Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
Aseem Chhabra lists 10 of his favourite films that played in various sections at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
JP was a People's Hero unmatched in Independent India. Archana Masih goes to Jayaprakash Narayan's village looking for Bihar's greatest son as the claimants of his legacy go to war in what is being called the Election of Elections.
Modi and Shah's next focus will be South India, and the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shah is unlikely to abdicate control over the party even after he joins the government. Modi and Shah both know only too well that the party makes the government, and not the other way round.
'Narendra Modi could be too old to change his personality. On the other hand, his attachment to the RSS could be mostly sentimental. So one must hope that if he becomes prime minister, he is able to detach himself from the RSS view of the world as completely as Narasimha Rao detached himself from the Congress's First Family.' 'India cannot be governed by the autocratic methods by which he has governed Gujarat. If he becomes prime minister he will have to learn to speak in a more civil language about his political opponents,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
Villagers attribute Adarsh Nangla's 'fall' to a combination of government apathy and decline of the collective spirit
A Molotov cocktail of lies, abuse and bigotry is blowing up social media.
The challenges authorities face in cleaning Ganga and other holy rivers in Varanasi.
What began as a challenge ended up a way of life for 'Paalam' Kalyanasundaram, whom the United Nations adjudged one of the most outstanding people of the 20th century.
Faceless Ambedkarite groups from across the country are running BSP's election war rooms, writes Archis Mohan.
'If you go by the essence of the Constitution of India, I don't see any problem in having a separate PM for J-K.'
How China's all powerful Communist party bungled the response to the coronavirus crisis.
'Extending the range of the DF-21D could challenge Indian aircraft carriers if the missiles are launched from southwest China. Also, if Pakistan acquires these systems, these missiles could directly challenge India's aircraft carriers.'
'India needs to adopt a more proactive policy of triggering exports to China.'
'When I read page number 50 of Transcendence, second paragraph, there he writes, "No more manoeuvres are required any more, as I am placed in my final position in eternity".' 'And within a month of that. he was no more.'
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had gone to China with a bagful of initiatives, but not all seems to have been fulfilled given China's reluctance to go the whole hog with him
Glimpses of I-Day celebrations across India.
Premier Li Keqiang highlighted his government's performance in the last one year and the challenges ahead in various fields. Compared to other reports by his predecessors, Li spoke more frankly about the mounting challenges faced by the country. Srikanth Kondapalli on the two recent Chinese parliament sessions.
The urban jungle still retains some precious wild spaces inhabited by not frequently seen birds and animals. The author spends a day exploring them
The more mud his opponents fling, the stronger Arvind Kejriwal emerges.
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, a strong political stakeholder in Hyderabad, has expressed apprehensions that the central government was contemplating giving the city the status of an Union Territory while creating Telangana state and warned that the party will fight tooth and nail against any such move.
Germany, as the locomotive of Europe, has much to teach India in manufacturing and process management, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'I think the AAP is still in transition from being a movement to a political party so there is a mix of people who form the party. So there is somewhat of a overlapping and commonality of purpose.' 'Look at the way the government and party is functioning, not a single woman minister in the cabinet, or no woman member in the political affairs committee, it is all very tactical now.' 'After the 'sting' I decided to step back. I realised that my moral basis has been questioned by Kejriwal, it is truly despicable. He is around 15 years younger to me, I was aghast by his words.' AAP 'rebel' Prof Anand Kumar speaks of what went wrong with the party in the last few days in this interview with Upasna Pandey.
The BJP's manifesto for UP elections promised many things. But, given the state's precarious financial position, fulfilling these promises is likely to prove tricky, says Ishan Bakshi.
Minister for External Affairs Salman Khurshid speaks about the importance of the fourth edition of the India-US Strategic Dialogue, which he co-chaired with United States Secretary of State John Kerry in New Delhi
A week after taking office, Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers have ambitious promises to keep.
'The Indian economy has been subsidised by the poor.'
These Indian companies truly defined the essence of entrepreneurship.
Her book is less of a Hindutva-loving diatribe against the Dynasty than its detractors suggest, but it is still hard to agree with much of what she writes, says Vir Sanghvi on Tavleen Singh's latest book.
'By resorting to divisive issues, the BJP is giving the impression that even if it is voted to power it won't do anything new to give Bihar a facelift. It will repel voters with the belief that the BJP can't do anything without communal polarisation as its core ideology. This is sad and unfortunate,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
How will the Modi Sarkar's likely return affect other nations?
'By lifting his visit to vibrant new functional and emotional planes, Modi saved it from looking like a mere obligatory give-and-take. This is no mean achievement. With his penchant for execution, he must fast track action on the proposals agreed upon, so that the fine print matches the hype,' says B S Raghavan.
Iconic rights activist Irom Sharmila on the highs and lows of her long fast, why she gave it up and her plans.
India and China on Wednesday signed in all nine agreements, including the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement and one on strengthening cooperation on trans-border rivers, after restricted and delegation-level talks that lasted over two hours as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Li Keqiang met for the second time this year for talks which the Indian leader described as "fruitful and productive".
'India could become the newest Asian tiger under Modi's dynamic leadership. Modi could become the Nehru of the 21st century, and re-establish a new Tryst with Destiny, by stating once and for all that Mera Bharat Mahaan is and will always be a truly secular and inclusive democracy in the best spirit of Bharatiya-tva,' says Ram Kelkar, offering an NRI view of the Modi triumph.
'Temperature and wind can be predicted more easily than rainfall.' 'Rainfall, as common experience suggests, is very spotty.' 'The last bit of physics required that tells us whether it is going to rain or not is very hard.' Professor Roddam Narasimha, the eminent scientist, explains the monsoon, climate change and global warming, in a fascinating conversation with Shivanand Kanavi.
'In his 2014 election campaign, Mr Modi had boasted that he would apply the Gujarat model to the rest of India. We just have to ensure he doesn't start with Parliament,' says Shashi Tharoor in this fascinating excerpt from his new book, The Paradoxical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India.
With the Maharashtra government doling out pieces of the lush green Aarey forest to various utilities, the tribals living in it for generations are feeling increasingly insecure. Hepzi Anthony reports.
What is so honourable in defending or dis-honourable in not defending the 'Johnson line' in Aksai Chin? That is a question that needs to be asked to the Indian shouting brigade. The Chinese also need to be asked as to why they wish to implement the 'MacDonald McCartney' line drawn by British Imperialists? asks Col (retd) Anil Athale.
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