Coronavirus is the biggest story of our lives and a billion plus people expect us to be around, watching, reporting, editing, recording this for posterity and blowing the whistle to draw attention to injustices and State failures, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The focus shifts almost immediately from celebrations to the challenges faced by the man who powered his party to 303 seats in the Lok Sabha.
From corruption to communalism, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's Rs 70 lakh Hublot watch to United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, the electoral potboiler had it all.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump should not be elected as the next United States president as he is "unfit" for the post and makes "crude generalisations" about nations and religions, Washington Post and New York Times said in their editorials.
Truth be acknowledged, Rajinikanth is not known for wanting to leave his comfort zone to take the politico-electoral plunge, even if it meant his becoming the chief minister of a state that has conferred Tamil cinema's superstardom on him over the past 25 years. Today, his fans belong to the younger generation all right, but their numbers are far fewer than their counterparts in the '90s. They are not devoid of personal ambitions and agendas, unlike what Rajinikanh wants them to be, if he and they were to enter politics, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'What did we get out of this agitation? Nothing... Now we feel it was all a mistake. We have no work, and our land has turned infertile. We are living in abject poverty'
Prodded by Mamata Banerjee, Keya Sarkar updates her voter card only to discover...
"We'll see how she works out. She did very, very poorly in the primaries as you know. She was expected to do well. She ended up at right around two per cent," Trump told reporters at a White House news conference.
Some even claimed that the Centre just wanted to win lands and 'not hearts of Kashmiris'.
Pakistan needs to take practical steps to demonstrate that it is countering terrorist financing and extremists.
'Igniting in this country, a false feeding of nationalism combined with religion.' 'They are promoting the religion of the majority people in the country to feed their political agenda.'
'Priyanka Gandhi, it was obvious to everyone but the inner circle, would have only served as a sacrificial lamb in this high-octane contest, the Modi juggernaut would have simply trundled over her and whatever ill-hatched plans the Congress had in mind,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Both countries are closer than before due to these two leaders's public display of mutual connectivity and warm exchanges of words, but how it will help India to serve its interests will be known on Tuesday.
Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for petitioners, told the bench that the apex court had increased the random matching of VVPAT slips with EVMs to five polling booths per assembly segment and they are now seeking that it should be increased to 25 per cent at least.
'Of all the election skirmishes, it is the one between Mamata and Modi that has hit the nadir.' 'Obviously, the prize catch is Bengal where the BJP is determined to make inroads while Mamata is equally determined to keep them out,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
The first -- and only -- United States vice presidential debate between Mike Pence and Kamala Harris is over. It was a far more civil affair than last week's debacle between US President Donald Trump and former US Vice President Joe Biden. The tone for much of the 90 minutes was a marked contrast to last week's chaotic and bitter slam-fest between their running mates.
'Look at the aggressive way in which a campaign against Friday namaz is going on in North Indian cities.' 'Even the Union home minister is part of this vicious campaign.'
Participants at the Indian Wheelchair Tennis Tour held in Chennai did not let adversity affect their outlook on life. A Ganesh Nadar presents some of their stories.
Singh again hit out at his successor Modi on the eve of the second and final phase of the Gujarat polls.
Hari Shankar Brahma, who took over as the 19th Chief Election Commissioner on Friday, said his priority and "mission objective" is to ensure free and fair conduct of Delhi assembly polls.
'A breakthrough in eastern Ladakh leading to disengagement and creation of a buffer zone will obviate the need of military deployment through the winter months ahead,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Why are states important to win for national parties? What is the significance of local power? That was what we should have a look at because the Congress has been squeezed out of power in more states today than it has ever been in history.
There is a vocal constituency of educated, well-to-do, articulate Indian elites who would rather go with the idea that too much democracy is a liability. That India needs a spell of benevolent dictatorship. Of course, they have never lived under one, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Yet another surgical strike? India's Osama bin Laden moment? A fresh demonetisation exercise? What could it possibly be?
The domestic deal-making activities were hit by weak corporate governance and a huge liquidity crunch in 2019, while the global deals were also hard to come by due to various factors including uncertainties caused by the US-China trade war, which left many investors in a wait-and-watch mode.
'The next general election is four years away. That's enough time to recover -- provided the government stops spending and taxing so much,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
Modi said Congress's 'politics begins and ends with one family'.
The apparent BJP move to accept Kanda's support was slammed by the opposition Congress and BJP leader Uma Bharti, who recalled the row in which the politician was involved when as a minister in Haryana's Congress government in 2012.
He urged the crowd attending a pro-CAA rally to give a missed call to the 8866288662, pledging their support to the legislation. Shah also sought to dispel 'rumours' of discord within the NDA in Bihar and said CM Nitish Kumar will be the alliance leader in the state.
'The question is really can we prevent half a million deaths.' 'We are fast approaching that number.'
'Freebies are yet be proven a 'pucca' vote-catcher. But don't say that to KCR because he takes pride in two things: His record of delivery and imagination,' says Shekhar Gupta.
A spirited turn at the mic by Mahua Moitra, first-time MP from Trinamool Congress, in which she listed the "signs of early fascism", has been hailed as the "speech of the year" on social media.
'Elections, my friends, are a boon for the Indian people.' 'That is the only time our high and mighty leaders are accessible to the masses.' 'So don't ruin that by agreeing to once-in-5-years elections,' argues A Ganesh Nadar.
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.
This will also be his first August 15 address after coming back to power with a huge mandate.
'We have conducted elections in even the most difficult times when the militancy was very high. It is not that elections cannot be conducted but we have to take reasonable precautions in conducting the elections,' says former CEC T S Krishnamurthy
Kejriwal was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal.
Amit Shah now enters an unfamiliar and interesting phase of his political career. His success or failure will henceforth be assessed based on his performance as a key minister, points out Shekhar Gupta.
While the CPI-M delegation watched a demonstration on the various security checks involved with the machines, the NCP team interacted with Commission's technical committee of experts.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday said "narrow and sectarian ideologies" would weaken democracy and their growth needs to be prevented, in remarks seen as a veiled attack on Narendra Modi's style of politics ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
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