The Centre has informed the Supreme Court that 217 Indian nationals reportedly joined the Russian armed forces, with 49 fatalities amid the Russia-Ukraine war, and efforts are underway to repatriate those who were misled.
Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee has accused the BJP government of failing to honour promises made to the Rajbanshi community in north Bengal, including recognising their language and raising a 'Narayani Sena' battalion.
The Indian government informed Parliament that India and the US are engaged in negotiations for a mutually beneficial multi-sectoral bilateral trade agreement. The two countries also cooperate on strategic, economic, and defense matters, managing divergences through high-level dialogues.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the UAE, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Italy to deepen India's bilateral ties amid geopolitical changes.
Under the TMC, Bengal has seen expansion of welfare, but not big-ticket private investment.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the ruling TMC in West Bengal, alleging corruption and appeasement politics, while promoting the BJP's development agenda ahead of the assembly elections.
A BJP government in Bengal inherits more problems than it might care to admit at its moment of triumph, points out Ramesh Menon
Senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee criticises Union Home Minister Amit Shah over infiltration, terror attacks, and unfulfilled job promises, questioning the BJP's governance record.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has urged voters to support the TMC as the only way to defeat the BJP, particularly in areas with a strong Congress base. He accused the BJP of dividing communities and failing to address key issues such as river erosion and farmer distress, while outlining the TMC's welfare plans.
Kerala's voters are sophisticated, educated, and unforgiving. They have once again made it clear that no government is entitled to remain in power. The Congress would do well to remember this, points out Ramesh Menon.
Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee has accused the BJP government of conspiring against Indian citizens by deleting names from electoral rolls and diverting attention from core issues.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi criticised the BJP and RSS for undermining the Constitution and accused the TMC of failing to provide jobs in West Bengal during recent rallies.
A star-studded charity golf event, organised by Sunil Gavaskar's CHAMPS Foundation, will feature cricket legends and other sporting icons to support former Indian athletes facing hardship.
The Indian government has informed Parliament that there are currently over 10,000 Indian prisoners, including undertrials, in foreign jails. The Ministry of External Affairs shared country-wise data, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE having the highest number of Indian prisoners. The government has assured that it prioritizes the safety and well-being of Indians abroad and provides consular assistance, legal aid, and financial support to those imprisoned.
Usually, in the western view, corporate success is attributed to efficiency, organisational structure, and scale. R Gopalakrishnan and Harish Bhat argue that philosophy, culture, and the transmission of values are more important for sustaining growth and profitability of an enterprise over a period of time.
The real surprise in these results came from Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. Of the 29 Muslim candidates who got elected to the 227-strong BMC, the Congress and the AIMIM between them bagged 22.
Research scholars and post-graduate students at IIT-Guwahati are protesting a fee hike, while the institute claims the increase is necessary and only a small group is protesting.
SP Group chairman Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry on Friday reiterated calls for public listing of Tata Sons to bring transparency, amid infighting among trustees of Tata Trusts which controls a 66 per cent stake in the holding company of the salt-to-software conglomerate. Shapoorji Pallonji family is the single largest minority shareholder with about 18.37 per cent in Tata Sons.
'Bihar's voters' electoral memory is long, and their evaluations are relational; who came to the village, who followed up, who resolved a problem.'
Dr Sonali Ghosh, the first woman to head the Kaziranga National Park and the first Indian to win the IUCN's Kenton Miller Award, has turned her childhood love for nature into an inspiring career in wildlife protection and leadership.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday announced merging of the Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) and the Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) cards into a single facility to simplify visa-free entry and participation of Indian Diaspora in business and other activities in New Delhi.
Confusing academic freedom with the right to free speech of an individual and expecting unconditional institutional support is not realistic. Academic freedom provides an opportunity for an academic to pursue their passion and contribute to the society through the outcome of their research and/or thought process, points out N Ravichandran.
Despite facing financial constraints, Kerala has been able to invest in welfare schemes and targeted programmes.
Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Suresh Gopi has stirred controversy by suggesting that members of the "upper castes" should handle the tribal affairs portfolio. Gopi, an actor-turned-politician, argued that true progress in tribal welfare would only be achieved under the leadership of individuals from "upper castes." His comments have been met with widespread criticism, including from CPI state secretary Benoy Viswam and prominent tribal leader C K Janu.
Akshay Kumar has been personally funding medical insurance premiums worth Rs 6 crore to Rs 7 crore annually for over 650 stuntmen and their families for the past eight years.
...the DMK chief minister's campaign -- which includes criticism of the BJP's 'pro-Hindutva, anti-Tamil, anti-federal' policies and building on his own government's social welfare programmes targeting especially women and youth -- appeals to Tamil Nadu's voters in next year's assembly election, explains N Sathiya Moorthy.
Giving a clarion call to defeat the Mamata Banerjee-led party in West Bengal, the prime minister while addressing a mega rally in Siliguri said, "The road to oust the corrupt TMC government from West Bengal will open from the Lok Sabha polls."
'When so many young Baloch men and women are willingly volunteering as fighters and even suicide bombers.'
The Tamil Nadu government has set up a welfare board for transgenders -- the first of its kind in India. The aspect that stands out is that six of the board members are transgenders, appointed from across Tamil Nadu.
'I don't believe there is an international conspiracy to swamp tribals in India or in Jharkhand.'
Life has come full circle for Nobel laureate Professor Mohammad Yunus, who faced persecution during Sheikh Hasina's regime for embezzlement, is now all set to head of the interim government in Bangladesh after she resigned and fled the country.
The launch of e-RUPI, a person- and purpose-specific digital payment solution, by the government is expected to completely negate any pilferage and will ensure full benefit to intended beneficiaries, India Inc said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched e-RUPI, which is aimed at improving transparency and targeted delivery of benefits. PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Sanjay Aggarwal said that the move is a significant step to enhance the digitisation process of the country.
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
'At the very end of his speech, he dealt with the 'small problems' of Indian workers. But these measures did not seem to satisfy those who had expected the prime minister to find solutions for their problems. That the prime minister generally focused on broad policy issues and not on matters of detail left them bewildered,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The ministry of minority affairs informed the Lok Sabha that in 2022-2023, it had been allotted Rs 5,020.5 crore (Rs 50.20 billion); in the Revised Estimates, it had got Rs 2,612.66 crore (Rs 26.12 billion); and had spent, until the end of March this year, Rs 712.5 crore (Rs 7,12 billion).
A quick scan of prime ministerial speeches at the PBD going back to 2009, another election year, reveals no political utterances by either Modi or his predecessor, Dr Manmohan Singh.
On matters relating to the Diaspora, the Centre needs to call the shots, suggests Ambassador T P S Sreenivasan.
Crucial reforms in Muslim personal law, especially laws related to inheritance and adoption, need to be initiated forthwith; historically speaking, without the State's backing, hardly has any reform taken place or allowed to prevail, asserts Mohammad Sajjad.
Modi wants the BJP to gets an additional 10% of the vote share from what it won in 2019. Plans are afoot to get new faces to replace MPs with poor chances of winning. Sources say more than 100 MPs are like to be axed, notes Modi biographer Ramesh Menon.