The hits and flops of the week.
There is growing talk of a realignment of forces in Maharashtra after May 2 when the results of West Bengal and other four states would be in, notes Virendra Kapoor.
Most key rabi-producing states of north India, such as Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, have staggered their procurement to enable farmers to come in batches, so that there is no overcrowding. The Centre has also set up a call centre to coordinate the inter-state movement of farm commodities.
There was near unanimity among the guests at the Sibal dinner that the country is ready for a change, that the ruling party has lost popularity. However in the same breath speaker after speaker lamented that without Opposition unity Modi could as well win a third successive term, reveals Virendra Kapoor.
The focus is not only on governance but also to ensure that the BJP's political considerations are taken care of.
After forcing some governors to quit, the Narendra Modi government on Friday sacked Lt Governor of Puducherry Virendra Kataria, in the first such action against political appointees of the United Progressive Alliance regime.
'Given that the RGF is a family-controlled trust, why would the Congress defend it every time someone accuses it of wrong-doing?' asks Virendra Kapoor.
The Gomti Riverfront Development project, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, the Jai Prakash Narayan International Centre and the efforts towards the beautification of Old Lucknow are some of Akhilesh Yadav's initiatives that are the subject of investigation.
Veteran Karnataka medium pacer R Vinay Kumar, who also represented India and led his state team to successive Ranji Trophy titles, on Friday announced his retirement from international and first-class cricket.
'Praise me, condemn me, but do not ignore me. Given that the Congress party has a whole army of office-bearers, a vast majority of Indians would find it hard to name even a couple of them. But you can bet that they will readily recall the name of one general secretary: Digvijay Singh. Fame and notoriety being two sides of the same coin for present-day politicians, Singh would not mind being abused by the 'aam aadmi' so long as he enjoys a fair recall value.'
The ruling party is worried as the alliance represents over 50 per cent of the state's population, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Thursday reserved its order on the maintainability of a writ petition filed by a local activist -- seeking a probe into allegations of irregularities against Robert Vadra relating to his land transactions with real estate major DLF in Haryana.
The new Ministers of State sworn in by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan include Virendra Kumar, Anant Kumar Hegde and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, former IAS officers Alphons Kannanthanam and R K Singh, former diplomat Hardeep Puri and ex-Mumbai police chief Satyapal Singh. Two other new faces are Ashwini Kumar Choubey, a member of the Lok Sabha from Bihar, and Shiv Pratap Shukla from Uttar Pradesh.
With the state police pursuing only notorious criminals, petty thugs continue to prey on victims.
The recruitment of babus during the Akhilesh government's tenure allegedly favoured applicants from one community -- the Yadavs.
Have you seen this Sahara Q shop advertisement? (External link). Any Indian will feel awful to see Sachin Tendulkar performing the last rites and Yuvraj Singh digging a grave. The advertisement also features Team India skipper M S Dhoni, Virendra Sehwag and Virat Kohil.
Critics who cannot stop gloating, pronouncing Modi to be a lame-duck prime minister, may be making a huge mistake, predicts Virendra Kapoor.
The Bhopal seat is currently held by Alok Sanjar of the BJP.
The Parliament adjourned for the day on the opening day of the monsoon session after paying tributes to former vice president Bhairon Singh Shekhawat and two sitting members who died during the inter-session period on Monday.
'The debate, by being mostly in Hindi, lost much of its educative relevance to the southern states.' 'All the prime minister's debating skills and oratorical prowess went over the heads of the South Indian audience,' points out B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
The Press Council of India on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court against an Allahabad high court order, which banned media from reporting troop movements. On April 10, the high court bench of Justices Uma Nath Singh and Virendra Kumar Dixit had directed various central and state government authorities "to ensure that there is no reporting / release of any news item by the print or electronic media, namely the movement of troops."
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted" as the matter pertained to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
The film, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, is a satirical take on godmen and superstitions.
Dissidence in Congress in Punjab came to the fore in the wake of the party's debacle in the assembly polls with a former stat unit chief on Wednesday demanding an emergency meeting of the PCC to go into the causes.
The currency ban has changed the lives of the people facilitating this move across India.
The UP CM failed to launch any major infrastructure project of its own, including the proposed Purvanchal Expressway, and also rid the roads of potholes by June 2017.
The deceased personnel, Bhailal (30) and Jairam (30), were in the bomb disposal squad vehicle of the Gujarat Police had taken a halt near Nathgram Ashram on Malkhanpur road under Sirsaganj area, when a speeding truck rammed into their vehicle, Superintendent of Police Rakesh Singh said.
The culture of freebies burdens coming generations with the huge bill for the flagrant abuse of power by preceding governments, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Akhilesh was always seen as someone working under the shadow of his father and uncles. However, overtime, he started asserting his authority.
Special firecrackers named after Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and other cricket stars -- Yuvraj Singh and Virendra Shehwag are selling like hot cakes in Patna and other towns of Bihar.
As the dust finally settles on the outcome of the Lok Sabha elections 2019 and Bharatiya Janata Party along with its NDA allies emerges as the clear winner, here is a list of who won in each of the 7 phases of elections.
Even as Akhilesh Yadav has emerged stronger in Uttar Pradesh politics, the Samajwadi Party has become weaker due to family feud, reports Virendra Singh Rawat.
Sourav Ganguly celebrates his 47th birthday, on Monday, many Indian cricketers flooded the social-media with wishes for the veteran.
Paswan was a minister under six different prime ministers, hardly out of government since he was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1977, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The caste census has already become a hot-button issue. Unless settled earlier, it will echo loudly in the coming assembly elections and eventually in the 2024 parliamentary poll, notes Virendra Kapoor.
'A concerted attempt is afoot to try and create a new image of an intelligent man who knows what he is talking about and is far from the person that his critics in the media and Opposition have often portrayed him to be,' says Virendra Kapoor.
Even though he consults chief ministers at regular intervals, the ultimate decision is still his own. He will be blamed, nobody else, if, god forbid, there is a huge spurt in fatalities after the reopening, notes Virendra Kapoor.
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