Indians want change and progress. They should be willing to accept tough decisions, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Fadnavis also dismissed Hegde's claim as 'absolutely wrong' and said nothing of that sort happened.
With the Congress already opposed to the proposed law, regional parties might become the swing factor, says T N Ninan.
Rajasthan has taken the lead on structural reforms which could help India attract business and employ a fast-growing workforce.
Stock to watch: Shipping Corporation and Great Eastern Shipping
The prime minister seems to have turned his face away from the business of introducing serious reform, says T N Ninan.
Has the Modi government been more at odds with institutions than other governments? There is no doubt that there have been more run-ins. While the RBI and CBI cases have drawn attention, there have been others, less publicised, Subhomoy Bhattacharjee points out.
Govt is keen to push reforms in the insurance sector.
Narendra Modi's pay-off from relaxing labour laws would be huge.
The text of the Income tax amendment is so wide and so riddled with ambiguities that it deserves to be scrapped for those reasons alone, says N S Nigam.
'He consulted widely, both formally and informally and acted quickly on pragmatic suggestions.' 'To his credit, Parrikar took the initiative to reduce excessive litigation against armed forces veterans and widow over small sums of pensionary and disability benefits,' points out says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Industrialist Pawan Ruia's (think Dunlop and Jessop) arrest this month for cheating and criminal breach of trust marked a new low, but the tide had been turning against him for a while now. Ishita Ayan Dutt & Avishek Rakshit report.
It has been said that by 2025, India could become among the top five economies in the world. If India does become a $5 trillion economy but gets all its rivers polluted, food chain poisoned and genetic pool depleted and biometric database of Indians sold or stolen at the behest of commercial czars, will it not be a pyrrhic economic victory, asks Gopal Krishna.
'Understand one thing, if you want immediately and magically that things should become cheap, it's not possible. It's a long-term policy.' 'Inflation is linked to the storage system and with the production system. Whenever production rises, prices go lower. So if we store when the prices are low and release them when prices rise, prices can be maintained.' 'The problem is that in our country fruits and vegetables worth Rs 110,000 crore go to waste as they rot. And grains worth Rs 85,000 crore rot. So the storage system is another big reason for inflation.' Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari in an exclusive interaction with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'I am not surprised that hubris brought Chanda Kochhar down. It would appear that as a person she thought she could do no wrong and as a leader she considered herself above what her company demanded of others in terms of financial probity and honesty. That, my friends, is NOT a good way for a leader to feel,' says S Muraleedharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
Such service providers were given time until the end of October to follow the law of the land.
Income from renting of properties is taxed at a flat rate of 10%.
The government has provided a long-term vision.
If Wednesday was any indication, the rest of the Parliament session will see the two sides scoring brownie points against each other, and the Gandhis can expect more enemy fire directed at them, says Rashme Sehgal.
A government that confuses PowerPoints for policy is delaying structural change too much.
'There is no change in the overall story of economic recovery.'
Few top honchos of India Inc did very well in 2014.
Despite the BJP's displeasure over Sasikala's elevation as AIADMK general secretary, the Dravidian party has sent a message to the Modi government that it will not be cowed down, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Those who have seen the functioning of the Modi government in Gujarat know that the issues related to Hindutva and issues of economy and growth function simultaneously.' 'Modi's politics are based on the understanding of the middle-class consumer society which is in pursuit of material aspirations.' Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reveals the Modi government's economic and political plans for the year ahead.
'India cannot expect to be insulated from the crisis. Europe is India's biggest trading partner with two-way trade of E72.5 billion or Rs 530,000 crore last year,' says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
'It was almost as though there was widespread relief that the defence bureaucracy, and the minister, could find someone willing to shoulder the blame for everything that had gone wrong with the services under Antony's charge -- the poor preparedness of the forces, slow acquisitions caused by indecision, cancellation of contracts and whimsical blacklisting of defence contractors over the tiniest suspicion that they may have paid speed money or kickbacks.'