'Neither Modi nor the BJP have lost control over the minds and votes of their original supporters due to their tremendous political ability to play upon baser communal instincts.' 'But this buoyant support will melt away if the economic scenario remains depressing.' 'That makes 2020 an interesting year to watch out for,' notes Sheela Bhatt.
President Xi Jinping's visit may put relations between India and China on a new trajectory
In a veiled reference to Pakistan, India said perpetrators of violence in Afghanistan must not be allowed safe havens in its neighbourhood, as it slammed the United Nations Security Council's sanctions regime for not designating the leader of Taliban as terrorist, calling such an approach a "mystery."
'How can middlemen disappear as long as our political parties are sucking in massive amounts of black money?' 'There is an old political art well practised in New Delhi -- people create artificial problems and then solve it for you to earn your gratitude for a lifetime.'
'If the meditative yoga programme we had developed for the elderly was practised for one hour every day, five days in a week for six months, it could lead to an improvement in the overall quality of life of the elderly.'
'Mahendra Singh Dhoni has at his disposal a range of multi-skilled players who possess the ability to turn the game around at the flick of a switch.'
Does Abhijit Banerjee's Nobel Prize help India reduce extreme poverty, asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
'For every epidemic, it takes a peak and then it comes down.' 'Usually, infections peak in 14 days, and you give another week's time after the peak.' 'That is why the lockdown is for 21 days.'
The wealth of India's richest 1 per cent increased by over Rs 20.9 lakh crore during 2017.
From opposing the NPR and NRC to demanding special status for Bihar to staying out of the Union Cabinet on principle to showing the BJP who was boss in Bihar, Nitish Kumar has wasted no opportunity at cocking a snook at the BJP leadership. But how long can he continue, asks Gopal Krishna.
Over time, as more mutations occur, the vaccine may need to be altered.
'The danger today is that out of sheer fatigue and exasperation, the US might cut loose and exit from Afghanistan leaving it to the region to cope with the debris, which it is ill-equipped to handle,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'No amount of economic measures or prosperity in Kashmir will make any dent in the situation there. The average Kashmiri understands the Pakistani game and is unlikely to prefer Pakistan over India. But the Pakistanis have made clever use of religious symbols and slogans to force religious-minded Kashmiris to support them. India has failed to counter this posturing by the separatists,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Vardhan stated the government is taking full precautions in human trials of vaccines and the National Expert Group on Vaccine Administration for COVID-19 under the chairmanship of Dr V K Paul, member-health, NITI Aayog, is drawing up a detailed strategy on how to immunize the majority of the population.
'Social isolation itself can create panic among people. So, stay connected.'
'The government wants foreign companies to capture the insurance market.'
'And he was really trying just to do the best by the shareholders, and by the laws of India.'
Countries in the region like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Maldives face serious existential threats from a mix of terrorist groups active in the region and elsewhere
50 years ago, on April 1, 1968, Tata Consultancy Services -- now India's leading IT company -- was born. The foundation for TCS was laid by Faqir Chand Kohli whose life touched directly or indirectly many, many, Indians, says Shivanand Kanavi.
'Has the time come to devise Version 2 of ad hoc T-bills?' 'In return, the government must agree to privatise all but five or six banks.' 'If something like this is not done, we will have governments going on the rampage, with increasing frequency,' says T C A Srinivasa Raghavan.
The local labour force is streaming out of the region, creating a vacuum that makes it easier for the Bangladeshis to fill in, says R N Ravi
'Modi's advent has made the mass of Indians realise that there was absolutely nothing wrong or objectionable in proclaiming nationalism as the masthead of the polity and Hinduism as its centerpiece,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Addressing a press briefing, health ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said currently there are no approved therapies for COVID-19 and there is not enough evidence to claim that plasma therapy can be used for treatment of the disease.
'The tiger is the epitome of evolution.' 'Every tiger has a stripe pattern that is unique. Each tiger is unique.' 'Tigers are very elusive. It is said a tiger sees you nine times when you see it once.'
The budget-making exercise offers golden opportunities despite challenges, observes Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
'A stronger response on the border, some action needs to be taken against Pakistan from where the terrorists come, and finally what needs to be done is to calm Kashmir down,' Lieutenant General D S Hooda (retd) -- the Northern Army Commander under whose watch the Indian Army conducted the 2016 surgical strikes -- tells Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'As 1.3 billion people wait for our prime minister to tell us what to do and then vanish again from our television screens, it is worth noting that this is not how the rest of the world is being led,' points out Mihir S Sharma.
Recently, The World Bank has come up with the latest figures on the wealthiest countries in the world.
'The BJP has shown signs lately of returning to its trader mindset.' 'Several strong emotions get meshed in this: Nationalism, protectionism, mercantilism, and arrogance,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
We are becoming more cruel and less civilised
'India is too large a place to have just 10 labs performing these Covid-19 tests.'
'The present government swears by Hinduism. But we lost three of our sants during earlier BJP regimes.'
Not all change is good, but this one is, applauds Shekhar Gupta.
'The Himalayan people may not represent a large or politically influential section of the population, but India's security depends on them.' 'Let us hope Sikkim remains a beacon of stability,' says Claude Arpi after a recent visit to the picturesque north eastern state.
'Rather than cutting and pasting from advanced economies, we should use basic economic principles to think about what is right for India at the stage of development at which we are,' says Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian.
'The 24x7 power for all vision is inspiring, because as we've so often seen, where India leads, the world follows,' says Rajiv J Shah, President, The Rockefeller Foundation.
Cities are setting the rules that now carry life and death implications for their residents, and most of these rules are sought to be set by the municipal authorities who have never wielded such power, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
'We started our surveillance from the first reported case. We made it very strict. I believe that helped us a lot in restricting the spread of this disease.'
'He could indeed survive [the no confidence vote] even as he faces his biggest political test.'
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
