Ideology is dead; long live the numbers game that is being played with the sole intention of securing a two-third majority in the Lok Sabha for the NDA, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The dramatic development marked the culmination of a revolt that began with allegations of forged signatures on a letter proposing a Leader of Opposition and snowballed into an open challenge to the party leadership following the TMC's defeat at the hands of the BJP in the assembly elections.
The Jharkhand High Court has taken suo motu cognisance of alleged sexual exploitation of a woman inmate at Birsa Munda Central Jail by the prison superintendent, registering a public interest litigation and directing the state government to file a detailed report.
Apart from Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, the Barasat MP, those attending the meeting included TMC MLAs Anisur Rahaman Biswas of Deganga, Bina Mondal of Swarupnagar, Mohammad Abdul Matin of Haroa and three more legislators from the Basirhat subdivision of North 24 Parganas district.
The victim's parents have expressed renewed hope for justice in the RG Kar rape-and-murder case after the West Bengal government widened the investigation and suspended three senior IPS officers.
The extent of doubts over the fairness of this election can be assessed by juxtaposing two figures: Total votes polled by the two principal parties and the number of people who were disallowed from voting this time, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Jharkhand High Court has reserved its order in the criminal appeal filed by Rahul Verma and Lakhan Verma, who were convicted for the murder of Dhanbad Judge Uttam Anand. The incident occurred on July 28, 2021, when an autorickshaw hit Anand during his morning walk.
The death of a booth level officer in West Bengal due to cardiac arrest has ignited a political battle between the ruling TMC and the BJP, with accusations of workload pressure and politicization of the tragedy.
'The city was not only a setting but also a major character in Sankar's stories, providing the readers insight into the ever-changing and complex nature of Calcutta,' observes Atanu Biswas.
In a strategic move for the upcoming West Bengal elections, the BJP has announced its first candidate list, highlighted by Suvendu Adhikari challenging Mamata Banerjee in both Nandigram and Bhabanipur.
The Supreme Court has directed a Jharkhand-based lawyer to issue an unconditional apology to the High Court in a contempt case stemming from a viral courtroom exchange where he allegedly told a judge, "Don't cross the limit."
Given Modi's track record from the time he became Gujarat chief minister in October 2001, it is highly improbable that Nabin will get opportunities to display his individual capacity. Even the team of organisational leaders that he will 'appoint' in a few weeks or months, will unlikely to be his choice, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'The move to appoint a person with a profile, markedly lower than the leader Nitin Nabin will replace, has the potential to put the brakes on the careers of several others in the party and government in the positions they currently hold,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Sex workers in Sonagachi, Asia's largest red-light district, are pleading for relief from stringent voter ID rules that they say are impossible to meet, potentially leading to exclusion from the voters' list.
'Are elections still fair in India, or are we all witness to a macabre style of 'selection' of lawmakers? The jury will be out on this for a long time because there is no definitive evidence on either contention, at least as yet,' notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
'I disagree with much of Modi's politics, but it cannot be denied that in these years in office, he has carved more than a niche for himself in history,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
The Congress party has intensified its criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the Vande Mataram controversy, alleging that he has insulted the Congress Working Committee of 1937 and Rabindranath Tagore. The party demands Modi address current issues instead of historical debates.
rediffGURU Prof Suvasish Mukhopadhyay counsels students on how to choose the right stream and career.
In what is being claimed as a first-of-its-kind order by a court in Kolkata, all four accused in the South Calcutta Law College rape case were remanded to police custody for an additional period of three days, 39 days after they were first arrested.
Let there be no doubt that Modi in these 24 years so far has reshaped politics and governance considerably, if not completely, asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author, Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times.
'Nobody asked us to work on this. It was on our own that we decided to embark on this journey.'
By getting Jagdeep Dhankhar to resign at short notice, Narendra Modi has sent a message to his own ideological clan that he brooks no one trying to get too big for their boots, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Professor Suvasish Mukhopadhyay has counselled thousands of students in his three-decade-long professional journey.
Only in the event of the RSS managing to force Modi into accepting a consensual candidate, will the party not continue to 'being' the 'next Congress', observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'It is important India to stay focussed on its primary national objectives: Combating terrorism; not losing sight of other security and strategic concerns (on the Sino-Indian front for instance); ensuring a strong economy and registering growth which includes improving the lot of common people; and finally making certain that the social fabric remains intact and harmony among people is not jeopardised, at least any further,' asserts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The government has to specify what it intends to do with caste census data. It will be closely tracked if the government would simultaneously move towards removing the present 50% bar on reservations using means which are permitted in law. If this is not done, the entire exercise will become meaningless and could boomerang on the BJP, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Consistent preparation with the right skillset and good communication skills are important to crack any campus interview, says rediffGURU Professor Suvasish Mukhopadhyay.
The prolonged delay over electing J P Nadda's successor possibly stems from the RSS leadership wanting a person who is at least equidistant from the Sangh as well as the Modi/BJP edifice, observes BJP-RSS watcher Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Besides the not-so-hidden unease between Modi and Adityanath, Modi chose to address the Lok Sabha to ensure that he could personally claim all the kudos, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'While suppression of information is acceptable for the government, the Opposition's efforts at pinning the government and its leaders is labeled anti-national,' points out Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The best thing parents can give to their child is their time, says Professor Suvasish Mukhopadhyay.
Agitating junior doctors demanding justice for the deceased woman medic of the Kar Medical College and Hospital and workplace safety continued their hunger strike until death on Sunday in the central part of the Kolkata's Dharmatala area.
The Delhi assembly results have underscored that a section of Arvind Kejriwal's committed supporters abandoned him because they were let down by his refusal to take a stand on crucial issues that impinge on the security and Constitutionally enshrined rights of the people, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
rediffGURUS -- who include JEE experts and career counsellors -- are currently helping guide engineering aspirants as they prepare for the upcoming entrance examinations.
Agitating junior doctors in West Bengal continued their fast-unto-death for the third consecutive day on Monday, demanding justice for the rape and murder of a woman medic of the RG Kar hospital and workplace safety even as the state government remained silent to address their issues.
The growing decline of MTech applicants in Indian colleges is due to multiple factors, including outdated curricula, poor return on investment and lucrative non-engineering alternatives, say experts.
After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump started his inaugural address with a sentence that echoed Modi's coinage some years ago, notes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
rediffGURUS who are career counsellors and JEE experts are currently helping counsel engineering aspirants to prepare for upcoming entrance examinations to secure a good college.
The Kolkata-based actors, several of whom have worked with Shanto Khan in Bangladeshi film projects, however, did not want to comment on the reasons for the killing, saying those were internal matters of another country.
