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.
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.
India's steel imports from China, the world's biggest producer of the alloy, doubled in April-September from a year ago though the country has enough capacity to meet its demand.
'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.
Around 75 professors and other academics of Indian origin working at some of Britain's prestigious institutions such as Cambridge and Oxford university and London School of Economics on Tuesday issued an open letter, sharply attacking Narendra Modi and saying, "The idea of Modi in power fills us with dread".
'After Vajpayee-Advani, Modi-Shah is the second best in India.'
'It's not that the Opposition has to search for common ground.' 'The government is handing the common ground to the Opposition.'
'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.'
Instead, increases in foreign-direct-investment levels; and reforms to make labour, land and capital more mobile.
Two former senior United States diplomats, with more than 60 years experience in South Asia between them, have exhorted Washington to establish communication with Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi sooner than later.
'So you wonder, couldn't he have combined these two qualities: His love of his own voice, and his acting talents, to voice concern about the Kathua and Unnao rapes?' asks Jyoti Punwani. 'His supporters are siding with the accused in the first case, and are the accused in the second.'
'AAP's real value must be measured not by the number of Lok Sabha seats it wins in the election -- which may not exceed 10 or 15 -- and not even by the number of votes it takes from the BJP, but by its ability to deflate Modi's superhuman '56-inch chest' image and the charisma so assiduously manufactured around him by the corporate-controlled media.'
The absence of a clear underlying economic ideology in the Budget was quite evident, say experts.
'The BJP has lost 5 states and Lok Sabha elections are due in less than 90 days.' 'The reservation bill is a jhunjhuna (lollipop) for the upper castes.'
'The attack on the Pathankot base constituted an act of war. Yet Modi's only public comment up until now on that attack has been to blame it on "enemies of humanity".' 'Modi came to power talking tough about Pakistan. But in office, he has pursued a Pakistan policy that has lost both direction and purpose,' argues Brahma Chellaney.
'Our approach is forward-looking. The central leadership wants young leaders to lead the charge now. This will also send a clear signal that lapses will not be tolerated. We are targeting beyond 2025.' Satyavrat Mishra reports.
After one year in power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is pretty much on the back foot, even if he continues to display bravado in his public pronouncements. He knows within his heart that he has wasted a lot of his political capital without getting much in return, says M K Venu.
These self-appointed well-wishers of AMU are basically for the control or police model of university governance. They have no faith whatsoever in the democratic functioning of the universities, observes Faizan Mustafa, former dean, Faculty of Law, and Registrar, Aligarh Muslim University.
Foxconn means serious business in India. Its delegation to India was led by its Chairman Young Liu who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A coalition of over 150 US-based academicians back Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Silicon Valley next week and counter refute 130 US-based South Asian academics who oppose the Modi visit and his Digital India initiative.
Like Indira Gandhi, even Narendra Modi seems to be relying on directing public-sector banks through ministry of finance supported by party cadres, says Debashis Basu.
Noting that while every MP has a constitutional right to speak in Parliament and express his/her views on various topics, he said it is also one of the foremost duties of every member to maintain decency and should not speak anything that would lower the dignity of Parliament and categorised as 'Contempt of the House'.
Nirmala Sitharaman said Nirav Modi may have been able to run away from the country, but the government is taking action against him, and claimed that it will "surely nab him".
Unfortunately, in India, infrastructure projects are lost in a miasma of political and personal vanity, observes Shyam G Menon.
'Most likely scenario is Modi comes back with either a much smaller majority and no majority at all and a coalition.' 'Very hard to imagine him doing better than he did last time.' 'He will then be a weaker prime minister,' the author of The Billionaire Raj tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Narendra Modi's speech at the India Economic Convention was the best such oration since Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed the nation from the Red Fort in the aftermath of Kargil, feels Shreekant Sambrani.
To fly 10 start-ups to San Francisco HQ of the company
In his campaign blitzkrieg in poll-bound Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused the Congress of seeking to divide the people on caste and religious lines.
'When they completely surrender to the BJP or the BJP has completely taken over the party, what's the point in the AIADMK surviving and doing business in the state?'
'The world does not care about the tension on our border.' 'India has to emerge as a strong economic power.' 'Respect comes when the world sees a country with a direction and leadership that has a vision,' points out Ramesh Menon.
The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Xi Jinping got a dose of Modi's medicine inside the tent where he was being hosted on the banks of the Sabarmati river.' 'Modi reportedly told him, looking deep into his eyes: "This was not expected of your country. Can you tell me when the troops are withdrawing?".'
Modi ranks 9th on the Forbes list of 74 of the World's Most Powerful People.
The Chinese President dethroned Russian President Vladimir Putin as the most influential person on the planet.
A K Bhattacharya deciphers Prime Minister Narendra Modi's first cabinet reshuffle.
'Premature lifting of the lockdown will spread the disease from asymptomatics, and those undetected, to the whole community, ushering in prolonged misery, preventable and avoidable deaths, famine and social unrest,' warns Dr Debashish Danda.
'Modi, focused on youth and their aspirations, has articulated a truly disruptive change: One of hope, of duties rather than rights, of standing up to the world instead of being bullied by it,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Is the idea of a committed judiciary once again being floated, though surreptitiously, unlike in the past when it was direct?'
The Prime Minister also underscored the importance of public sector undertakings in the country.
