Combined sales at top four manufacturers - Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Volvo Eicher Commercial Vehicles, and Mahindra and Mahindra - dropped 20 per cent to 20,324 units in November
Once the Covid crisis subsides in the state, the NEET exam this year, whether conducted or cancelled, could become an electoral issue next year, along with the BC-MBC reservations issue, especially the 'creamy layer' aspect, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'...that it cannot accommodate dissent and objection.' 'Are its foundations so delicate that it feels endangered even in instances outside of armed rebellions?' 'The question that needs to be asked of the political supporters of such laws is not why they are confident of the importance of the law on sedition.' 'It is instead why they are lacking in such confidence about India.'
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
This time round, even 'petrol coupons' were reportedly distributed for those attending campaign rallies, especially those addressed by top leaders, cutting across party lines. If this owed to the rising cost of petrol and diesel -- which is a poll issue this time -- there were the customary coupons for 'quarter' (liquor bottle size) and non-vegetarian biryani. Some media reports claimed that some of these 'crowds' attended more than one political rally on the same day in the last week, and at times for rival political parties in adjoining constituencies or districts, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'If the leadership goes back to Rahul Gandhi, then there will be a perception problem about the drama about his exit a year-and-a-half ago.'
'Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably,' predicts Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.
People visited their kith and kin, exchanged festive greetings and sweets while social media, including the likes of WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter, was flooded with Diwali messages as many took the virtual route to convey their wishes.
On the face of it, the first round has gone to Edappadi K Palaniswami. Not only has he been named chief ministerial candidate, that too by his one-time bete noire Panneerselvam, he also gets one member more in the steering committee than OPS. He can now hope to wean away one or more members of the OPS team in the steering committee just as he had done with other leaders in the latter's camp, post-reunification. That was also OPS's concern, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Indo-US defence relationship may now get personal attention with strong India-backer Ashton Carter today being nominated by President Barack Obama for the key post of the defence secretary.
'It is highly doubtful that the Trump administration will consider inserting itself into the volatile India-Pakistan dispute.'
They may accept revision of pension once in two years instead of one year as demanded by them.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to South Korea is considered essential in strengthening defence ties, enhancing economic cooperation and forging cultural ties between the two countries, says Dr Rahul Mishra
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
Without strategising together, Jayalalithaa's successor, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, and M Karunanidhi's son-cum-successor, M K Stalin, have used tough-talking on seat-sharing with allies, to replace charisma that they purportedly lacked, during the run-up to the assembly polls scheduled for April 6, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'India does not have the wherewithal to successfully manage a full blown covid-19 crisis,' warns Vivek Gumaste.
A 25-year quest by nearly 1,000 scholars to document and present one of the world's oldest living traditions came to fruition when the 'Encyclopedia of Hinduism' was unveiled in Columbia.
'Modi was in as sweet a spot as is possible for an Indian prime minister in mid-term.' 'Why, then, did he plunge into this massive disruption?' 'The answer,' argues Ashok Malik, 'lies in a single word: Belief.'
Had India agreed to join the trade pact, Indian markets would have been flooded with cheap Chinese products.
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Paytm employee, who tested positive for the contagious disease with flu like symptoms on Wednesday, came in touch with 91 people in Gurgaon, an official said, citing his counterpart in the suburban town.
Could the Centre and the prime minister have achieved more than what they did on curbing the endemic spread through more of the Modi outreach, given his credibility and unchallenged ability to communicate with the masses, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Modi government could steer through Parliament 59 out of 75 Bills.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Whatever the ideologies of our leader are, the end result should be nothing more than well being of our fellow citizens, says Khemchand H Sakaldeepi and Nupur Pavan Bang.
It looked as if the BJP was hoping to use Rajinikanth to press their seat-bargain with the AIADMK. Now with the Rajini bait gone, the question now is not how much the BJP would settle for, but how much the AIADMK would be ready to offer, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
This visa issue had gotten so embarrassing that former Defence Secretary William Cohen, now a member of the US-India Business Council's board of directors, who was presiding along with Ambassador Nirupama Rao at the launch, had to prevail upon Secretary of State John F Kerry and get the visas okayed.
Ahead of VK Sasikala's return to Tamil Nadu on February 8, there are some important questions facing her. One, does she carry electoral weight more now than her brainchild AMMK had in the 2019 LS polls? Two, can she retain or build upon the five per cent vote-share from that time? And finally, is there space for Sasikala to retrieve, first within the AIADMK and then across the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
It was a common perception in the US that Indians didn't know how to lead a company or delegate authority.
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
Higher education policy may be at the core of the Tamil Nadu assembly polls next May, with a potential to break the ties between the ruling AIADMK in the state and the BJP counterpart at the national level, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Geetanjali Krishna looks at how one organisation's unique idea is helping marginalised communities to gain legal access.
Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are centred on chief ministerial candidates of rival parties. When Sasikala cannot contest even a panchayat election for six years after her release, even if she were to have sympathetic backers even among apolitical voters, she does not have any 'transferrable vote-bank' even otherwise for a chief minister candidate of her choice, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Investors need to evaluate the offerings of a broker in totality before selecting one.
'Right now, politics is operating in a state of suspended animation. That works to Modi's advantage.'
Rajinikanth's visible electoral strength is his constant mouthing of the term, 'aanmiga arasiyal', or 'spiritual politics', without he having to explain what it is. By implication, it is all that what Dravidian politics is not about. It may imply anti-corruption, being against Periyar's forgotten anti-god, anti-Brahmin dictum, but also ends up covering 'Tamil pride', which begins with Tamil language where, as a Maratha from Karnataka, he has more to defend himself. However, in the contemporary national context, aanmiga arasiyal is seen as a front for Rajini to market his brand of 'soft Hindutva' but identified even more with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in political terms, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Give cash assistance of Rs 75 per person per day and an android phone and you will see the economy reviving.'
'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'
GenNext designer Ujjwala Bhadu has a modern approach to vintage designs.
