'With passage of time, Kamal did move away from the humdrum of commercial cinema, using it only as a peg to launch a new concept or new technology, as no other actor/film-maker has done in Indian cinema.' N Sathiya Moorthy assesses the career and politics of movie legend Kamal Haasan on his 70th brthday.
'There are legions of unemployed degree holders across rural and semi-urban belts in Maharashtra. Now, they aren't finding brides.' 'This issue has now snowballed into a social crisis. In 2014 and 2019, they had voted for the BJP.'
The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea seeking to revert to paper ballot voting in elections in the country, saying allegations of tampering with electronic voting machine (EVM) raked up only when people lose polls.
In a warning sign for the Democrats, Indian-Americans' attachment to the party is declining in the United States while the share of Republican identifiers held steady.
There are few leaders in the Opposition line up who can claim a path to party leadership like Sitaram Yechury and certainly, very few who blended that ascent through student politics with awareness about non-elite real India, urban India and liberal politics, as he did, notes Shyam G Menon.
On Tuesday, August 20, 2024 -- 16 days after he turned 63 -- Barack Obama appeared on stage during Day 2 of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
This Bhumihar leader has always been party supremo Kumar's strength, as this caste in Bihar is known to have wide political influence despite its small size.
'About whether I'm worried it will blow up into something, no, I'm used to these things.' 'I am a voice in the city and have said quite a few things that may have ruffled feathers. But I stuck with them because it's your truth.'
Following the election that brought Joe Biden to power, Trump alleged fraud in the voting process and challenged the outcome in courts which rejected his claims.
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.
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'Whenever the hike in voting percentage is more, the NDA gains more, and when the hike is negligible, the NDA falls.' 'I have established this in UP, Haryana and Jharkhand.'
'They were very vocal on the defence of the Constitution, reservation, SC/ST Act and democratic rights.'
The auction, a violation of democratic norms, has been condemned by several political leaders. Elections to gram panchayats in Punjab will be held on October 15.
'The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups.'
India on Monday expelled six Canadian diplomats and announced withdrawing its high commissioner and other 'targeted' officials from Canada after strongly dismissing Ottawa's allegations linking the envoy to a probe into the killing of Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, in a major downturn in already frosty ties between the two nations.
If the BJP has to work as a junior partner of Vijay's TVK, then either the party will have to change the state leader, or the latter should change himself. Incidentally, ever since Vijay started talking politics and elections, the pro-BJP/Hindutva social media had stopped dragging his name into any non-existing issue.' In particular, they have stopped referring to him by his Christian name, 'Joseph Vijay', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday mocked Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for "handing over the remote control" of the party to the Congress as he took poll battle to Mumbai with less than a week left for voting in Maharashtra.
'With his passing, Indian cinema has lost its most undaunted voice, a voice of unsettling truths, a window to history, a school of filmmaking.'
It's always better to talk things through and come to a mutual agreement than to go behind someone's back to get what you want, advises rediffGURU Anu Krishna.
The outcome may determine whether Macron's centrist coalition retains power or if France faces a period of political cohabitation with the far-right National Rally, led by Marine Le Pen.
There is nothing of the level of Yes Minister, House Of Cards, Madam Secretary or Veep but there are at least 10 Hindi series and an OTT-released film or two, to whet the viewer's appetite for power-mongering, corruption and intrigue.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
'If there is a push towards a Marxist oriented government it will be dangerous.' 'We have seen this in Nepal and Myanmar and it will be a concern for India if it is surrounded by countries with such political dispensations.'
South Haryana hasn't delivered a chief minister since 1967, when his father Rao Birender Singh was ousted from power. It's a legacy Rao Inderjit Singh is determined to reclaim.
Alleging that Sanatana Dharma is against equality and social justice, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam youth wing secretary and Tamil Nadu Youth Welfare Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin has said it should be eradicated.
Is it is necessary to play divisive politics to succeed in the next general elections? asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
This is the magic of Sircar's filmmaking -- National Award winners, many of them -- that makes every new work of his an eagerly-awaited affair.
Over the years, India has enjoyed bipartisan support in the US and this asset must be kept intact and nurtured through across the board political and civil society engagement, suggests former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The youth -- their dreams of government jobs unfulfilled -- are voicing their frustration.
'BJP and RSS may have differences over minor issues but their hearts long for one common aim -- that of A Hindu Rashtra.' 'And this time to prove this point the RSS has prepared to help BJP win this election with all its might.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday cast his vote at a polling station in Ahmedabad during the second phase of the assembly elections in Gujarat and said the state's people listen to everybody, but it is their nature to accept what is true.
'Dynastic politics has become a tool of convenience for political parties. The BJP does not hesitate to accept it when it comes to its own alliance or party candidates. The same goes for the others.'
The party, rallying in his support, campaigned that national icons like Periyar EV Ramasamy, Dr BR Ambedkar and Naryana Guru had spoken against discrimination including those based on a person's birth. That the Sanatan Dharma controversy cut no electoral ice in Tamil Nadu was also seen as a success for Udhayanidhi.
According to Bhagwat, a narrative is being spread in neighbouring Bangladesh, which recently witnessed a massive political upheaval, that India is a threat and they should join Pakistan as a defence against Bharat. Who is spreading such a narrative, he asked.
Sharad Pawar's comments were at variance from ally Shiv Sena-UBT, whose leader Sanjay Raut had said PM Modi should come forward to inform about his academic qualification and that his degree should be displayed at the entrance of the Parliament building.
Gladiator 2 delivers an epic experience that may not replace the original in viewers' hearts but certainly earns its place beside it, notes Sonil Dedhia.
'What is the harm in having more polling booths?'
The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance, which secured a landslide victory in the recent Maharashtra assembly elections, is set to form the new government in the state. Outgoing Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, his deputies Devendra Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar met Union Home Minister Amit Shah to finalize a power-sharing agreement. The alliance partners, BJP, Shiv Sena and NCP, will decide on ministerial berths at the meeting with Shah. Political circles are abuzz about the social equations in Maharashtra influencing the choice of the next Chief Minister.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk made a jibe at American singer songwriter Taylor Swift who threw her support behind Vice president Kamala Harris for the next President following a high stakes debate with former president Donald Trump.
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