Corruption in the scheme may have nothing to do with fake children being shown to siphon out money, says Somasekhar Sundaresan.
An Iranian passenger plane burst into flames and skidded off the runway as it was landing in a northeastern city of Mashhad, killing 17 people, said the state news agency.
'Is Ansari flagging a genuine concern? Is a rectification called for?' 'And finally: Do minorities matter?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
She embodied the Olympic spirit despite missing out on a coveted podium finish and while she was at it, Dipa Karmakar gave Indian gymnastics some unprecedented moments of glory in what can be called a watershed year for the sport.
The ministry of external affairs said India has conveyed its "consistent position" on the issue to China on several occasions.
Holding that infrastructure deficiency in the north-east is a "major concern", Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday announced linking of all state capitals there by rail to ensure better connectivity and earmarking of Rs 31,000 crores to improve roads. Releasing 'Vision Document 2020 for the North-Eastern Region' in Delhi, he said besides developing rail and air connectivity, the government is also committed to improve road facilities in the Eleventh Plan.
Noisy protests disrupted the both houses of the Parliament on the first day of the second part of the budget session
North-eastern insurgent groups are operating from Bangladesh and they have established links with the Inter Services Intelligence, the government on Wednesday informed the Rajya Sabha saying the matter has been taken up with Pakistan.
ADB has often expressed its interest in promoting sub-regional integration in South Asia and perhaps could be involved as a facilitator.
A Guwahati-based non governmental organistaion, which conducted a study recently, has claimed that about 20 per cent of teenagers of the north-eastern region, between 11-17 years, are being compelled to become sex workers. In the study titled 'Rise in Child Prostitution in the north-east', the Global Organisation for Life Development stated that a five per cent rise had been registered in children getting involved in sex rackets from the past year.
Chinese officials say imported cases are on the rise as hundreds of people are returning to the country from various COVID-19 hotspots abroad, even though the deadly virus has been contained in epicentres of Hubei province and its capital Wuhan.
Thirty one outstanding teachers were invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan for a first-ever in-residence programme.
'Manmohan Singh's fond hope of avoiding conflict over territory by 'making borders irrelevant' is increasingly difficult to realise in a world where institutional restraints on aggression are weakening and the new game in town is unalloyed power play,' notes T N Ninan.
A few glimpses of the event that was a reminiscent of 'Howdy, Modi' that was held in Houston in September.
As relief pours in torrents with corporates, NGOs, organisations and individuals chipping in which help, India presents the picture of a nation united behind the state and its hapless millions in their hour of crisis. But that is not not the case with home-bred politicians, who are at war with each other in their bid to outdo their rivals in the game of relief politics.
China is yet to respond to the Indian government's decision.
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A marathon session of over a dozen hearings on implementation of Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha panel recommendations on structural reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in India came to an end on Wednesday in the Supreme Court, which took the Indian cricket board to task over issues like fund utilisation and avoiding of performance audits.
The Congress' announcement that the party chief will contest from Wayanad evoked sharp reactions from the Left and Right of the political spectrum.
Bandhan Bank is the first bank to be launched in eastern India post Independence.
Barely 10% of small businesses are in a GST-ready position, say experts
"The season averaged maximum temperatures in Himachal Pradesh, West Rajasthan, Konkan, Goa, Coastal Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh are likely to be higher than normal by 0.5-1.0 degree Celsius," the Met department has said in its forecast.
'The central and Assamese governments want to get 35 lakh to 40 lakh Bangladeshis (Hindus) to come to Assam and make the Assamese people a minority.' 'They want to make Assam a Bengali state.' 'Bengalis by nature are BJP supporters whereas Assamese people don't support the BJP.'
Indian badminton star and Olympic bronze medallist Saina Nehwal was Thursday ruled out along withParupalli Kashyap from the 12th South Asian Games due to injury concerns, the Badminton Association of India (BAI) informed the local organisers in Shillong. "We've received a communication from BAI stating that the entire badminton squad except for Saina and Kashyap is arriving on Friday afternoon," SAG (Shillong) joint CEO FR Kharkongor told PTI. Saina and Kashyap are two of the top badminton athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Rio. Jwala Gutta has been confirmed as the captain of the Indian team by BAI President Akhilesh Das Gupta.
From Padma Lakshmi to Kareena, this season offers plentiful reasons to make your jaws drop.
Pakistan Meteorological Department's earthquake centre said the 5.8-magnitude earthquake was located near the mountainous city of Jehlum in Punjab province.
The murders of journalists in 2015 underscore the rising power of regional language media, especially local-language newspapers, says Nilanjana S Roy
Intelligence Bureau officers say the problem lies with the government treating narcotics and terrorism as two separate problems, with different law-enforcing agencies for each, and this ends up in defeating the purpose. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'When Modi was having his maiden meeting with Donald Trump, China is up to its old tricks again, by causing a distraction on the Doklam plateau,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved 'Mission Karmayogi', dubbed as the biggest bureaucratic reform initiative, aimed at capacity building of government employees to make them more "creative, proactive, professional and technology-enabled". The core guiding principles of the competency-driven programme will be to support a transition from "rules based to roles based" HR management to prepare the Indian civil servant for the future, according to a government statement.
The new army chief's highest priority must be to address the critical hollowness in the Indian Army's operational preparedness, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'It's a known fact that members of different north-eastern militant outfits move into the state from Bangladesh and fencing the border will check these movements,' BSF chief Rajsekhar Mushari said.
'If India and China come together, 40 per cent of the world's people are going to be prosperous'
By taking Mary Kom's life to millions of young people across India, Priyanka Chopra hopes the film can make a difference to future generation of Indians.
The move is aimed at reflecting the diversity of India and highlighting the contribution of prominent personalities.
The challenge is to convince productive sectors that a lower general rate would benefit all and remove the prevalent system of favours targeted towards narrow industry and service sector groups.
Shah also said that no 'illegal migrant' will be allowed to stay in the country and that the National Register of Citizens exercise in Assam was completed in 'time-bound manner'.
'The Congress president gets into samurai mode only when there is a direct attack on her and her family.' 'Is being the president of the oldest and one of the most respected parties in India only about personal reputation and survival?' asks Sudhir Bisht.
The seven states of north-east are all geared up to become the next IT hub of the country.
