The President talked about demonetisation, electoral reforms and disruptions in Parliament.
'We must begin dialogue with openness and goodwill, but we will not proceed very far without trust and good faith. The alternative is the violence of 'might is right,' which settles very little and destroys so much of real value,' says Dr Rudolf C Heredia, author of Religious Disarmament -- Rethinking Conversion in India.
Lack of numbers would upstage it in Rajya Sabha
The 'secularists'are more adept at the politics of intense and alarmingly exaggerated fear-mongering, as this kind of politics provides easy votes of Muslims without making them answerable for the concrete issues of poverty, unemployment, lawlessness, and of basic needs like roads, electricity, etc, which is exactly how Nitish Kumar was defeated in the elections, says Mohammad Sajjad.
As the BJP snaps at its heels, can the Communists stay relevant in the electoral game?
'I hope Prime Minister Modi will take the population bull by the horns,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena will visit India on his maiden foreign trip next month even as he ordered the release of all Indian fishermen in custody in Colombo as a goodwill gesture on the first day in office.
'The Parivar's ideology and politics was and remains the very opposite of what Dr Ambedkar stood for.'
'Somewhere along the way, elected office-bearers appeared to have lost sight of the interest of cricket and begun to pursue their own interpretation of what the game should be.' 'Families made it a tradition to have their representatives occupy, if not usurp, positions in state associations,' points out Vinod Rai, who will step down as head of the BCCI's Committee of Administrators on Wednesday, October 23.
After a series of defeats since 2012, the results of the recent panchayat polls are being seen by her as a tide changer for the upcoming UP assembly elections
Then chief minister Jyoti Basu once told an industrialist that capitalists were class enemies and he should expect no sympathy.
'The BJP believes it has little to lose from a loss of alliance with the Shiv Sena. Fighting alone gives the BJP the chance to test its troops today, and then rework its tactics if necessary, before the big test in 2019,' says T V R Shenoy.
Global investor and author Jim Rogers, who recently sold his India investments, talks about his disappointment with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's economic reforms, why he is betting big on the US dollar and the Chinese Renminbi and what will bring him back to India some day.
'Disturbingly, the dissenting judgment of the Supreme Court has raised doubts whether religion, race, caste, community, language etc can be separated from politics at all. It has rightly underlined that this question should to be addressed by Parliament rather than the Supreme Court,' says Dr Madhav Godbole, the former Union home secretary.
'Only the prime minister can take the initiative in reaching out to his opponents. The fact that he has been reluctant to do so, leaving it to the Arun Jaitleys and Venkaiah Naidus to hold out the olive branch, has given the Opposition the chance of pointing to his aloofness,' says Amulya Ganguli.
A K Bhattacharya digs into the yet-to-be-public report on ways to curb black money and finds out that Modi's next moves could include action on dabba trading, hawala, and education.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
The list of candidates contesting elections in the current round of assembly polls shows that not much has changed with regard to political parties' approach to candidates with a criminal track record. A K Bhattacharya explains
'This has to be seen in the context not only of the legacy we inherited, but also of global economic weakness.'
'If after inheriting the very bad situation we have reached this level despite consecutive years of drought and no growth in the world economy, it is no accident.' 'It is a result of the sound macro economic policies followed by this government.' 'We have eschewed populism and stuck to a path of fiscal prudence.'
'Arvind Kejriwal displayed crass male chauvinism and gender illiteracy in saying that "rape tendencies arise out of sex, prostitution and drug rackets." This shows a failure to grasp that rape has little to with sex, and even less with drugs. Such remarks are far worse than the deplorable comments of policemen and politicians who attribute rapes to women's "provocative" attire or their outdoor presence at night!' says Praful Bidwai.
What is the road ahead for Rahul Gandhi? Shehzad Poonawalla offers a blueprint.
The main culprit in vitiating the inter community/caste/class relations has been the so called 'targeted' approach. This is nothing but discrimination on the basis of faith/caste/class. When an equally poor and deprived child is denied scholarship, despite equal merit, resentment begins to brew, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday termed the communal violence bill as "the most obnoxious piece of legislation in independent India", saying had it been in place earlier, it would have resulted in punishment of the members of only the majority community over the Muzaffarnagar riots.
The Modi-Shah definition of secularism is, India is a confident, resurgent Hindu, and therefore secular, country.
'The temptation of governments, to have a finger in the RBI pie will be just too great to resist, unless extensive amendments are carried out in the RBI Act treating it almost as the fourth branch of the government.'
The Opposition on Monday charged the government with trying to promote crony capitalism, creating fear by giving "unbridled power" to taxmen, trying to snoop into people's lives through increased use of Aadhaar through the provisions of the Finance Bill.
'Our first great challenge is to create 12 million new jobs each year, to make the demographic dividend an economic dividend.' 'We are nowhere near that,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
Because of India's weak fiscal position, the plethora of debt-burdened infrastructure companies and the poor asset quality of public sector banks, economic growth in 2015-16 may be limited to about six per cent, say Shankar Acharya.
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's celebrations on amma's return are peppered with possibilities, probabilities and problems of one kind or the other, says N Sathiya Moorthy
One hopes the higher courts take the extraordinary steps needed to secure justice for the victims. The Gujarat carnage demands nothing less because of its unique nature and sponsorship by the State, argues Praful Bidwai.
'I do not require validation from a hostile media. My conscience is clear.'
'Since Pranab Mukherjee is the Custodian of the Constitution, he should present practical ideas to solve the problems he has been so outspokenly highlighting,' feels Sudheendra Kulkarni.
'Modi is likely to make more announcements to win or retain popularity, and put himself at the centre of things even more than now,' says T N Ninan.
Tragic as it is, the submarine accident is more tactical in nature and it is the deeper strategic malaise across the board -- political, economic, security, judiciary, bureaucracy and even the media -- that has led to this dark mood of gloom and despondency, says Commodore (retd) C Uday Bhaskar.
'The man stood alone, fought alone.' 'Some of those battles appeared Quixotic at times.' 'Ultimately, it was he who won though it may have seemed as if a Sancho Panza was fighting a relentless battle against the windmill.' N Sathiya Moorthy salutes the fearless editor who has passed into the ages.
If the AAP wins 20 to 40 Lok Sabha seats, which is conceivable unless it botches up on governance in Delhi, it will become a significant bloc comparable in influence to or even bigger than several major regional parties, feels Praful Bidwai.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday addressed the nation on the eve of the 68th Independence Day.
Naresh Chandra, former cabinet secretary, diplomat and well-known strategic thinker, tries to explain what the Modi government is up to and assesses what will work and what may not work and why. He spoke to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, also, on diplomatic issues.
he has to demonstrate the ability of his government to take a quantum leap, almost tantamount to setting the Ganga on fire, in the next six months, if not in 100 days, if the people were to take seriously the cascade of commitments spewing out of the President's address to both Houses of Parliament on June 9, says B S Raghavan. B S Raghavan suggests five practical propositions through which the Modi government can bring in paradigm changes.
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