Why did we go into nationwide lockdown when we were adding 100 cases a day and why are we not going into lockdown but allowing cricket stadiums, political rallies and Kumbh Melas when we are adding 40,000 cases a day? asks Aakar Patel.
To build one's political and ideological arguments on the dead bodies piling up outside our crematoriums is despicable and breaches the basic tenet of human civility, argues Vivek Gumaste.
He said Google failed before the epic Ramayana, which was written by sage Valmiki, and he asserted that the knowledge of the spiritual books was correct instead of what the search engine said.
Adityanath said the BJP government has done whatever the party promised in the run-up to the last assembly polls in 2017.
Rarely have we seen such intoxication over power, which ignores the cries of those dying, notes Jyoti Punwani.
Masks were not worn by a large proportion and social distancing appeared impossible in an event in which, according to the mela administration, over 17 lakh people had taken a dip in the river in the first few hours up to 10 am.
If everyone had decent meaningful jobs, the rally maidans would be largely empty and, save for the Akhara babas and curious foreigners and the devout senior citizens, not very many would spare time for the Kumbh Mela, says Mahesh Vyas.
As the virus ravaged rural areas, the state BJP figured out it was impossible to underplay or escape its impact on its political plans.
Adnan Abidi, Sanna Irshad Mattoo, Amit Dave and the late Danish Siddiqui, who was killed last July while on assignment covering the war in Afghanistan, won the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography for coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in India.
Authorities continue to pass the buck and even blame pilgrims in what clearly appears to be a case of inept handling of the situation by the police and railway officials, reports Sharat Pradhan
'This is necessary for protecting the Hindu religion'
The Devasthanam Board was assigned the management of 51 temples of the state, including the four famous Himalayan shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri.
Images that capture what it was like living through 2021.
'Your family, your kith and kin are also under stress, some of your relatives will die, without getting appropriate treatment.'
Other strong men have stopped Modi and his hordes in states before, but none of them with a footprint or battle cry to shake up New Delhi, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The decision came a day after the Allahabad high court asked the Centre and the state government to file counter affidavits within a week on a petition challenging the decision to rename Allahabad as Prayagraj.
India is in the midst of its biggest crisis since Independence. It is a national emergency and begs to be dealt with. Politics can wait. Lives need to be saved. We need to vaccinate India at a pace faster than any country in the world, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Some speakers also blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat on Sunday again created a controversy with his remark over the amount of ration distributed during the COVID-19 lockdown: A family with two children got less ration and they would have got more if they had 20 children.
A division bench of Justices A S Oka and V L Achliya said the state government will have to take prior permission from the court if it wanted to use the dam water for Kumbh Mela.
The stampede on the banks of Godavari River in Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh added to India's notoriety for deaths due to such accidents, when sudden, uncontrollable crowds surge out of control.
There was an environment of "indifference" towards the use of technology in governance before 2014 due to which the poor and the middle class suffered the most, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday. He asserted the current government has ensured last-mile delivery of services with the help of technology, including drones. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating India's biggest drone festival in Delhi, he said, "At a time when we are celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it is my dream that everyone in India should have a smartphone in his or her hand, every farm should have a drone and every house should have prosperity." The enthusiasm being seen in India about drone technology is amazing and indicates possibilities of an emerging sector of employment generation, the prime minister said.
Opposition leaders believe this entire plan has been put in place to ensure that Mamata Banerjee is kept out of office in West Bengal.
'In India, there's currently evidence the Centre has not managed a smooth vaccine rollout.' 'It is now falling back on blaming states, which are facing vaccine shortages,' points out Devangshu Datta.
After Uttar Pradesh played host to world's largest religious congregation during Mahakumbh in Allahabad, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and Minister Mohammad Azam Khan have been invited by the HarvardUniversity to share the story of organising the 55-day event.
It will cover the 750-km route between Delhi and Varanasi at a maximum speed of 160kmph
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday described Narendra Modi as his "friend" but sidestepped queries on the possible projection of the Gujarat Chief Minister as Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, saying he was "not a political person".
From a Vishaw Hindu Parishad platform, Bharatiya Janata Party chief Rajnath Singh on Wednesday raked up the Ayodhya issue saying his party is committed to the construction of the Ram temple.
The Bengal outcome can have a marginal impact on national politics. Whereas elections in UP next year might still change the course ahead of the parliamentary poll in 2024, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'What was the message that was going to them?' 'The message was, we are a great country and we have beaten Covid!' 'No one talked about the precautions to be taken.'
Seven pilgrims from Uttar Pradesh and three from Delhi were among the 12 people who died in a stampede at Vaishno Devi shrine atop Trikuta hills in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir in the early hours of Saturday, officials said.
It is for the second consecutive year that the yatra is not being held due to the pandemic.
Jatav youth ask tough questions about surgical strikes, expenditure on statues and organising of the Kumbh festival.
As Anna Hazare's fast entered tenth day today, thousands of his supporters organised mass prayers for the well being of the Gandhian leader. A large number of Anna supporters stayed at the Ramlila ground whole night singing patriotic songs and chanting anti government slogans.
Unlike the past when G V G Krishnamurthy, J M Lyngdoh, R Peri Sastry, H S Brahma, and V S Sampath held positions in the ECI representing all corners of India, this ECI will be North India-centric.
Only double vaccinated adults and children above the age of 15 who have taken at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to enter, they said, adding children below 15 years will not be permitted to attend the event.
Models sashayed down the ramp in saffron dresses amid the chant of mantras for Tarun Tahiliani's 'Kumbhback' collection at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn/ Winter 2013 in Delhi.
Tej Bahadur Yadav had posted four videos on social media in January, 2017, that showed him complaining about the unpalatable food at his camp along the Indo-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir.
Assembly elections to five crucial states will take place in a few months and the results will be decisive for the BJP, which is eyeing a third successive term at the Centre, in the forthcoming the Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
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