Clauses on land return, action against officials diluted
'Think about how he would have handled Hyderabad, and JNU. He would have been very cross if he found two of his Cabinet ministers weighing in on the side of the ABVP.' 'And if Rohith Vemula still killed himself, he would have been the first to speak out in anguish and empathy rather than deny he was a Dalit.' 'And JNU, he would have simply said something like, 'let the boys speak, then they will grow up and join the IAS).' 'A good idea, when in crisis, is to apply the 'Vajpayee test' to your actions,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Former Maharastra CM Prithviraj Chavan, who is contesting his maiden assembly election from Karad, is facing a formidable party rebel as an adversary in in Satara district, a traditional Congress bastion.
For Rajnikanth, who the BJP is wooing, politics looks more likely to happen in 2019, although his friend Kamalahaasan could afford to wait a little longer, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Why this non-BJP MP became a Modi bhakt.
One of the most successful screenplay writers of his time, Salim Khan looks back at his most popular work.
As the nation heads toward the general election, the Congress fortunes have most likely dipped below the point of no return. The Modi-BJP juggernaut rolls along despite some hiccups. And the meteor that rose in the form of the AAP and its leader Arvind Kejriwal seems to be disintegrating, says Shreekant Sambrani.
'When the campaign started the Congress said it had been miserable for the last 27 years for UP and that people should get rid of those who made it miserable, and that they should bring back the glorious years of the Congress.' 'Then they joined hands with those who ruled for the last 26 years. Some called it a shrewd strategy, but to the people this was not shrewdness.' 'Where is the credibility in your actions when you change direction of the campaign?'
Who will make the most of the disruptions of 2016 this year? Mihir Sharma's list of probables.
The level of political discourse in the country is generally low, but it touches a nadir during election time. You will hear downright lies, half truths, breathtaking exaggerations, and extravagant promises, but never the truth, says Sherna Gandhy.
Pakistan's new Army Chief has begun setting the stage to act against groups like LeT and JeM
Not satisfied with winning the WTA Finals doubles crown with Zimbabwean Cara Black, Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza wants to clinch the women's doubles Grand Slam title before hanging up her tennis shoes.
Not only is Modi's India not the shining land of dynamism and prosperity that he promised -- though it may be that, for some people, in a few years from now -- but socially it has the positively regressive tendencies that were entirely predictable.
Asin joins a long list of actresses, who married rich businessmen!
DLF has long been embroiled in a controversy over a deal that brought windfall profits to Robert Vadra, son-in-law of United Progressive Alliance Chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
The prospects for strong, sustained economic reforms do not appear to be promising in India.
Although Suu Kyi has won an overwhelming victory, it is not going to be easy to translate this victory into political gains.
The Congress has been reduced to a C player in national politics thanks to its inability to read the pulse of the people, says Rashme Sehgal.
Even as political parties in TN have decided not to field a candidate against CM Jayalalithaa in the assembly by-election, the BJP's ambivalence has shown up once again.
Yuvraj has switched focus to business.
The city is waging a war against garbage, says Anjuli Bhargava.
Raja Sen wishes Francis Ford Coppola, the legendary filmmaker who transformed The Godfather into an immortal screen classic, a happy 75th birthday.
Half of the screenplay's job is done the minute Dilip Kumar's hypnotising gaze falls on Nargis. The screen bubbles with intense chemistry and sexual tension every time this incredibly handsome pair converse from a distance. Revisiting Kidar Sharma's 1950 classic, Jogan.
Bharatiya Janata Party Election Campaign Committee chief Narendra Modi on Saturday asked party spokespersons and panelists to take on the Congress and experts with leanings towards that party in media debates only after conducting in-depth and comprehensive research.
Rajan tells RBI colleagues he will be returning to academics
Rallies, an integral part of Bihar politics are now churning out catchy names like 'Khabardar', 'Hunkar' and 'Adhikar' to attract the masses.
The presence of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa was not the only reason why Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa stayed away from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The educated, employed, and self-sufficient Dalit is being attracted towards the BJP. The middle-class that has rapidly emerged among Dalits in the last two decades has deviated from its path. It has become a traitor to its own class. It cannot distinguish between a friend and an enemy.'
Don't forget to make your pick for the newsmaker of 2015.
What's in Michel Platini's head at the moment is how to take Sepp Blatter's job, and whether the Swiss can conspire to stop him.
No one at this point no one in the state is talking about a clean sweep with high victory margins that the AIADMK front won in the 2011 assembly elections. The 'Modi factor', as against a 'Modi wave', has ensured as much, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Our income tax department should bring out monthly bulletin as well as annual reports providing insights into the nature of our direct tax segments, points out R Vaidyanathan.
Cleo Paskal attends a Mumbai vote-counting party in Mumbai that looked at the coming Modi Sarkar with hope and optimism.
The Supreme Court needs to step in and order an independent inquiry into the whole IPL scandal, conflicts of interest between office-holders of the BCCI, team-owners of the IPL and even members and captain of the Indian team, says KC Singh
Since allowing FDI in multi-brand retail has been left to the states, Indian companies may not benefit as foreign investors are wary of the politics.
Sahara relied on a letter from bank saying the funds were there.
In one village, a woman asks, "They are always showing cash seizures on television, you think some of it will escape and we will get money as usual?" "Only 1 percent of cash is actually seized, the rest has arrived, you don't worry," a party worker assures her. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar reports on the election in the southern-most tip of the country.
'The new generation voter is hyper-nationalistic, but it isn't essentially illiberal.' 'They will find the rants of Adityanath as laughable as Irfan Habib's. They will also find the BJP's polarising approach to vote-gathering unacceptable if it fails to deliver jobs and growth,' says Shekhar Gupta.
State after state has imposed an alcohol ban, and has had to retreat, unable to address the financial and administrative fallout. Are we set for more of this cycle, asks Aditi Phadnis.
'Unity in diversity is a dated notion as India, today, is more unified and cohesive and yet more pronouncedly diverse than ever in its history,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
