Merely because an educational institution is regulated by a statute does not take away from it the character of a minority institution, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday as it commenced hearing the vexed question of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday announced Prime Minister Narendra Modi will fight again from Varanasi in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as it named 34 Union ministers in the first list of 195 candidates.
Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami is to preside over a meeting in the North Block on Thursday with seven secretaries to discuss about the formation of Telangana.
'It's nice that so many different visionaries can imagine me in their stories.' 'I feel proud of that.' 'Ultimately, only a director can add value to your career.'
Sushma Swaraj startled Modi when she said she would like to be defence minister. That set the PM thinking, says Rajeev Sharma.
What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?
Tax devolution shares, which threaten to create a north-south divide among states, may have more to do with per capita income, and not so much with population.
India has launched Operation Ajay to facilitate the return of those who wish to come back home as a series of brazen attacks on Israeli towns by Hamas militants over the weekend triggered fresh tension in the region.
'China has refused to act upon the threat posed by Pakistan using terrorism as an instrument of its foreign policy.' says Rajeev Sharma.
'Pakistan may have moved back from this devilish plot in 2007, but there is no guarantee it won't be on the drawing boards again,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
'His deposition shows that the dividing line between Pakistan's State and non-State actors had completely blurred in Mumbai's 26/11 terror strikes.'
The mere fact that some part of administration of an educational institution is also looked after by non-minority officials does not "dilute" its minority character, the Supreme Court observed on Wednesday while hearing the hugely disputed minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
'Why does a State that sees a national security issue at every turn not recognise the seriousness of the data from sensitive databases being breached?'
Within the SAARC framework, says Rajeev Sharma, Nepal's strategic importance cannot be overestimated as Nepal is a key member of the sub-SAARC group India has created to bypass Pakistan.
The four-day selection trials began on Wednesday at NIS Patiala and SAI Regional Centre in Sonepat under the chairmanship of ad hoc panel member Bhupinder Singh Bajwa.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Sunday, October 1.
With the government claiming that the economy has been growing robustly and the Opposition refuting these claims, the common man is none the wiser, says Rajeev Sharma.
In diplomacy, a prime ministerial visit should be viewed as a rare event, not a routine one, which should be taken recourse to only when other options like ministerial visits are not available. But Modi has a different style of functioning. He wants to do everything himself, says Rajeev Sharma
A section within the RSS feels Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani should be projected as the BJP's CM candidate in UP, says Rajeev Sharma.
'With this it is clear who stands with India in the international community and who doesn't and this enables India to take counter measures without being seen as overly pro-US,'says Rajeev Sharma.
Bangladesh's decision to execute Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes committed in 1971 has provoked anger across the Muslim world. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka hours after the execution, an important expression of India's support to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, explains Rajeev Sharma.
The increase in home-grown radicalised Islamic groups and the rise of Islamic State and Al Qaeda in Bangladesh should be a matter of worry for India, which shares a 4,100 km border with its eastern neighbour, says Rajeev Sharma.
The rejig may take place before the assembly election results for Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
Considering the huge stakes, the Modi government is not averse to make more diplomatic efforts to see whatever it can salvage.
'India's worst fears have come true because the Pakistan investigating team has, obediently and dutifully, done its masters' bidding by giving a clean chit to Pakistan, the Jaish, the ISI and all other well known actors,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'Dealing with Pakistan can become dangerous, and even suicidal, for the powers that be in New Delhi,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
Denying the Pakistani investigators access to the Pathankot base on operational grounds would not, the government felt, compromise national security, reveals Rajeev Sharma.
'India's counter-terrorism network needs to keep potential jihadists under a scanner all the time,' says Rajeev Sharma.
India should put a check on its cheque book diplomacy with Nepal. Nepal must be made to bear the costs of its strategic provocations.
How the two South Asian neighbours will interact with each other in the coming months will be decided by the two prime ministers in Washington.
'The Modi government can't ignore the political symbolism that the perceived perpetrators are being allowed inside an Indian military base which was attacked by their puppets, either by tacit approval or compliance of the Pakistani military establishment,' says Rajeev Sharma.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, on Thursday, September 28.
'It is possible elements within the Pakistani establishment felt bad about eating humble pie and wanted to avenge the humiliation through a terror attack.' 'After all, lodging an FIR in Pakistan about the Pathankot attack amounted to an admission of Pakistani involvement,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'The bad dream can turn into a ghoulish nightmare for the BJP if the Gujjars in Rajasthan and the Patels in Gujarat, both BJP-ruled states, were to fish in troubled waters and relaunch their respective agitations for quotas in government jobs,' warns Rajeev Sharma.
A Chinese government newspaper accuses the Modi government of manipulating economic data to project the 'myth' that India has caught up with the US and surpassed China.
This is the first time since the Pathankot terror attack that the country's top security czar has spoken about India's strategy in dealing with terror, says Rajeev Sharma.
Following is India's schedule at the Asian Games in Hangzhou on Saturday, September 30.
'If the Congress allows Arunachal Pradesh to slip out of its control, then it sends negative signals to its leaders and allies across the country,' says Rajeev Sharma.
'I am also concerned over Chinese ambitions in the Maldives and wider Indian Ocean,' former Maldives president Mohamed Nasheed tells Rediff.com contributor Rajeev Sharma in an exclusive interview.
India's unpopularity coincides with China lengthening its shadows in Nepal, says Rajeev Sharma.
