Keeping its promise of honouring 'unsung heroes', the government this year honoured with Padma awards several personalities who served the poor, set up free schools and popularised tribal arts globally.
Security has been put on high alert across the nation as the Supreme Court of India is all set to deliver its verdict in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, Sabarimala case and a host of other legal wrangles.
T N C Rajagopalan on the new year and new worries.
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Traders were up in arms, fearing huge job loss if Walmart was to enter.
'KCR's plan for the future is three-pronged. He wants to see a non-Congress, non-BJP government at the Centre in 2019 so that he can become the Union minister for home or defence,' says R Rajagopalan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has started holding interactive sessions with his party MPs at which he wants them to open up. R Rajagopalan/Rediff.com reports on an unusual political exercise.
'The CPI-M indulges in senseless talk. Be it the solar scam or the National Games scam, did the CPI-M prove anything?'
The changes made in the revised GST draft throw up fresh issues but, overall, most of these look sensible, says T N C Rajagopalan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-speculated Cabinet reshuffle is likely to take place on Monday, reports R Rajagopalan/Rediff.com.
Sasikala may be set to take over the reins of Tamil Nadu, yet she faces a period of immense turbulence.
The government guidelines say online marketplaces must not influence the sale price of goods and services but experts say e-commerce majors categorise discounts under marketing expenses.
Nerungi Vaa Muthamidathe touches several issues but does not hit the right notes, says S Saraswathi.
Is Stalin positioning himself as a central figure in the anti-Bharatiya Janata Party, anti-Narendra Modi formation?
After six years in the business, the scorecard of Bengaluru-based QwikCilver is impressive, with a 90 per cent market share.
'The Modi-Shah duo won't leave the war zone without putting up a tough fight.' 'Modi's slogan for 2019 could well be, "I have done much. Give me one more chance to do even more".' '2019 will be tough for the BJP.' 'But it will be even tougher for the Opposition -- united or otherwise,' says R Rajagopalan.
National politics will have a bearing on the RK Nagar byelections, and even in the state elections whenever they are called, says R Rajagopal.
High-end brand experiments with EMIs via credit cards to push market share.
With both the factions pledging their support, the BJP believes that the natural corollary is for them to now merge and retain the two-leaves election symbol, a view shared by the prime minister as well.
Banerjee feels that as long as Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, she should be the undisputed leader of a united front of opposition parties, reports R Rajagopalan.
Simplifying the processes will lead to greater efficiencies. Bad processes will not help even if implemented well, says T N C Rajagopalan
R Rajagopalan, who travelled through Tamil Nadu, says it will be an election of many firsts.
The big boys of India's traditional retail have finally come together to fight the onslaught of their online counterparts.
'The BJP will be the single largest party in the next Lok Sabha, the only one party with a three digit tally.'
The problem, say experts, is not so much the use of plastic as the lack of effort to recycle and reuse it.
Kerala government on Saturday announced a probe after 15 Keralite youths, who had travelled to Middle East, reportedly went missing and were suspected to have joined the Islamic State, with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan saying it was a "very serious issue".
Gamification has the potential to trigger immediate positive responses to learning that an organisation wishes to impart.
The bonhomie between Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was once again in evidence on Tuesday, but the question remains if it will translate into supporting the BJP in the Rajya Sabha. Senior journalist R Rajagopalan reports.
The India government needs to work on policies that can enhance global trade.
In early 2017, Amit A Shah warned Nara Chandrababu Naidu that Narendra D Modi was not like Atal Bihari Vajpayee to yield to pressure tactics. Soon, Naidu was to discover this for himself.
The Congress leadership should have immediately called on the Karnataka chief minister to implement the Supreme Court order and crack down on the violence, says R Rajagopalan.
Retailer bodies to demand govt action against I-Day sales offers, threaten legal action for breach of FDI rules.
The new Congress president is building a core team of youngsters while waiting for his mother's coterie to retire, reports R Rajagopalan.
With the spectre of nuclear terrorism growing, the international community is concerned about the security of India's nuclear facilities. The worry has grown since 2010, when radioactive Cobalt-60 surfaced in a New Delhi scrapyard, killing one person and hospitalising eight others.
The BJP will be the obvious gainer while the DMK will lose a major chunk of its vote bank.
Iconic Dalal Street investors Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Radhakishan Damani, known for their stock picks, have forged an unusual partnership to make Bollywood flicks.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Jaitley, the first Union minister to meet Jaya since her conviction, manages to secure the AIADMK's conditional support to the government's crucial legislations in the Rajya Sabha.
Modi sarkar sets the ball rolling on appointment, next cabinet secretary is expected to be in office in September.
Asking the government to tweak FDI norms in multi-brand segment, retailers said sourcing rules must be made similar to that of single brand while demanding foreign firms be allowed to put only 50 per cent of first tranche of investment in back-end infrastructure.
'Now is the winter of our discontent,' said Richard, summing the emotions of most active Congressmen. But this winter seems chillier with senior party leaders not seeing eye-to-eye on how to muster up a consummate opposition in the parliament and is made bitter by the poor morale of the senior leaders who feel they are being sidelined by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, says R Rajagopalan.
