Ashoke Pandit took to Facebook to slam Nihalani, saying Anushka Sharma's NH10 was a victim of his 'crass functioning'.
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.
'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.
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 court said that the petitioner can approach a higher court for further investigation in the case.
'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.
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 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.
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.
'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.
'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.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Saturday.
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.
'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.
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.
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.
'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.'
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.
'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.
The growth has not been very robust in the first two financial years of the 12th Plan.
What does Nobel Laureate Abhijit Banerjee thinks about India's education sector?
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Monday.
'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.
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'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.
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.
'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.
A round-up of the Ranji Trophy quarter-final matches played on Monday.
'This is obvious to everyone except those in denial; it is a national shame.' 'To that extent, blaming any particular government is an insufficient response,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'Xi's assumption of absolute power is neither complete, nor irreversible.' 'Nor is it safe, for Xi, for his party, or for his country more generally.' 'And the government knows this,' says Mihir S Sharma.
What Saisuresh Sivaswamy learnt about the election from television and the newspapers. A must read column, folks!
'The link between global warming and weird, extreme weather events is being better understood every year.' 'India is particularly at risk from such events.' 'Indian communities and urban centres don't have the resilience needed to survive such disasters,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'And who sold this belief?' 'Public-spirited individuals' like Subramanian Swamy.' 'Independent public servants' like Vinod Rai. 'Anti-corruption activists' like Kiran Bedi. And 'outspoken television anchors' like Arnab Goswami,' says Mihir S Sharma.
'A one party-State, with only one kind of Indian,' argues Mihir S Sharma.