'Only the smoke is coming out now. Let us prevent the lava from coming out by taking proper measures.' 'I have told every leader that you cannot have a stable government without winning the confidence of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the most backward castes.' 'Leaders feel that by giving a sop here and there and by symbolic actions, they can win votes. That's all they want. Votes.'
The Telangana Group of Ministers on Friday reviewed the progress made by the Andhra Pradesh government with regards to the bifurcation of the state on various fronts.
'Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis called us for a meeting in March 2016 and we submitted the same charter of demands that we are submitting now.' 'He gave us wishy-washy assurances.' 'We thought he was the new chief minister and we believed him, but later we found out that nothing is moving on the ground.' 'This time we want a written assurance and a concrete timetable for implementation.' 'We will not leave Mumbai, come what may.'
The overriding objective of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) must be adequate economic return, not financial return.
'Why should the people of Odisha divert water from the Mahanadhi when 13 out of 32 districts are chronically drought prone?' 'Water is a state subject. Can you really nationalise rivers for which you need drastic amendments in the Constitution?'
Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are facing a severe drought this year, affecting livelihoods as well as lives.
'The household sector, which is still the largest contributor of financial savings, has been experiencing a decline in the last six years, and it has fallen below 8% of GDP.'
Ishan Bakshi studies the Budgets of six states, their expenditure priorities and outlays to understand the trend.
Let Bihar be damned under its contradictions of having gone 'dry' and then having been submerged under flood, which is a recurrent phenomena? After all it is a godforsaken land, having lost its promises of overcoming its problems, says Mohammad Sajjad.
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India's fear of small states derives from memories of Partition and the paranoid view that it will break up under 'too many' states. It's time to shed such fears and bite the 'states' reorganisation' bullet. India won't crumble under a few more Telanganas, Vidarbhas or Gorkhalands, says Praful Bidwai.
Modi govt must bring about reforms to kick-start big-ticket infra projects.
'The court came to a conclusion using one person's case... Based on that one case, the term "rampant misuse" was used as if it is a generalisation.' 'If one in 10 cases turns out to be false, is it possible to call the Act a charter for blackmail or charter for personal vengeance?' 'Is there any Act either in India or anywhere in the world where there are no false cases?'
Three weeks after taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Bhutan on Sunday on his first foreign visit to demonstrate the "special token of friendship" for the country.
De-scaling of businesses, job losses and subsequent impact on disposable incomes has created negative sentiment among traders, business owners and workers alike, says Abhishek Waghmare.
The wars of the future will be fought over water and if they occur on large scale, will be far more devastating than any we have seen yet.
A large number of rich farmers, who earn more than salaried employees in the cities, get away with paying no tax at all in view of the government's lack of will to consider an agricultural income tax
Jaitley has managed the difficult feat of sticking to the fiscal correction.
India's new policy commission has received a makeover and a dream team has been formed to head the Think Tank, NITI Aayog.
'Four years ago, when Gadkari was BJP president, Fadnavis was president of the state BJP, I had gone on a fast unto death demanding separate statehood for Vidarbha.' 'They had come to meet me and promised that once the party comes to power at the Centre and in the state, we will get separate statehood.' 'Four years have passed, but no change is seen on the ground.'
In March 2012, UP made Akhilesh Yadav the state's youngest CM. In March 2017, he finds himself in the opposition. At this turning point, we look back at the Samajwadi Party leader's political trajectory.
Arun Jaitley had a tough fiscal hill to climb.
Sharpening his attack on P Chidambaram, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi on Thursday alleged wrist watches with photos of the finance minister were being distributed to voters and demanded a probe by the Election Commission.
Legislators, bureaucrats feel an impact, with works relating to their constituencies stuck at various levels.
The country saw two straight years of deficient monsoons.
The Supreme Court and its committees, the two states and the central government must become objective and take the present and not just the past in mind.
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Modi government has taken some interesting policy decisions in the 100 days since the time he met President Pranab Mukherjee to present his claim as Prime Minister of the world's largest democracy, says Tanmaya Nanda.
The prime minister sees himself as the "vikas purush". But realising his government's agenda for development requires not just a more efficient administration but also a credible implementation plan, says Nitin Desai.
'Much can be done by India under the provisions of the treaty to make full use of its rights it has.' 'The impact of that will be felt downstream.'
'Whatever the result on December 18, Rahul has succeeded.' 'He has taken the battle to the rival's territory, and forced him to take him more seriously than he has done so far, or would have wished to.' 'A party, dominating and powerful as the BJP today, is spending all its time attacking the leader of one with just 46 seats in the Lok Sabha, and in the woods in Gujarat for 22 years.' 'This isn't the script the BJP had written,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Flexibly targeting inflation is consistent with a demand stimulus, says Ashima Goyal.
The Budget sets out a comprehensive vision.
The government will announce minimum support prices for kharif.
High fiscal deficits raise inflation which hits the lowest income and salaried classes.
NDA government has shunned populism.
As for structural reform, there are signs if one looks hard enough.
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India's hydroelectric power generation grew 17.5 per cent to 7.5 billion units in January this year from 6.4 billion units in the same month of 2012.
Several SP leaders fear Muslim voters may shift loyalty, which will benefit rivals like the BJP.
Experts say it will make GDP growth target of 5.7-5.8% difficult to achieve, while ministries feel late resurgence will help in sowing of rabi crops.
There were heightened expectations from Budget 2017 after the impact of note ban on different sections but most remain unfulfilled.
The Opposition on Monday charged the government with trying to promote crony capitalism, creating fear by giving "unbridled power" to taxmen, trying to snoop into people's lives through increased use of Aadhaar through the provisions of the Finance Bill.
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