The Uttar Pradesh by-election will be the real test for the Modi government. By-election results are not a referendum on Modi but the time has come to analyse whether the Modi government is succeeding in assuring people that the promises it made would be fulfilled, says Dharmendra Kumar Singh.
Insisting that PM Modi has consistently cared for the farmers, Goyal said the Rs 75,000 earmarked for paying Rs 6,000 per annum to each of 12 crore farmers is not one time but a 'sustainable' provision.
Is a martyred soldier just a statistic? Our nation, a great civilisation, a great culture has to learn to respect and feel oneness with its soldiers, says Tarun Vijay.
'By holding forth on Swadeshi economics, Bhagwat is showing his intent to fight back,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Kashmiri Pandits complain that the Jammu and Kashmir government has simply cowered to hardline sentiments and that the real reason for canceling the pilgrimage was not due to ecological concerns but because of religion. Upasna Pandey reports
'There is no senior bureaucracy functioning now; these people only obey.' 'This is only a command and control kind of governance.'
Good pay hikes, positive macroeconomic factors and the taming of inflation have had a positive effect on purchases
'The response to terror is not always reciprocal terror, nor is launching a conventional response the best response.' 'The best response is to make the sponsor pay a price he cannot afford,' says former RA&W chief Vikram Sood.
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
'The Indian soldier will fight where he is asked to, and he always has.' 'It is up to us as a democratic society to see that his service and sacrifice is for the most useful causes, and that we do not needlessly ask him to die for us,' says Aakar Patel.
'The real challenge cannot be underestimated considering that this is still very much a "boutique relationship" -- a transactional relationship at its core based on its utility value to both countries -- but enveloped in an aura of romance,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The only credible explanation for the niggardly approach to defence expenditure must be that the government does not expect a war.' 'But wars can happen when you don't expect them, and re-arming at the last minute is not possible,' says T N Ninan.
On his recent visit to China, the President made eminently sensible suggestions to improve relations except that they can't work in the present atmosphere.
'Every time I step out, I receive a lot of love. People come to me, they want to talk to me, click pictures...' Bollywood's Secret Superstar Zaira Wasim gets ready for showbiz.
Sunita Dugar, Parneet Sandhu and Neetha Jegan set out on a dream trip that changed their life. This is their story.
'The military in Pakistan is capable and self critical, but intelligence is stuffed full of lifers who resist change, which is why career soldiers in Pakistan try with all their might not to be transferred into the ISI.'
Sushma Swaraj startled Modi when she said she would like to be defence minister. That set the PM thinking, says Rajeev Sharma.
'If the nub of India's sensitivity over the Chinese presence in Doklam is the enhanced threat to the Siliguri Corridor, a vital link to the northeast, does it serve the national purpose to have the districts along it, and then much of the tribal northeast, in turmoil?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Why do the biggest, most talented and successful film-makers of India suck up to the establishment so breathlessly, asks Shekhar Gupta.
The PM treaded sensitive ground by asking first-time voters to dedicate their first vote to those who carried out air strike in Balakot.
'It is a very hard won situation that the army has brought about in J&K in 25 years, we don't want to fritter it away...' 'By 2010-2012 the terrorist strength had come down to 300, 400. From a high of 3,000 to 4,000 to 300 to 400 was no mean achievement for the army,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'As events at Kargil and Pakistan's continued support to terror activities in India prove, Pakistan has always felt that the break-up/destruction of India was within its capability,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Birla is believed to have bought the property - a 30,000 square feet plot with a built-up area of 25,000 square feet - for personal use.
