The new Ministers of State sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former diplomat Hardeep Puri and ex-Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh. Two other new faces are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh.
Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and portrayed as 'growth engine' of India has witnessed a steep fall in new investments for the second quarter of 2014-15 compared to the first quarter of the same fiscal.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday accused the Congress of misuse and manipulation of the CBI to target it in the Ishrat Jahan encounter case, which it termed as a "political conspiracy".
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.
They say new rules that make over-billing by private hospitals a criminal offence will hurt their ability to treat patients properly, says Subir Roy.
Comparing a state like Kerala with a nation like Somalia shows disconnect unbecoming of a prime minister, says Uttaresh Venkateshwaran.
The Indian Army has already vowed an 'appropriate' response to the 'despicable act'.
'The minister is not concerned about our daughters' well-being.' 'Just when the sex ratio for girls is showing an improvement across every district, the minister wants the onus to be on the women knowing very well that decision making in India is in the hands of the male.'
"As Civil Aviation minister, I apologise to all those affected (by these incidents)," Ashok Gajapathi Raju told a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday evening, in an attempt to end the controversy.
Ram V Sutar, 89, has already created more than 200 distinct statues, many of them massive. Now, he is a leading contender for the commission to produce the world's largest statue: A 597-foot tall rendering of Sardar Patel, an independence leader who played a crucial role in uniting India's fractious states.
Incessant rains apparently caused cracks in the bridge, resulting in its collapse, an official said.
Eight prisoners, including a death row convict and two women, have successfully completed their post-graduation from Indira Gandhi National Open University after it established two special Study centres for inmates at Nagpur and Amravati Central jails in 2010.
Chhota Rajan, one of India's most wanted gangster, has been arrested in the tourist town of Bali, Indonesia on a Red Corner Notice issued by Interpol after eluding law enforcement agencies for over two decades.
On paper, only 8,000 villages remain to be electrified in the country, but the situation on the ground shows euphoria over numbers is misplaced
The prejudices the Chinese carry with them mean they are not natural global managers.
'Some in the Congress believe the party should, somewhat brazenly, claim the cause of fighting corruption as its own. But the Congress's idea of fighting corruption is nothing but tinkering with laws, it lacks the stomach to take on the corrupt,' feels T V R Shenoy.
On the claim of the victim's brothers that they were called 'beef eaters' by the accused, Goyal said, "No such thing has come to the fore during the main accused's questioning so far."
How Chanda Kochhar and her husband Deepak Kochhar find themselves in a huge controversy.
Porbandar, the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi, and nearly 170 towns in Gujarat were declared Open Defection Free on the birth anniversary of the 'Father of the Nation'.
Given India's political scenario, where parties seek votes on the basis of caste and religion, the issue of using mother tongue in schools is more of a political vendetta, says Devanik Saha
Recent investigations into the telecom spectrum and coal scams have made bureaucrats very wary of taking decisions.
As the year 2014 draws to an end, we at Rediff.com take to look at some of the ridiculous remarks made by some blundering politicos.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'The Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Amendment Bill' makes employment of children below 14 years as cognisable offence for employers and provides for penalty for parents.
Aditya Thackeray may want Mumbai's shops and restaurants to remain open 24x7 but the Maharashtra government won't be okaying it in a hurry, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
'Those days, none of the leaders thought of amassing wealth.' 'All of them wanted to sacrifice their all for the country.' 'There are many who didn't have any money, but sacrificed their lives for the country.' 'There are many who spent their own money and worked for the country.' 'There are many more about whom we do not even know what they had done; they did everything so silently and selflessly.'
'For half a century, Delhi has not seen a truly powerful ruling party president.' 'The Cabinet, chief ministers, and even the heads of the most powerful departments and agencies now acknowledge where power lies, besides the prime minister's office,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Chaos ensued in the Lower House as Ashok Gajapathi Raju refused to heed the demand of revoking the flying ban on Ravindra Gaikwad.
'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
In a major exercise ahead of Lok Sabha polls, Congress on Thursday night constituted screening committees for all states and union territories for early selection of candidates.
The recent default on deposit payments by a couple of Yash Birla Group companies has brought to surface difficulties an investor has to face in recovering his money.
Water from as many as 78,508 rural habitations is contaminated by arsenic, fluoride, iron or nitrate, finds out Chaitanya Mallapur/IndiaSpend.com.
Rifleman Aurangzeb, who belonged to the 44 Rashtriya Rifles, was on way back home on June 14 to celebrate Eid when terrorists abducted him.
An overview of India's underwhelming performance in athletics
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
The Marxists are heading for their worst debacle in many elections. How will May 16, 2014 affect India's Communists? T V R Shenoy surveys the landscape.
Cabinet secretary calls meeting to review the impact of inflation on essential commodities.
Once again an Indian prime minister has realised that with Pakistan and China, things will not move as he wishes.
A day after the Bharatiya Janata Party's big defeat in Bihar, disgruntled party MP Shatrughan Sinha on Monday said those responsible for the debacle should be taken to task and responsibility fixed for the loss.
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