'The reason why they rushed through the bill was they wanted to avoid using the 2026 Census because the 2026 Census by their own decision will be a caste census.' 'The BJP knows that a significant share of the OBCs who will get captured in the census, for the first time after the 1931 Census, are against the BJP. Only a segment of the OBCs are in their favour.' 'So they wanted to avoid the OBC reservation among women, which is a demand of a lot of Opposition parties.'
'You cannot run Parliament with 800 MPs as nobody will get time (to speak in Parliament). And Parliament sits for barely 60 days in a year.' 'Look at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom. They have 650 MPs and they sit for 150 days on an average in a year.'
'When I decided to be a cook I was ridiculed, heckled, bullied back home.'
'Today, if 50 songs are composed, one or two work. In the 1970s, all 50 would work.'
'US and Iran have not annulled the ceasefire, and the possibility of continuing negotiations remains open.'
Shreekant Sambrani tells himself over and over again, don't lose heart in these dire times, there is asha (hope) still, in the divine voice of Asha Bhosle.
'EPS exposed all the traitors. The DMK has given them political asylum. They are political orphans.'
'Gandhi was Thakur and Gabbar was Jinnah.'
'The BJP is projected as a party that follows Hindu politics, talking about religion, gods and goddess all the time.'
'People of Tamil Nadu are not bothered about religion in politics.' 'That is why Tamil Nadu people do not encourage the BJP.'
Singer-rapper Badshah is reportedly married to Punjabi actress Isha Rikhi, with photos from what appears to be their wedding ceremony circulating widely on social media.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
'Credit growth in India remains in double digits, even though corporate borrowing is subdued.' 'Corporate credit is weak because companies are cash-rich and cautious amid global uncertainty.'
Asha Bhosle's only daughter Varsha Bhosle, who died in 2012, had penned this beautiful ode to her mother.
'All terrorists are a blot on humanity.' 'No religion in the world teaches you to take the life of an innocent person.' 'Kashmiris have always been known for their hospitality. One moment of darkness cannot erase Kashmiriyat.'
'The AIADMK front comes second, and then the TVK.'
'Never before has the Congress been part of a rainbow coalition, and the response from the people has been overwhelming.' 'Assam's diversity cannot be represented by a single voice -- it requires a collective effort, and that is what we are building.'
'The BJP is pouring in money so that only BJP candidates are visible everywhere.' 'If the Congress does not win this time, its survival itself will be a problem...'
The Chhattisgarh government is shifting its focus to the development of the Bastar region after claiming the elimination of armed Naxalism. The plan includes preserving tribal culture, creating economic opportunities for youth, and strengthening the economy through forest produce and women-led self-help groups.
From styling icons like M S Dhoni and Virat Kohli to launching India's first horror film festival, Sapna Bhavnani's journey stretches far beyond cricket and Bollywood -- into fearless self-expression, bold filmmaking and unapologetic reinvention.
The logic of war plus the gathering storms in US politics as the midterms loom large leave him with no real alternative but to negotiate, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Pakistan's is the only military-controlled nuclear weapons programme in the world.' 'As people get radicalised, the risk of a brigadier or pilot taking matters into their own hands is a real concern.'
'The unregulated marketing has to stop. People are getting recommendations for this from gym trainers, from marriage counsellors -- that is simply unacceptable.' ''There are many ways to lose weight -- eat less, fast, exercise, eat healthy. That is how you lose weight.'
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
'The March correction was clearly due to the war and with prospects of that coming to a conclusion, there is a natural rally.'
'Our government is committed to addressing it firmly while protecting the rights of genuine citizens.'
'The BJP must have decided to replace Nitish with a green signal from JD-U leaders close to him.'
'It is going to be a negative vote against the government rather than a positive vote for the UDF.'
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'Many have contributed in terms of gold and silver. Ladies in big numbers have contributed their home belongings and gold.' 'Some have donated their cars too.'
'The Supreme Court stated that once the delimitation plan is approved by Parliament and receives assent of the President, it cannot be undone. Nor can it be modified.'
'I made a big fuss about playing Manoj Kumar's mother, but he had made up his mind. He said he would wait until I made up my mind. I was about 40 then. He was so large and I was so tiny!'
'All this talk about women's reservation and Nari Shakti is a mirage.' 'It is a classic Trojan horse to bring about an alteration in the structure of political competition -- to the enduring advantage of the BJP.'
'People have lost hope of finding justice in this state ... I want to give these victims, their families, the people of this state, a voice.'
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
'My resignation is a larger governance and governance-plus kind of an issue, which the board of directors of the bank should be introspecting.'
'Secularism or social development or social justice is no longer part of development, according to the youth in Kerala.' 'They are concerned about material wellbeing and material welfare, and they believe that Narendra Modi is capable to giving them that kind of development.' 'So, they don't have any ideological hesitation in voting for him.'
'American stature has been reduced because they have not been able to achieve their aims.'
'Why can't we work towards a dignified end of the person when a cure is not possible and the end is inevitable?'
Ajay Kela, CEO of Wadhwani Foundation, highlights India's significant opportunity to lead in the diffusion of technology, creating national-scale use cases that reach millions of end-users. He also discusses the role of deep-tech startups and SMEs in job creation and the importance of upskilling initiatives.
'He is not accessible even to his family, his wife or his mother or his father. No one.' 'He has created a barrier so that nobody can go and talk to him.' 'This kind of a mentality is a big question mark in politics.'
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