Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt unearths some never-told-before details of Narendra Modi's early life. Read on!
The only reason for the new deal is to give Rs 30,000 crore to industrialist Anil Ambani, the Congress chief alleged.
'While Piyush Goel, Dharmendra Pradhan, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and a clutch of former bureaucrats including R K Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri and K J Alphons are loyal BJP members, none of them fit the mould of party apparatchiks.' 'In fact, many of the latter kind have been shown the door or have been given reduced charges.' 'That goes to show the prime minister's comfort level in dealing with professionals and administrators and the trust he reposes in them,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
It was a muted Independence Day celebrations because of the dawn-to-dusk general strike called by multiple militant outfits and the loss of lives and property of hundreds of people over the last three months in the ethnic strife.
'Both reflect prejudice and short-sightedness peculiar to Mr Modi's way of thinking.'
Gandhi said that the BJP government has clearly mishandled the economy that was built by the United Progressive Alliance government, and is now resorting to selling the country's assets as a "last resort" to generate some money.
The meeting between the two leaders lasted about 20 minutes.
She could not believe how much India had changed since the last time she experienced it first hand.
'New Delhi's rulers should be alert to lighting a dangerous tinderbox,' warns Sunil Sethi.
'The Modi administration has access to so much evidence that it can rip apart the Congress, not just the Nehru-Gandhis, but almost the entire leadership structure of the party,' says T V R Shenoy.
'Having India as a credible deterrent vis-a-vis Chinese ambitions in the Indian Ocean and South Asian region is a desirable short-term outcome.'
The stone is expected to be brought to India by Sri Lankan high commissioner to India Milinda Moragoda.
The known unknowns in Prime Minister Modi's Saudi visit assume great significance, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Shah said that it is "a 3-D government in Rajasthan and three Ds stands for 'dange' (riots), 'durvyavhar' (ill-treatment) with women and 'Dalit' atrocities.
An occasional quiz to improve Narendrabhai's grasp of Indian history...
"They say I am anti-Hindu. No. I am anti-(Narendra) Modi, I am anti-Hegde, I am anti-Amit Shah. According to me, they are not Hindus. Mr Anant Kumar Hegde, who says he wants to wipe out an 'ism', a religion from the face of this earth cannot be a Hindu," Prakash Raj said.
The Opposition party asked whether the prime minister will take responsibility for the 'deadliest rail tragedy' of this century.
"You will not see him (PM) hug a poor person," Gandhi said.
Parrikar had moved to the South Block at the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014.
Ramesh, however, said it was too early to talk about all this right now as the Congress' first priority was the upcoming elections in Karnataka and the string of state polls this year.
'In Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, he is far more popular than the defeated chief ministers,' notes Karan Thapar.
The government has made its initial moves, good and not-so-good, while the roll-out in some cases has been slow.
The Congress on Thursday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government over a scuffle between the Delhi Police and the wrestlers protesting at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, with Rahul Gandhi condemning such 'shameful' behaviour with sportspersons and alleging the ruling party has 'never shied away' from committing atrocities on the daughters of the country.
That's why he is now finally focusing on the two things that alone can help: Fiscal expansion -- from December onwards -- and supply management via amended laws and rules that affect business, notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan
'From his persistent fuelling of pan-Hindu nationalism to pandering to narrow Gujarati chauvinism, Rambo rides again, using fair means and foul -- and often foul -- to gain the battleground,' says Sunil Sethi.
Congress chief urged Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to answer the questions raised by the Congress on the multi-million dollar fighter jet deal.
Delhi University had claimed that unless the roll number of a student is not provided, it would be difficult to search the records.
'What the interview with Modi told me was that now he is open to granting interviews.' 'And in this connection let me offer our credentials for being considered in this election season,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Mr Modi should welcome the rupee's fall as overdue, not criticise it.
'We are calling for democratic accountability even as we talk about Digital India.' 'We are not against Digital India and it is important for India, but the government should not see what is applicable just to entrepreneurs but also to the vast majority of Indians who do not have the kind of advantages that many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs have.'
'Vajpayee would not have approved either of the way the BJP now functions or of the thoughts that it entertains in its mind,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'We know each other for quite some time.' 'He could provide stability to the country for five years.' 'But he could not provide confidence to the countrymen that he is our leader.'
India has conveyed its concerns to the top security and intelligence officials of the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia over the possible implications of Pakistan's links with the Taliban and various terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan for regional security and stability, people familiar with the development said.
So let's stop focusing the Modi agenda on India Inc and the capital markets, and let's start focusing on the Modi development agenda for the average Indian.
'The Americans want to have a good relationship with India. They see it as a counterweight to China. And also American businesses are all trying to get out of China and go to India and Vietnam as well, but India largely.'
'Mr Modi would compliment a Nobel Prize winner, but members of his party or the government would not be restrained from either making unfair comments or criticising him for having offered advice to an Opposition political party,' says A K Bhattacharya.
Lauding India's ambitious space programme, The New York Times has said the country, currently witnessing an 'explosive' growth in space-tech start-ups, is set to 'transform the planet's connection to the final frontier' and can emerge as a 'counterweight' to China.
Law Minister Kapil Sibal on Friday launched a scathing attack on Bharatiya Janata Party saying the party which indulges in "doublespeak" on corruption cannot question the prime minister on the issue as the UPA has taken graft head on and its ministers have resigned on "mere" allegations.
