At least one commentator felt that both the BJP's reach and popularity had been underestimated in Kerala. They have shown systematic gain; one that seems personality-neutral and therefore institutionalised, explains Shyam G Menon.
Even as we tip our hats to the best performances of 2023, there are quite a few that may have gone unnoticed.
Bangladesh is in turmoil, which is not good news for India, which shares a porous 4000 km border with it. There is a danger of fundamentalism growing there, and India has to move in to reset its ties with the new dispensation before China and Pakistan make capital out of it, alerts Ramesh Menon.
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
Who else do we know who meditated so with such impeccable timing (much of the Lok Sabha elections over and with only the last phase to go) and hordes for unsolicited defence of the grand meditation at public expense? asks Shyam G Menon.
Passenger vehicle wholesales crossed the 10-lakh mark for the first time ever in the June quarter riding on the back of robust demand for utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Friday. Total dispatches of passenger vehicles in the first quarter stood at 10,26,006 units, up 3 per cent as compared with 996,565 units in April-June FY24. Utility vehicle sales rose 18 per cent to 645,794 units in the first quarter as against 547,194 units in the year-ago period.
In all six files, covering the period 1929 and 1955, document the security service's interest in Krishna Menon, a close friend of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister.
...close to the 2024 general election. The BJP calling the Congress 'seasonal Hindu' is as laughable as the saffron party sparing itself the title of 'seasonal extreme Hindu.'
How else should one describe its election campaigns of the past years?
It was typically obsessive religion and personality cult with economic development for fig leaf, asserts Shyam G Menon.
If investing in Bitcoin, adopt a three to five-year horizon and invest systematically to gain from its volatility.
Those who want to invest should consider their risk appetite. Youngsters may go for it as they have a longer horizon to recover from a setback.
'The attempt to oust High Commissioner V K Krishna Menon failed because of the support of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru,' the book titled The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5 by Professor Christopher Andrew released on Monday said.
Like the billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Gautam Gambhir, the tenacious former opener-turned-coach, also seems to be governed by instincts while picking unheralded players and turning them into match-winners, points out Vishal Menon.
The duo have been instrumental in the success of films like Cocktail, Beautiful and Trivandrum Lodge, in recent times.
Determined not to be arm-twisted into delaying the execution, he decided to hold a late night hearing at his residence. In the pitch blackness of the night, the original verdict was upheld. The next morning, on 9 October 1992, General Vaidya's assassins were hanged until death.
Guruvayoorambala Nadayil is a no-holds-barred, silly comedy that will keep you glued to the screen even when the going gets tough towards the end but the smile on your face will not leave, observes Arjun Menon.
Ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's meeting with his Pakistan counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani, India on Wednesday sounded positive on continuing talks but said there were some "difficult" issues still remaining and Islamabad needed to take credible action to bring the perpetrators of the Mumbai attacks to justice.
Domestic passenger vehicle wholesales rose 14 per cent year-on-year to 393,074 units last month, the best-ever figure for January, amid robust demand for utility vehicles, industry body SIAM said on Wednesday. As per the latest data issued by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), dispatches of passenger vehicle from manufacturers to dealers stood at 346,080 units in January 2023.
As the curtain falls on the campaign for the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat on Wednesday, April 24, a ringside view of the closing ceremonies.
'The film-literate public in Kerala are not happy watching run-of-the-mill movies.'
Kunchacko plays a supplier of Bengali labourers, while Biju Menon is a Bengali who has been living in Kerala ever since his childhood.
As milk prices rise, analysts have an optimistic view on dairy stocks such as Heritage Foods and Dodla Dairy, hoping the companies' margins will grow in the near to medium term. From a long-term perspective, they believe that a growing population, increasing disposable income and health consciousness will strengthen dairy consumption in India.
With the reality of coalition politics staring the BJP in its face, this was inevitable, points out Ramesh Menon.
Civil nuclear projects in the country would be subject to Indian laws including on issues of civil liability, National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon said on Friday dismissing reports of attempts to dilute the liability clause in contracts proposed with United States firms.
'If their allocation to certain segments have become high due to strong returns over the past three-four years, they should rebalance their portfolios and bring them in line with their long-term asset allocation.'
On the eve of the Nuclear Suppliers Group's extraordinary plenary meeting to decide on nuclear commerce with India, Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon will brief the current chair Germany and two other key members of the 45-nation NSG.
In mixed multihull - nacra 17, the Indian pair of Indar Siddeshwar Doiphode and Ramya Saravanan were placed fourth after race 12 with less than a minute's gap from the leaders in a tightly contested field. Doiphode and Ramya were third after race 11.
One would have expected Rashtrapati Bhavan and not the Delhi police to settle the Unidentified Feline Object issue. In its absence, the four legged-visitor spanned in imagined identity, anything from a domestic cat familiar with the palatial surroundings to a swashbuckling Puss in Boots visiting from the outside or indeed a Bagheera from Jungle Book, notes Shyam G Menon.
According to a source in government, "We have three pieces of evidence right now of the involvement of people based in Pakistan. One is the satellite phone through which calls were made to Pakistan from Mumbai. Two, the interrogation statement of the captured terrorist has lots of details which will help demolish Pakistan's claims that there are no terrorist camps inside Pakistan. Three, the dead bodies of nine terrorists and the proof of identity found on them."
The duo are coming together again in director Boban Samuel's Romans.
'The West has always opposed a strong nationalist leader in India and Narendra Modi is no exception.' 'The West prefers weak leaders who are amenable to Western pressure and Mr Modi's independent stance is not to the liking of the West,' asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Former foreign secretary Shivshankar Menon on a new book on the the rise of China and the transformation of India.
The situation in Sri Lanka, where thousands of Tamil civilians are trapped in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's strongholds, permeated the 45-minute discussion on Monday between United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. This was the first high-level interaction between India and the Obama administration in Washington.
On June 26, for the likes of me, the music died. Any impression of potential change held forth by the outcome of the 2024 general election, was vaporised, reveals Shyam G Menon.
Malayalee From India is trapped within its self-serving corniness and refuses to break free in the process, observes Arjun Menon.
India's concerns over China's plans to build two nuclear reactors for Pakistan and bilateral issues are set to figure prominently during talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's special envoy Shiv Shankar Menon and the Chinese leadership in Beijing from Saturday.
Beyond a point, competition is boring. The fun is in the doing, irrespective of outcome. By the time I was in college, I knew I valued awareness more than success, notes Shyam G Menon.
India on Friday said it was confident of the passage of the Indo-US civil nuclear deal as it enjoyed bipartisan support among lawmakers, assuring that American firms would not be put at a disadvantage even if there is delay in getting a Congressional nod for the accord.
The '70s crime world of Bombay comes alive once again in Bambai Meri Jaan in Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidhwani's latest Web series.
