Fresh guidelines were issued by the government on Wednesday for enforcing the second phase of the coronavirus lockdown, with the Union home ministry barring all kinds of public transport and prohibiting opening of public places during this period.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah will soon get around to reworking their organisational set-up and administrative priorities to regain lost ground in the wake of the Delhi electoral debacle, but there's third course available to them as well. That is to introduce the presidential form of government, which prime ministers Indira Gandhi and A B Vajpayee flirted with before abandoning it. Will Modi go further than them? N Sathiya Moorthy analyses the scenario.
Mumbai-based Naveen Sreepada aims his camera to capture the vagrant wildlife in motion.
Today, the biggest challenge for any state is to evolve indigenous hardware options. It is important for the states like Germany, India etc to increase their stakes in the global IT setup and this could allow them to control the US domination, says Ajey Lele.
Just one year after taking office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is facing a challenge that could come to haunt him.
It is far from clear that this GST will have the silver bullet effect that the "pure" GST would have provided, says Mihir S Sharma.
'As India and Pakistan observe the 50th anniversary of the 1965 war, the one lesson that ought to have been learned by Pakistan is how vulnerable its heartland is to a sudden attack. The only alternative to this inherent geographic weakness is to have a policy of peace with India. In an extreme scenario, India can destroy Pakistani strategic targets by just artillery shelling, crossing of the border is not even necessary,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd)
The RBI must cut rates to spur growth, say experts.
Don't worry about volatile, erratic cash flows, freelancers. Vishal Dhawan explains how you can invest and achieve your financial goals despite irregular income.
India had 14 out of the world's 20 most polluted cities, the World Health Organization reveals.
'Given the nature of our jobs, getting infected is a constant fear we all face.' 'The most we do is follow all the rules strictly and pray that we don't get infected.'
'Xi Jinping got a dose of Modi's medicine inside the tent where he was being hosted on the banks of the Sabarmati river.' 'Modi reportedly told him, looking deep into his eyes: "This was not expected of your country. Can you tell me when the troops are withdrawing?".'
'You bust one module and another one comes up.'
Even as India battles the COVID-19 threat on a war footing, it cannot lose sight of the threat building up in Kashmir, cautions Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'The Pakistan army feels it can inflict a similar defeat on India in Kashmir and make it "India's Bangladesh".' 'But comparing Bangladesh of 1971 with the Kashmir valley of 2017 is like equating chalk and cheese!'
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Flowing from an inadequate understanding of Tamil history and politics is an urban elitist mindset that does not seem to be able to touch and feel the real angst of the larger Tamil-speaking masses, cutting across the social and economic status of the individual, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Somewhat weird, these offbeat villages will assuredly put to rest the notion that village life is uninteresting.
'This virus came in December 2019 and how this virus is going to behave in October and November, we don't know yet.'
'You can't get emotional about it. The plan has to be deliberated, debated and options need to be looked at.' 'I am not saying sooner or later, but it can't be too late.'
Sanjeev Goel, business head, Manipal ProLearn, lists 10 courses that are currently most suitable for working professionals to upskill or reskill to ensure they remain of value in the job market and in future-ready organisations.
In the age of robots and automation, skills such as people management, coordination and negotiations will be relevant, says Babita Shekhar.
'In the last 4, 5 years, ever since online companies started online shopping in a big way with heavy discounts, our sales are affected badly.' 'As there is no control over the way the online companies operate, they were able to destroy the domestic retail market to a great extent.'
'The genetic thing is not in your control. The virulence is not known.' 'The only thing is if you can avoid it.' 'Once you get COVID-19, none of it is in your control.'
The replacement hired for women dropping out is invariably a man
The two sides, sources said, also agreed to stop ceasefire violations along the International Border "through enhanced communication via multiple modes at all possible levels".
'They will not escalate and bring India-Pakistan close to war.'
As Preet Bharara told Rediff India Abroad, "When is the last time you had two Indian Americans doing a law enforcement press conference" dealing with violations of civil rights and taking the city of New York to court?
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
'We should not forget the core purpose of the lockdown -- to buy time to implement a strategy to tackle the virus, to prepare for the final lifting of the lockdown and to prepare for a 'new tomorrow',' notes Dr Sanjeeth Peter.
Tax demands and regulatory hassles, coupled with low internet density and sundry other problems, would have kept Mr Ma awfully busy - and small.
Indians must remember that Pakistanis hate losing to India, at war or in cricket, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Behind the state's success in containing coronavirus positive cases is one novel initiative -- Active Case Finding or ACF, which even Prime Minister Narendra Modi endorsed for the bigger states to follow. The ACF campaign began in April with 16,000 basic health personnel, ASHA, anganwadi workers and auxiliary nurse midwives (ANM) out on foot trekking to most mountain valleys, snow-bound districts and remote passes of the state, reports Ashwani Sharma.
"In India, the sector will grow to $10 billion by 2018," predicts Vishal Bali, co-founder, Medwell Ventures, in an interview with Apurva Venkat.
Mark Tully on the India he loves.
'The Pakistani military has encouraged and supported terrorist organisations, especially in Kashmir, as a means of waging proxy war against the Indian military and the country's superior economic resources.' 'The evidence is irrefutable with the recent killing of 46 paramilitary troops being just the latest example.'
It is betting on enterprise services and new launches to revive demand. But are the measures enough to steal a march on established players like Samsung and Micromax?
'To re-establish the writ of the State and resume governance, frayed tempers in the streets and in the media need to be calmed.'
'It is vital we should form an international coalition against ISIS, because their brutality and the use of the Internet for jihadist activities is a reminder that the entire world community has to be in this together,' US Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview ahead of Prime Minister Modi's visit.
Armed forces and the police can only ensure that violence is kept under control but for any kind of lasting peace, politicians will have to find an answer to the perception that the Indian State is anti-Islam. Therein lies the biggest challenge to the Modi government, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retired).
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