M Muneer recommends segmenting the population on the basis of their propensity to embrace new technologies is the key to driving digitisation.
'What will this supposedly more business-friendly government do if it gets a second term?' 'Important labour law and land reforms remain off the table.' 'Witness the arm-twisting of foreign players in e-commerce and all but one player in telecom -- and it is very hard to justify this perception that the BJP is business friendly.' 'There will also remain the real risk of ideas seemingly gleaned from the pages of Amar Chitra Katha, overlaid with PowerPoint presentations,' predicts Rahul Jacob.
'The government may backpedal for now to stave off bad international press and diplomatic demarches, but that it will go ahead with putting religion at the centre of citizenship rules is certain.' 'For it is convinced that this is the magic bullet that will ensure its return to power in 2024,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Three hotels with exceptional food left me hankering to go back to feast at their tables,' says Rahul Jacob.
The Asom Gana Parishad's fears relating to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill are not misplaced. But does the party still matter in Assam's politics?
Vaccination against measles has been declining steadily over the last ten years in India. This must be reversed in order to avoid a serious outbreak of the disease, says Phalasha Nagpal.
Whether Rahul likes it or not, he will be judged by what he does to put the party back on its feet, says Colonel R Hariharan (retd).
'Milking poorly performing or easily marketable assets is the way to deliver more money for key programmes,' says T N Ninan.
'Breaking down silos and ensuring a more integrated governance process is just as important to performance.' 'It has been a major priority in the last six years, especially in national security,' External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar points out when delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture-2020: India and the Post-Covid World.
'The path of militant Hindutva that the BJP's national leadership chose as its main electoral plank literally dug the grave for the party in Kerala,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Indian version is that the two top diplomats merely exchanged pleasantries, while the Pakistani side characterised the encounter as an 'informal dialogue'.' 'The truth, as always in such piquant situations, is somewhere in between.' 'It stands to reason that ice has been broken,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
20 years ago this week, India and Australia played one of the greatest Test matches in cricket history. Sreehari Nair relives the sound and the fury of that unforgettable game at the Eden Gardens.
'The saffron party is under pressure from RSS and other Hindutva quarters to move swiftly on construction of Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.'
'It is this difference in their personalities -- one in eloquent command of the requirements of Parliamentary debate, the other unable to infuse spontaneity in his script -- that will be as much a factor in who India votes for next year, as other more germane factors,' says Vikram Johri.
India's development plans, requiring 11 million hectares of land over the next 15 years, is likely to stoke tensions
'That one of Delhi's busiest crossings, within a stone's throw of Lutyens' habitat, should be hostage to the mercy of hoodlums, who think nothing of attacking and thieving in plain sight of thousands of commuters without dread of reprisal, is scary,' says Kishore Singh.
Shaktikanta Das said in Washington, DC, that there was nothing sacrosanct about the 25 bps rate cut and that monetary policy could be well served by calibrating the size of the policy rate to the dynamics of the situation, and the size of the change itself could convey the stance of policy.
The sentiments of the ignorant are what politicians unfortunately fan to inflame passions for political gain, says Murad Ali Baig
Up to 700 migrants, including 40 children, are feared to have died this week while crossing the Mediterranean, based on the accounts that survivors told aid workers once they reached safety.
'A sense of purpose is lacking in India's diplomacy.' 'This is what happens when foreign policy becomes the stuff for grandstanding before the domestic audience,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'It's a performance that puts the Bachchan hysteria to shame,' observes Sreehari Nair.
Utkarsh Mishra explains what Sardar Patel thought and said about the RSS.
Bubbles can inflate indefinitely and also burst, with deep corrections, warns Devangshu Datta.
'There is economic danger: Not inflation, but a slowdown that feeds an employment crisis,' says T N Ninan.
'The verdict must be seen as something more; as a historical balm, a moral restitution and the deliverance of justice to a people wronged,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
Prosperity was not possible without peace, the minister said.
'Pakistan has worsted India in the Afghan proxy war and the defeat becomes a template of regional politics,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
If the BJP falls sizeably short of the 115 mark -- the seats it won in 2012 -- it will be hard to deny the party hasn't suffered a telling reverse.
The defence sector is seeing renewed interest by Indian corporates, says Jyoti Mukul
'The full effects of the government initiatives will have to work their way through, whether in infrastructure or in the banking sector.'
Life has many challenges. You win some and lose some. You must enjoy winning. But do not let it go to the head.
'The Pakistani move to ban militant outfits and placate international opinion and Islamabad's openness to a UN security council resolution on Azhar -- instead of beseeching China to cast yet another veto -- enables Islamabad to occupy the high ground,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Will the warning shots from giants like Unilever and P&G break digital growth?
As male bovines today account for only 28 per cent of India's cattle, it clearly shows that it is the bulls and not the cows that are mostly being butchered. This makes it clear that cow slaughter is not a problem but the slaughter of male bovines is whose main utility today is in the value of their meat, says Murad Ali Baig.
For all their celebrated Grand Slam past, Nadal and Federer have never clashed in a US Open final.
To understand the problem with public examinations we need to understand the different objectives they serve and how they interact and conflict with each other.
'He always had a choice to resign and walk toward the sunset in protest.' 'Instead, he chose to be a mute witness to one of the most sordid chapters of India's parliamentary history when MPs were bought up like cattle to steer the nuclear deal through,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
Real estate biggies unhappy with status quo on RBI rate cut.
'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'
'While the fears in Assam and other north eastern states are natural given their experience since 1947 when successive governments and even political leaders in Delhi have repeatedly let them down, the intent and provisions under the Citizenship Amendement Bill -- when examined closely -- should remove those apprehensions,' says Nitin A Gokhale, the well-known commentator who lived in and reported from the north east between 1983 and 2006.
