Neither the BJP, nor the Congress before it, made any manifesto commitments on defence spending, even though allocations have plummeted from 4 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s to less than 2 per cent today, points out Ajai Shukla.
Gujarat was labelled Hindutva's crucible and Modi was to become the chief 'chemist'. A revealing political saga excerpted from Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay's The Demolition, the Verdict and the Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project.
In a letter to his father and party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, the chief minister declared his intention to commence his yatra, which was put off last month after the open turf war with his uncle Shivpal Yadav.
Thakur's tenure as chief minister is best remembered for implementation of the recommendations of the Mungeri Lal Commission, whereby quotas for backward classes were introduced in the state in 1978. This panel was the forerunner of the Mandal Commission. Both Mungeri Lal and B P Mandal were from Bihar, which has a long history of socialist struggles.
Navy personnel perform yoga on board INS Vikramaditya. In the run-up to the International Day of Yoga, several naval ships are conducting yoga and meditation sessions on board.
'There is a song that fits my father. It is from the Dev Anand film Hum Dono, which goes Main zindagi ka saath nibhata chala gaya...'
While main events throughout the country were organised on Sunday by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad of America, several community members gathered at the iconic Times Square in New York to celebrate the historic event.
"Provide enough infrastructure and money to carry out surveillance and set up a robust routine surveillance machinery for the country to monitor any and every infectious disease'
Addressing a public rally in Sabroom in poll-bound Tripura, Shah said that the Congress and the Communist Party of India-Marxist had put the Ram Mandir issue in the jurisdiction of the court for long, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for it after the Supreme Court's order.
As the temple is inaugurated, unfortunately for Advani but unsurprisingly for the rest of us, the architect of the party's rise will not lead the ceremony and claim credit for his achievement, notes Aakar Patel.
'These number surges will be the outcome of emerging virus variants, loss of vaccine- or infection-acquired protective immunity in people, and environmental factors'
Will BJP campaigners start using the term 'Ram Rajya' to refer to the nation under Modi's rule, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Congress leader Kanhaiya Kumar on Wednesday claimed the Bharatiya Janata Party's 1990 rath yatra was for seeking "satta (power)", but the Congress's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' is for "satya (truth)".
RJD-JD-U leaders believe Dhirendra Krishna Shastri's visit is part of the BJP's 2024 poll strategy.
Most politicians and even non-politicians have been honoured because of what they were purported to be electorally worth for the ruling party of their time, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Banerjee, who was flanked by newly-elected MP Nusrat Jahan and her husband Nikhil Jain, said, "Togetherness and tolerance for all faiths is the real religion."
What should be made out of the Madras high court order involving non-Hindus' entry into Hindu temples, when many non-Hindus are among the hundreds of thousands that have been worshipping at these temples for generations, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
The party approached the Supreme Court seeking permission to hold the campaign 'Save Democracy Rally', which would cover 42 parliamentary constituencies in the state ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a plea by sacked IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt seeking the recusal of Justice M R Shah from hearing his petition to submit additional evidence to support his appeal in the Gujarat High Court against his conviction in a 1990 custodial death case.
Merely bringing down the government stake below 51% may not find any taker for the PSBs. The government must bring down its holding to at least 26%, recommends Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Several BJP leaders including Prime Minister Modi called on Lalji at his home in New Delhi to wish the former deputy prime minister.
Riding a scooter, Union minister Smriti Irani led a rally of the Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday as she campaigned for the upcoming West Bengal elections in the South 24 Parganas district.
'Education played the most significant role in entrenchment of Hindutva ideology in coastal Karnataka.' 'Teachers of most of the schools, junior colleges, degree colleges and universities are active agents of Hindutva propaganda.'
Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said he had directed the state Advocate General to approach the high court and request it to allow the annual procession. The HC had on Saturday stayed the procession in the light of coronavirus pandemic in Ahmedabad.
I suggest we build a Vigyan Mandir (Temple of Science) with the ambience of a place of worship, so that it becomes a destination for pilgrims. We should embed on its walls bronze plaques describing each scientist mentioned here along with about a dozen of our ancient mathematicians, recommends Professor Kalyan Singhal, historian of science and technology.
Sacked Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt on Wednesday withdrew his plea in the Supreme Court seeking suspension of his life sentence in a 30-year-old custodial death case.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Bidyasagar Behera used to sell newspapers for a living. But that did not stop him from pursuing his education.
The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in an order last week prohibited Chhath Puja celebrations at public places, including riverbanks, water bodies and temples, in view of the COVID-19 situation.
The five teams -- Mumbai Indians, Delhi Capitals, RCB, Gujarat Giants and UP Warriorz -- will be bidding for 90 players in a list of 409.
'There are not enough RT-PCR tests and they take a long time to do in specialised centres. So the world is using RA tests for the same reason that India is using them, and with similar somewhat spuriously comforting rationale'
The cement plants at Barmana (Bilaspur district) and Darlaghat (Solan district) had closed operations on December 14 due to the dispute between the company and truckers engaged in the carriage of cement and clinkers. According to a government statement, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said, "We have arrived at consensus, thereby protecting the interests of both the truck-operator unions and the management, besides welfare of all others who were being directly or indirectly hit by the stalemate."
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
The assurance comes as India's Covid graph dips -- on Friday 1,109 new coronavirus infections were reported -- and also one case of a new Covid strain in Mumbai.
This is for the second time in the last three months that Sinha has come out with praising words for Rahul Gandhi and his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.
It was a triangular session, with the judge hearing the case from Nagercoil, petitioner's counsel V Raghavachari at one place and advocate-general R Shanmugasundaram, at another place, in the city.
What we find interesting are the crowds Akhilesh Yadav has been attracting on his Samajwadi Vijay Rath Yatra in the state.
The ultimate consequences of Rahul Gandhi's yatra may be known only in 2024, points out Dr Sudhir Bisht.