'Should you give a man fish, or teach him how to fish?' 'Lurking hidden in the new bout of welfarism seems to be an admission that the State can't deliver for the poor anything other than cash,' notes T N Ninan.
'Victims of terrorism do not sit together with its perpetrators to discuss terrorism.'
'The US will not want to tangle with China landwards.' 'Nor will the US confront the Chinese navy seawards on India's account.'
Never one to complain about her circumstances, Preity is making the best of her prolonged isolation in Los Angeles.
'Will Muslims in large numbers react positively, especially in the context of the events of the last thirty years?' 'In the process, could Modi end up alienating his core supporters?' A fascinating excerpt from Jaithirth Rao's The Indian Conservative : A History of Indian Right-Wing Thought.
'They are happy for the Hindu community as Ram Lalla is consecrated in Ayodhya.'
On Wednesday, October 27, the old political warhorse returned to the election trail, campaigning for the October 30 by-elections to the Kusheshwar Asthan and Tarapur assembly seats in Bihar.
Modi isn't going to voters on his track record but on the fear of the terrorist across the border and the Muslims within. It's a battle on his terms, says Shekhar Gupta.
PM Modi's pinstriped suit monogrammed is the star attraction at an auction.
'He totally gets the Gandhis...' 'If anything, he pays too much attention to the Gandhis.' 'I feel that in places like UP, where the Congress doesn't matter, he often spends time blasting the Gandhis.'
After the outbreak of the pandemic in the country he has ruled with an iron hand in recent years, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist party of China, has mostly stayed put in Beijing.
'Wisdom demands Modi moves to restore the critical institutions of the State and dial back on the cult building around his persona,' say Sonali Ranade and Shealja Sharma.
'The narrative that is the ruling party is using on Pulwama is not productive.' 'I do not think Modi and the BJP will get more votes because of that incident and the response to it,' says Aakar Patel.
'It is not that he has not committed any mistakes; he has.' 'But people were willing to forgive you if you were honest.'
Will January 22 mark a point of no return for our Constitutional secularism? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Nivedita Mookerji goes in search of the elusive war room to track and respond to the coronavirus threat.
'I will need a few more pictures, sir, can I get some time from you for a more extended photo shoot?' asked Singh. Modi, ever-obliging before the camera, laughed. 'Sure, but let us plan to do it after my swearing-in is over in May!' The Balakot effect was evident. A fascinating excerpt from Rajdeep Sardesai's 2019: How Modi Won India.
'My protest was in the interest of the nation.' 'I am just doing my duty as a citizen of this country.'
In its sway over national politics now, the Modi-Shah BJP is what the Congress was under Indira Gandhi. Why would they indulge coalition partners, their greed and egos now, asks Shekhar Gupta.
'The central government is putting conditions on farmers organisations, that they have to allow passenger trains to ply, only then will they allow goods trains to ply.'
'If Mayawati had performed better, then the BJP would have had a much tougher time to win UP.' 'The present gap in number of seats between the BJP and SP would have got reduced.'
'In his first speech in Parliament, Modi spoke about the slavery of 1,400 years, and though he didn't say in so many words, the meaning was that he had come to re-establish a Hindu Rashtra.'
French sources say Hollande was motivated to speak out after an Indian media report revealed that the Reliance Group had part-funded a film venture by his domestic partner, French actress Julie Gayet.
'The Modi government's greatest blunder is to exploit sensitive external relations in its domestic politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
BJP plans to put up strong candidates against these 15 MPs.
''I have been saying for the last 25 years, to no avail naturally, that the only government asset that is politically unproblematic is land,' says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
'Modi looks to be an effective, result-oriented, purposeful leader, focused on bringing greatness and glory to the nation.'
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So it is best for his critics to give up their sniping and supplement his efforts,' asserts B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant who served three prime ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monogrammed bandhgala, which he wore at his meeting with United States President Barack Obama in January and which has been under auction for the last three days in Surat, has finally been sold for a whopping price of Rs 4.31 crore.
'Air India's privatisation is acceptable as long as its control does not pass on to a foreign entity,' says A K Bhattacharya.
'The implication of being adamant is to be arrogant. So yes, he is arrogant.'
Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Nagaland counterpart Neiphiu Rio held closed door interaction with NSCN (IM) chief negotiator Thuingaleng Muivah at Dimapur on Tuesday, a government official said.
'Maybe, if Mr Modi can fire over Patel's gigantic shoulder, people will start to think that he is very much like Patel?' 'It's a long shot, but the Modi sheen has worn awfully thin, and after five years and a long, much-frayed rope, he faces real accountability from voters.' 'He needs any help he can get,' says Mitali Saran.
The parade began after President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Ashoka Chakra -- India's highest peacetime gallantry award -- to Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life fighting a group of terrorists in Shopian in Kashmir in November.
During Abe's tenure, Japan had announced support for a number of major projects. These included the bullet train project between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, besides allocations for a freight corridor between Mumbai and New Delhi.
'It is surprising Mumbaikars take it all in their stride, but it has nothing to do with the crappy spirit of Mumbai that television channels extol every time a tragedy hits us, but all to do with the compulsion of stepping out to earn one's daily roti and dal,' says N Suresh.
'Why do the English-speaking class feel they are the only ones who are efficient in work?' 'My own mother was from a village and she was more efficient than me. She used to handle crises better than me.' 'We will have to come out of our elite perception of governance.'
'The anti-India biases of the Western elite can be attributed to the unease these privileged nations feel at the rise of Asian nations like India and China.' 'But what ought to shock all right-thinking Indians is that many of our own countrymen/women have joined this chorus,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Modi will address a rally to boost BJP candidate Smriti Irani's chances.
'Rama is Lord God of maryada. Today's maryada is the Constitution.'
'Lee Kuan Yew told me he used to look to India, especially the writings of Nehru and Sardar Panikkar, for guidance on governance.' 'It's ironic that India should have so much to learn of the spirit of democracy from his son,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
