome obstacles, be modes and seek knowledge
'There is a discomfort among many of us at the fact that the Republic is not more Hindu than it could or should be.' 'This discomfort is producing laws such as the one we now have in Gujarat,' says Aakar Patel.
Dr Behera speaks about how the nationwide positive reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that the very idea of India is changing. From a diverse, multicultural entity, could India be becoming a place where assimilation is more important than accommodation?
'Two have already sacrificed their lives.' 'How many more shall need to sacrifice before the government listens?' 'Four, five or six? They are ready, waiting.' After Ganga campaigner G D Agrawal's death, a Haridwar ashram's sadhus are on a relay fast unto death.
Hindu Mahasabha has planned to celebrate Basant Panchami on Valentine's Day
The group has chalked out a strategy as part of which couples could be married off.
'What happened in the Vajpayee era will repeat in the Modi era in 2019.'
'The Elgar Parishad turned out to be the first rallying cry against the BJP and RSS in Maharashtra.' 'The speakers took a vow not to vote for the BJP.'
BJP's Sadhvi Prachi also asked all Hindus to have 4 children.
Voicing concern over violent non-state actors controlling large territories across the world and unleashing "barbaric violence", Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said that ideologies should give way to dialogue to resolve conflicts.
Netas in Uttar Pradesh are using Rajkumar Hirani's film PK to play the politics of polarization.
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