'You have a chance to use this massive mandate to push through life changing reforms, transform India into a superpower because our nation's biggest strength are its people, and we the people are the most hardworking industrious and entrepreneurial the world has ever seen.' 'Arm us with a society which lives without fear, a governance where business can be conducted smoothly without greasing palms, instill in this great nation a sense of pride once again. Let this nation be bigger than you and the party.' Suparn Verma's impassioned appeal to Narendra Modi.
The Congress recalled that on June 10, 2004, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented by the BJP from speaking on the Motion of Thanks to the President's Address.
The climate for 'doing business' remains forbidding, taxtortion is still rife, corruption at state and district levels has increased, oil prices remain extortive with high taxation, and the continued red tape has kept the enterprise system as stifled as before, points out Debashis Basu.
The Congress party has criticized the Indo-US trade agreement, calling it a 'surrender' of India's self-esteem and interests, and a betrayal of Indian farmers and MSMEs.
Lack of decisiveness and courage to deal with PSBs may turn out be the biggest impediment to the Modi government's economic initiatives, says Debashis Basu.
Betting big on India's AI potential, Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Wednesday announced new subsea cable routes to boost AI connectivity between India and the US, alongside major skilling initiatives, including training 20 million public servants and supporting 11 million students
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the question of who could be an alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi is "irrelevant" as in a parliamentary system people are not electing an individual but a party or a coalition of parties.
'Chinese leaders rarely receive their foreign guests in cities other than Beijing. Such respect for India!' 'Does it mean that Modi could replicate "the warmth and unconventional way" by sending Indian troops into Tibet, as Xi did in Chumur (Ladakh) when he arrived in India? Of course, Indians are far too polite to do so,' says Claude Arpi.
The Lok Sabha rejected a resolution seeking the removal of Om Birla as Speaker by a voice vote amidst opposition protests and demands for an apology from Home Minister Amit Shah.
Information technology, not manufacturing or infrastructure, should be the focus of the government while implementing initiatives such as Make in India and Start Up India.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that India and France will collaborate to develop an artificial intelligence framework that combines innovation with responsibility and technology with humanity, addressing the need for inclusive digital tools amid rising geopolitical tensions.
The Indian government has revoked the detention of climate activist Sonam Wangchuk, who was held under the National Security Act following protests in Ladakh.
'Despite the large number of missiles and drones we have already launched, we still possess reserves and missile cities whose doors have not yet been opened,' says Iran's Consul-General Saeid Reza Mosayeb Motlagh.
'Around 15,000 people will be gathering.'
The Congress party has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi following repeated claims by former US President Donald Trump that he brokered peace between India and Pakistan.
'Course correction today would be good politics and also good economics,' notes T N Ninan.
Inderjit Singh Bindra served as the BCCI president from 1993 to 1996, and was also the president of the Punjab Cricket Association from 1978 to 2014
Tamil film actor Kamal Haasan said, "Mersal was certified. Don't re-censor it. Counter criticism with logical response. Don't silence critics. India will shine when it speaks."
'If the BJP seriously addresses employment, examination integrity and systemic corruption, they might salvage their position. Otherwise, they are heading toward serious trouble in 2027.'
Amid disruptions in the Lok Sabha, opposition parties are protesting the denial of speaking rights to the Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, during discussions on the President's address. The Congress party draws parallels to a similar incident in 2004 when then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was prevented from speaking.
For Canada, important steps towards containing domestic elements that fuel pro-Khalistan sentiments can go a long way in signalling trust positively with regard to security and sovereignty, point out Harsh V Pant and Vivek Mishra.
'Modi swept the 2014 elections for two main reasons: First, the disgust with the Congress government with a non-functional prime minister, and second, more importantly, his promise of performance and hope.' 'He cannot expect to win 2019 on these planks again. His own success in finishing the Congress will take away one plank, and with five years of reign on his CV, he will need to flaunt performance more than promise.'
'When the prime minister and home minister promised their full support for the development of Kerala, why should we not be a part of them?'
'Mere fundamentals will not do the trick,' cautions former commerce secretary Rahul Khullar.
The Congresssaid BJP veterans Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Kishan Advani never did this, but PM Modi by doing so is "demeaning" the high office he holds.
Much of the pre-2014 peace in our hotspots is diminished. Kashmir is on the boil and the Northeast is anarchic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'We aren't so unreasonable as to demand that he should have fully reversed Indira Gandhi's worst economic legacy, bank nationalisation.' 'But he could have made a beginning by selling off the two most stressed small public sector banks, and then announced that each year for the next 10, one government bank with the most messed-up balance sheet will be sold.' 'It would have electrified the markets, shocked his other banks into better behaviour, and marked his name among the great reformers,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
The Congress will launch a nationwide campaign against the repeal of the United Progressive Alliance-era rural employment legislation Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) on January 5, similar to the pushback against the three farm laws which eventually forced the Narendra Modi government to rollback its decision, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said.
The Congress party has criticized the government for not inviting Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi to the banquet for Russian President Vladimir Putin, while also questioning Shashi Tharoor's decision to accept the invitation.
The Congress has lodged complaints with the Election Commission against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, accusing them of making 'false, divisive, malicious and slanderous' statements during their recent election campaign.
The opposition on Saturday termed the absence of female journalists from a press conference of visiting Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi "unacceptable" and an "insult to women", and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence in the face of such discrimination exposes the "emptiness" of his slogans on Nari Shakti.
Narendra Modi promised to be A B de Villiers but has batted like a Geoff Boycott, says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan
'Ordinary Indians are not happy with the tone and tenor of the American president.'
The Congress PM Modi of taking inspiration from Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels
Now it's all jibes about his chameleon-like politics and fading grip on the administration. But there was a time Nitish had the BJP trembling in the state, points out Aditi Phadnis.
Will a caste census make tens of millions desert Mr Modi?, asks Shekhar Gupta.
'I don't want to be called a new Indian voter when I am an old Indian voter.'
Struggling, corrupt construction industry will be challenged by the prime minster's $250-billion plan
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor disputes Donald Trump's claims of using trade to stop the India-Pakistan military conflict in May, citing conversations with government officials.
