Surat had bagged the fourth rank under the Smart Cities Mission based on its proposal.
Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are over. Another set of state elections is due in 2018. Here's an assessment of the next round of the electoral challenge and how it could change India's political equations.
The defence minister has 20 months to learn the military's ethos, culture and to publicly bat for an organisation that feels increasingly marginalised and underappreciated.
'Why doesn't the prime minister wake up to these social issues?' 'This government is basically saying rape is all right.'
The IAF faces a 'fighter gap' of 13 squadrons. The IAF would be caught seriously short in a two-front war -- the worst-case planning contingency in which China and Pakistan attack India simultaneously, points out Ajai Shukla.
Offering his condolences to Vajpayee's family and admirers, Rahul Gandhi said the former prime minister was loved and respected by millions.
US Ambassador to India Richard Verma and Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Biswal were among the top officials present at the base to receive Modi.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Friday said its stance on Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir has not changed, even as it termed as "teething problems" the friction between BJP and PDP in the state stressing that the "novel experiment" should be given time to succeed.
"The weak don't survive, the strong survive. You make peace, alliances with the strong. You are able to maintain peace by being strong," he said.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
Will the 2016 assembly election be Stalin's to lead the DMK in?
The BJP said it did not approve of the way Alam was released or with the decision itself.
The fruits of election boycotts are harvested not only by the separatists but also by beneficiaries across the democratic divide, points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
The committee said whatever benefit RIL received in terms of the migrated gas is liable to be returned to the government.
Jayalalithaa's attack on BJP's PM hopeful a little too late in the coming, says N Sathiya Moorthy
'Nitish is now a helpless junior ally of Hindutva.' 'He just cannot think of reining in the hoodlums raging, marauding and killing in the mohallas,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
The so-called soil scam has left Lalu alone in the Mahagathbandhan.
'Slaughter of cows will be opposed by all parties in UP, Gujarat, Rajasthan, etc while it is different in Kerala, Goa and the north east.' 'Every national party adapts and take a view on various issues depending on the local situation and the feelings of the local people.' 'So, the Kerala BJP will look at each issue from the Kerala perspective, and not that of UP.'
Nitin Gokhale, national security expert and founder BharatShakti.in, tells us what the controversy is all about.
While it took the Congress nearly a half century to earn the hatred of other political outfits, the BJP appears set to reach there in around six years, says Arun Bhatnagar, former secretary to the GoI.
'The Opposition has no option but to make it an 'All versus One' fight to even think about winning.'
'It has also underestimated the striking force of the Opposition. It has been complacent and paralysed. That may be due to the compulsions of coalition politics and the arrogance of a party which looked at itself as entitled to rule,' says political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot.
Contentious issues such as the construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, abrogation of Art 370 giving special status to Jammu and Kashmir and enactment of Uniform Civil Code have been included in the Bharatiya Janata Party's election manifesto with the party making promises on them.
The AIADMK swept the polls winning 37 of the 39 seats, leaving DMK, its rivals, and the BJP to do a serious rethinking before the assembly elections in 2016, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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".
The new ordinance on land acquisition will allow land grabbers to deprive millions, destroy agriculture, horticulture, rivers, forests, tree cover and mangroves to extract minerals as well as ground water, without replenishment at a pace that will not leave anything for the next generation, warns activist Medha Patkar.
It will not be to India's advantage to create misperceptions that it is bandwagoning with some Anglo-American project for regime change in Myanmar, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
Assembly elections in Assam used to be a quiet affair and people outside the state would take little interest in the outcome. This time, even in faraway Delhi, people are keeping tabs on political developments in Assam.
As Narendra Modi files his nomination in Varanasi, Praful Bidwai believes 'a straight contest against Priyanka would have put Modi on the defensive and forced him to concentrate on Varanasi.'
The Indian armed forces, especially the Navy, are building partnerships in the Indo-Pacific region for peace and security, as well as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, he said.
Just in case the NDA is unable to reach 272 seats and is in the low range of 220 seats, then some novel ideas may spring up. Like a 'national government'. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports on the various scenarios that are being considered by the political parties, and by the President of India.
BJP claimed close to 116 lawmakers from rival parties appeared to have voted for Kovind.
Mehbooba Mufti will be CM while Nirmal Singh will again be the deputy chief minister in the new cabinet, a post he had held in the Mufti Mohammed Syeed's dispensation.
With almost 300 seats to the Lok Sabha being dominated by regional outfits, the Congress has added to the list by giving space to more regional forces in the Seema-Andhra and Telangana regions, says Saroj Nagi.
'The BJP's all-India plans can be expected to become clearer around 2022-2023, particularly if -- as some anticipate -- the senior Congress leadership cracks, broadly as between the Nehru-Gandhi loyalists and those who may be termed 'pro-changers',' observes Arun Bhatnagar, a retired IAS officer.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
The Budget sets out a comprehensive vision.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The BJP has already cobbled up 28 seats to counter-bargain with the PDP's 28 seats in future talks. It is up to the Kashmir-based parties like the National Conference and PDP to assess the damage of going with the BJP which is perceived as the 'Hindu' party in the state. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com's takeways from a historic but fractured mandate in Jammu and Kashmir.
