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.
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.
Had India agreed to join the trade pact, Indian markets would have been flooded with cheap Chinese products.
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
'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).
'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.
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 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.
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
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.
'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.'
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.
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.
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.
The Modi government could steer through Parliament 59 out of 75 Bills.
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
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.
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.
'Right now, politics is operating in a state of suspended animation. That works to Modi's advantage.'
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.
'Give cash assistance of Rs 75 per person per day and an android phone and you will see the economy reviving.'
Investors need to evaluate the offerings of a broker in totality before selecting one.
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.
'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'
'There is a group who want to internally damage the Congress and they may be hand in glove with the BJP.'
Geetanjali Krishna looks at how one organisation's unique idea is helping marginalised communities to gain legal access.
It was a common perception in the US that Indians didn't know how to lead a company or delegate authority.
'For the Tamil Nadu protestors to openly ask popular film actor Vijay Sethupathi not to don Murali in 800 is a travesty in every sense. It may have given them a cause to tell the world, and the governments in New Delhi, Colombo and Chennai, that the Sri Lankan ethnic issue was still alive in the state -- more so, during the current run-up to two major events in the first half of 2021,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Second-line AIADMK leaders and cadres alike say that by starting the talks first with the BJP and committing the party to an alliance without discussing seat-sharing, the leadership might have commenced the coalition discourse at the wrong end. According to them, even 20 seats for the BJP may be too many, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
GenNext designer Ujjwala Bhadu has a modern approach to vintage designs.
China has consistently spent more than 2% of GDP on R&D while India's expenditure on R&D has stagnated around 0.7% of GDP. Can our government shore up resources so that we hit the R&D expenditure target of 2% of GDP set out by the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy of 2013, asks Chidambaran G Iyer, Senior Fellow, Pahle India Foundation.
'India's relationship with China has been and will continue to be complex, delicate and sensitive,' says Rup Narayan Das.
'Since the bilateral deficit is a reality -- and a worry -- we need to find a way to deal with it,' says Ravi Bhoothalingam.
'A lack of strategic trust and the 'persistent security dilemma' prevails between India and China,' points out Dr Rup Narayan Das.
'Open conflict would be a disaster for both China and India.'
The Tamil Nadu voter may not be in the mood to test new talent, not when the state and the people are going through unprecedented and unanticipated crises, of which coronavirus is only the first. All of it boils down to an election between the ruling AIADMK and the Opposition DMK next year, with small-timers, had-been parties and promised parties left on the sidelines, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
When Nehru came in active contact with Gandhi 100 years ago, he was a Westernised rationalist while Gandhi was deeply soaked in the Indian ethos and spirituality, notes Rasheed Kidwai.
