The challenge is to convince productive sectors that a lower general rate would benefit all and remove the prevalent system of favours targeted towards narrow industry and service sector groups.
With the role of the venerable elder thrust on him in UP, Mr Singh has had to attune himself to the politics at the Centre, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Ruptures in the opposition unity emerged barely a week after 17 parties joined hands to put up a joint candidate against the ruling National Democratic Alliance nominee for the July 17 presidential election.
A parliamentary panel on Friday opposed the new bank licences to corporate houses and voiced concerns over the discretionary power vested with RBI for applying 'fit and proper' criteria for deciding on applications.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday targeted Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Parliament over the alleged land deals involving her son-in-law Robert Vardra leading to repeated disruptions.
With A K Antony speaking of involvement of Pakistani troops in the LoC attack, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday came out in support of the government on the response over the killing of Indian soldiers, saying it was happy that the defence minister has accepted his mistake and rectified it.
'This puts the national security in jeopardy,' the Centre said.
The Modi government is notoriously honest about one fact: It does not listen to economists, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'People want to see Mr Sinha win again because he has always been there for Patna whether he has been a leader or not.' 'Even when he was an actor, he was a proud Bihari.' 'He is not doing it because he only wants to win an election, he wants to do it because he really loves Bihar.'
The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in a money laundering case related to the National Herald newspaper and summoned her for a second round of questioning in the case on July 25.
The Opposition unity to fight the Bharatiya Janata Party seems to have run into rough weather as the Trinamool Congress and the Congress are at daggers drawn over the recent instances of 'poaching' by the Mamata Banerjee-led camp, with the grand old party finding itself in a tight spot.
A list of some prominent political families of the BJP.
'Mr Vajapyee felt that you could pray to any god or not pray at all, but the country comes first.'
That "Rollback Budget" ushered in an era of rollback.
The government is considering a proposal to privatise some state-owned banks in phases.
He now claims that his submission before the SC was that petitioners in the application used "photocopies of the original" papers, deemed secret by the government.
The suit-boot government working at the Centre has in a way imposed an undeclared Emergency in the country, said Shobha Oza.
From President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit to Rahul and Varun Gandhi, at least 50 parliamentary constituencies will be contested by 'sons and daughters' of politicians of various parties during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
Shortly after former Defence Minister George Fernandes died at the age of 88, leaders across the political spectrum paid tribute to the veteran leader. Here is how our leaders reacted to the tragedy.
Individual should be extra careful when taking money from parents or relatives to buy a property
To make its voice more credible and impactful, the Congress must articulate its alternative agenda for reforms, economic growth and a more inclusive political discourse.
'We are moving away from the Modi promise of less government,' says T N Ninan.
What the railways need to do is to establish a clear link between higher fares and better service, says T N Ninan.
'One wishes that today's 'take no prisoners' brand of politics would give way to an understanding of the national interest that is shared by both government and Opposition.'
'So far there is no clear money trail nor an indisputable smoking gun.' 'But that doesn't mean there aren't disturbing questions and a strange resistance by the government to reveal the price, which only adds suspicion to concern,' observes Karan Thapar.
The finance minister could well be on her way to setting a record of achieving the biggest single-year reduction in the government's fiscal deficit, explains A K Bhattacharya.
With Rahul showing a significant lead over Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi in opinion polls across southern India but lagging in the north, the Congress believes his contesting from the south will help galvanise cadres.
Banerjee feels that as long as Sonia Gandhi is the leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party, she should be the undisputed leader of a united front of opposition parties, reports R Rajagopalan.
The bench said that 'argument on the preliminary issue and the claim of privilege raised by the Government of India is reserved'.
An impartial probe into the coal scam can only take place once Prime Minister Manmohan Singh steps down from office, Bharatiya Janata Party said on Friday in reaction to his offer to face CBI in a coal block allocation case.
In a strong retaliation, India on Tuesday initiated a slew of steps to strip US diplomats and their families of privileges including withdrawing all airport passes and stopping import clearances for the US embassy, terming as "barbaric" the arrest and strip searching of India's Deputy Consul General in New York Devyani Khobragade.
'We are making a transition from governance to campaign mode.' 'The speed of execution is picking up,' says Union Minister Jayant Sinha.
On Tuesday night with veteran BJP leaders raised a banner of revolt against the leadership of Narendra Modi in the wake of Bihar debacle saying that the party has been "emasculated" in the last one year.
For growth in export, continuous gain in productivity is essential.
The AAP has declared candidates on six of the seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi.
"All opposition parties should work together. It should be a one-to-one fight against the BJP. All opposition parties should help the strongest one in the state against the BJP," Banerjee said.
With so much bad news, everybody is hunkering down in readiness for Mr Modi's next radical Big Idea, says Kanika Datta.
Hours after the Bharatiya Janata Party questioned the government on foreign policy and asserted that New Delhi must not resume talks with Islamabad, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Tuesday assured that appropriate steps will be taken in the matter concerning the killing of five Indian soldiers by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch District.
Hitting out at Congress leaders for dubbing the 2008 Batla House encounter as fake despite the Delhi court verdict, former Bharatiya Janata Party President Nitin Gadkari on Friday said that such remarks will dent the morale of those fighting for the country.
About 3,500 jurists, academics, actors, artistes, writers and people from other walks of life called the registration of the FIR against The Wire's founding editor an attack on press freedom.
