'Atrocity on Dalits get political support.'
'It will not be a battle of unequals as it may have been thought a few months ago, but one on more or less a level playing field.' 'The Gujarat outcome cannot but breathe new life into the Congress for having almost succeeded in bearding the lion in its den,' says Amulya Ganguli.
As they kickstarted campaigning for the October 15 Assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sonia Gandhi on Saturday traded fire with the former attacking the Congress regime for having done "little" in the last 60 years and she likening him to "empty vessels" making noise.
From farmers to cement, steel, logistics, transportation and automobiles, the back-end is struggling to get going due to the liquidity crisis.
'They are trying to make the situation bad for Indian Railways so that they can hand it over to private companies.'
'The Union government does not have much of a governance function other than to send orders.' 'But even the sending down of orders it cannot do properly,' observes Aakar Patel.
'Modi's investment in the relationship with Washington is the biggest deliverable of this visit. He means business and that's fantastic!'
Wisner said during a discussion organised by Asia Society here yesterday on the Indian elections.
'China was the elephant in the Oval Office and Trump would have sensed that Modi's foreign policy architecture has become disoriented sans the US' pivot to Asia,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Australian premier Tony Abbott on Friday said Narendra Modi as Gujarat Chief Minister should not be blamed for the 2002 riots in the state as he was just a "presiding officer" who has been cleared in "endless inquiries".
'Our first great challenge is to create 12 million new jobs each year, to make the demographic dividend an economic dividend.' 'We are nowhere near that,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
What does someone from Uttar Pradesh on the streets of Mumbai think of the results back home?
The visit next week, which is yet to be formally announced by Downing Street, follows the successful completion of four out of 26 chapters in the ongoing India-UK free trade agreement negotiations.
A picture released by the federal agency showed bundles of seized Rs 500 currency notes along with a few in the denomination of Rs 2,000 and Rs 200 stacked together on a bed.
The Make in India campaign was launched by Modi in September.
Modi said India will pursue its dreams in partnership with its international friends.
'I give Modi full credit, for brilliantly using his personal diplomacy, his personal stature, to accomplish his goals...'
Ahead of PM Modi's maiden visit to the UK, the British media today said "troubles at home" after the BJP's drubbing in the Bihar elections will overshadow his visit.
Business chambers now inviting start-ups for membership.
The first step to keeping your job safe, experts tell Rediff.com's Divya Nair, is understanding why layoffs happen.
'This is social reform, which has to be conducted from within society and by its institutions, like religious bodies, not by public officials and ministers. That is why I think the big change Modi seeks is actually not in his power to bring about,' says Aakar Patel.
'So far the youth were Modi's strength.' 'It now seems under pressure, and for good reason: Crisis in education, jobs, slowdown in manufacturing, and thereby trading,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has said that he "really wanted" Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in a crucial climate change summit in New York next week to mobilise political will for a universal and meaningful climate agreement.
While hybrids, CNG and biofuels found favour in 2018 among many carmakers including Maruti Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Honda, others such as M&M and Tata Motors have shown full faith in electric vehicles.
The first part of the Budget Session of Parliament is likely to end on February 13 instead of February 15, sources said on Friday, underling that the total number of working days would however remain the same.
'When Sachin Tendulkar bats, no one in India cares if he is from Mumbai or if he is a Hindu or a Brahmin or whatever.' 'We just want him to win it for India.' 'The same is with Modi and the people who voted across caste and regional lines for him.' We want him to win it for India,' says Madhu A K.
"We now realise that the so-called farmer agitation hardly remains a farmers' agitation. It has almost got infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements, a flavour of which we saw over the last two days when there were extraneous demands to release people who have been put behind bars for anti-national (and) who have been put behind bars for illegal activities," Goyal, the Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Food and Consumers Affairs, said at FICCI's annual meeting.
'If he has been able to overcome this major obstacle (withdrawal of POCSO after the complainant and victim withdrew the charge) I don't think he has anything to worry about now.' 'Cancellation of POCSO is akin to giving him a lifeline.'
Roshan Shah, a Canadian citizen and an Overseas Citizen of India, filed a Right to Information application in Gujarat in 2013 to demand that Narendra Modi, then the Gujarat chief minister, make his educational qualifications public.
'It's not that the Opposition has to search for common ground.' 'The government is handing the common ground to the Opposition.'
'When he first came to office, my belief is that the PM's reading of the landscape was that, with a vanquished Congress and fragmented Opposition, he was looking at least at two terms in office. This reading perhaps allows for a more cautious, gradual approach.' 'It was only a matter of time before the government was forced to come face-to-face with a serious corruption scandal. This is not a commentary on the BJP, but a statement about India's political economy.' 'There is growing concern about the government's commitment to freedom of expression, religious tolerance, and an independent civil society. Thus far, the positive movement on strategic and economic matters has crowded out these concerns, but they are lingering beneath the surface.'
'Anybody who speaks up, anybody who reports something that the government feels uncomfortable with, or comments on anything could be charged with criminal cases, could be summoned to police stations, slapped around or grilled for several hours. This has become a new norm.'
Four decades of federal evolution made India more secure, but coronavirus is reversing that. Modi's central government has tasted power again and is unlikely to give it up, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Modi's'Make in India' drive launched last September included laying out a model of "port-led" development that would support industrial growth.
It is unusual to see Narendra Modi highlight his OBC status -- something he has never done in his long political career. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com examines Modi's compulsions for bringing his caste to the foreground
The agency's poor track record in convictions is the only light at the end of a rather long tunnel for the couple, observes Shyamal Majumdar.
'The AMs are a different beast and reflect the political play within the government.' 'Prime Minister Modi does not need to assuage any interest group to take the final call on any decision that belongs rightfully to the Cabinet,' points out Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
The Budget loosened the reins on public spending to drive growth.
'Reports of hitherto 'atmanirbhar' breadwinners having to stand in line for a plastic bag of khichdi or, travelling thousands of kms with nothing but packets of biscuits, have not moved the prime minister,' observes Jyoti Punwani.
'After Vajpayee-Advani, Modi-Shah is the second best in India.'
