'Fighting terrorists is one thing. Fighting insurgents is worse. Fighting a population is worst of all,' says Mihir S Sharma.
Zakia Jafri, the wife of former Congress member of Parliament whose protest petition against the Special Investigation Team's clean chit to Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots was on Thursday rejected by an Ahmedabad court, said she was not disheartened after the verdict and would appeal against it.
'The oddest thing about this general election campaign so far is that one might think that the BJP was fighting with its back to the wall, rather than as the favourite to win.' 'Perhaps there is something they know that we don't,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'In 2014, he was a relatively unknown quantity, and benefited from the apparent difference that he brought to national politics.'
Ashoke Pandit took to Facebook to slam Nihalani, saying Anushka Sharma's NH10 was a victim of his 'crass functioning'.
Chahal, who has been an automatic choice in the limited overs format has not played any first-class cricket since December 2016 (against Haryana in Ranji Trophy), but the Indian team management and especially skipper Virat Kohli has indicated that he wants the wiry leg-spinner for five-day matches also.
'India may well be a religious country, but that is precisely why we need to avoid criminalising blasphemy,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
Filmmaker Pahlaj Nihalani was today appointed as the new censor board chairman along with nine other members, many of whom have a Bharatiya Janata Party connection, days after Leela Samson resigned as its chief alleging interference by the government in its matters.
'The variables to watch include the monsoon, resolution of NBFC liquidity issues, GST collections, and NPA resolution.'
The term of the members of the Planning Commission is co-terminus with the Prime Minister and they would be submitting their resignations once the new government is formed after the ongoing general elections next month.
'Anyone on Indian Twitter, Facebook, or any of the other forms of social media that matter (except elite forums like Instagram) understands instantly that it is dominated by upper-caste North Indian men.' 'Other voices are silenced and attacked,' says Mihir S Sharma.
The court said that the petitioner can approach a higher court for further investigation in the case.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Sunday.
'He is wily and has everything that a political leader needs to succeed at that level.' 'He would be outstanding as a counter to Modi in the Lok Sabha, if he had the Opposition benches behind him,' says Aakar Patel.
While GST and insolvency laws are among the major achievements of the Modi government, the list of failures include demonetisation, toxic banks, manufacturing hiccups and most prominently bizarre job creation figures. Mihir S Sharma takes a look at the four years of Modi government.
'When the clouds lift and the mists clear, when saner heads and minds sit down to parse the outcome, they will find that the Congress was not lacking in either fight or spirit,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'I would have expected that, once firmly ensconced in the director's chair by 2:15 am, the not-director of the CBI would have called for pen and paper and hand-written a few clean chits.' 'Clean chits over Rafale; clean chits to the PM's secretary in the coal bribery case; a clean chit to Hasmukh Adhia on whatever claim Subramanian Swamy has cooked up about him...' says Mihir Sharma.
Karnataka pacer Abhimanyu Mithun picked a five-wicket haul in their Group B match against UP. While Delhi's Ricky Bhui put his team in a good position against Andhra. A round-up of Day 2 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
'The entire swathe of Internet trolls -- who now apparently serve as the ideological brains-trust of the BJP -- would have looked at each other in puzzlement, thinking: What kind of warning is that?' says Mihir S Sharma.
'As long as the government owns the banks, bankers will follow signals from politicians as to how to lend.' 'State-owned banks will remain State-owned banks as long as the current dispensation is in power -- and certainly there will be no change if the other chaps get in,' says Mihir S Sharma.
The expectation that Mr Modi would be a major reformer, capable of reinvigorating the Indian economy, were based on a complete misreading of both his actions and his performance as Gujarat chief minister, says Mihir S Sharma.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday.
'What is surprising is that the police press conference was based on letters (allegedly written by the activists).' 'Now those letters, according to the police, are yet to be verified by their (forensic) laboratory.' 'So, even the police is not sure that those letters are genuine.'
Railways caused the biggest upset in this Ranji Trophy season so far, after they defeated domestic giants Mumbai by 10 wickets within three days in their Elite Group B match, in Mumbai, on Friday. Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan (5-60) took five wickets, as Mumbai were bundled out for 198 in their second essay at the Wankhede Stadium, after India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane failed miserably in the second innings as well.
Seamers put New Delhi in a commanding position as Ishant Sharma and Simarjeet Singh struck big blows against Hyderabad on Day 2 of their Ranji Trophy match. Here is a round-up of all the Ranji Trophy action on Day 2 on Thursday.
Hiten Dalal scored a brisk 79 on debut before Himachal Pradesh fought back to reduce Delhi to 305 for eight at stumps on day one of a Group B Ranji Trophy match, in New Delhi, on Monday.
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The growth has not been very robust in the first two financial years of the 12th Plan.
'Ask a beat journalist their opinion, and you will always be told that they are more worried about writing something that would upset a company than something that would anger a politician,' says Mihir S Sharma.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'This is the era of images; no speech that Mukherjee could have given could counter the sight of a senior Congressman, elevated by the party to Rashtrapati Bhavan, standing rigidly next to the RSS gerontocracy as those worthies delivered the organisation's faux-fascist salute,' says Mihir Sharma.
Why Rediff readers support breastfeeding.
What does Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee thinks about India's education sector?
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Monday.
'Bureaucrats have transformed a project meant to empower the poorest Indians into one that empowers only babus and disempowers everyone else,' says Mihir S Sharma.
In the other matches, Manipur trounced Nagaland by 10 wickets in the battle of newcomers while Jammu and Kashmir defeated Andhra Pradesh by five wickets.
'The current BJP leadership believes the party's expansion across India, and thus their own survival at the top, depends on injecting communal tension into areas where it has so far been largely controlled,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'Anything other than a complete, 2014-style victory will be far more devastating for him then it would be for anyone else.' 'Disciplining restive party members, and taming recalcitrant allies will then be far more difficult for him,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'It is clear that economic policy and reform under this administration will always be afterthoughts, something to be carried out only when no other political concern intervenes -- when, in other words, the government feels safe and comfortable enough to take a moderate risk,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
Advice to the new finance minister from former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan: 1. Clean up banks by reviving projects that can be revived after restructuring debt. 2. Improve governance and management at public sector banks. 3. De-risk banking by encouraging risk transfers to non-banks and the market. 4. Reduce the number and weight of government mandates for public sector banks, and for banks more generally.
