'If we can award Madan Mohan Malaviya who died in 1946, then why not the Mahatma who died in 1948?' 'Why not go a little further back in time and give the award to Rabindranath Tagore who died in 1941?' 'And should we mark Lokmanya Tilak's 100th death anniversary in 2020 by giving him a Bharat Ratna,' asks Amberish K Diwanji.
'These children are wards of the State. They were exploited because the state government and its officials didn't do their jobs.'
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The shift was sudden, quite unlike Shukla's departure from North Block, which had been anticipated for some months even before Singh''s first Budget.
Gandhi said when the Congress was in power, the Opposition would allege that all money was going to Amethi and now they say nothing has been done here.
'For half a century, Delhi has not seen a truly powerful ruling party president.' 'The Cabinet, chief ministers, and even the heads of the most powerful departments and agencies now acknowledge where power lies, besides the prime minister's office,' says Shekhar Gupta.
For India's leading MFI-turned bank, the challenge is to stay competitive while pricing its loans
There are perks for banking with the newest bank in India.
According to community leaders, Rajnath Singh has filled party posts with Thakurs and pushed Brahmins to the margins. Archis Mohan reports
Businessman P C Mustafa wants Indian Americans to return home, Cognizant CEO Francisco D'Souza outlines how Indian tech companies could grow, Gaurav Dalmia has some investment recommendations while Subramanian Swamy warns that India is flirting with a debt trap.
Joining hands with his arch rival, Lalu Prasad Yadav, paid off for the Bihar chief minister
The move is aimed at reflecting the diversity of India and highlighting the contribution of prominent personalities.
With over Rs 15,000 crore in deposits, its strategy is a hit for now, but the real test will come when it starts lending to retail and corporate customers in a big way
Considering that all sides to the game feel being targeted by the BJP-ruled Centre through taxmen and their ED/CBI counterparts, both factions may not rule out the possibility of patching up after a time, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Vikramank Singh looks back at the year gone by!
"Will anybody want a servant that who is on vacation when needed at home? And nobody knows where he is," he continued.
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
'Pakistan needs to be constantly at war with somebody, ultimately resulting in it waging war on itself and its own people,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Till 2000, K N Govindacharya, former Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharak, was considered the Bharatiya Janata party's chief ideologue. Govindacharya, who now heads the Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan, which opposes anti-people policies of governments, tells Sahil Makkar and Archis Mohan the Narendra Modi-led government is still in the election mode.
Sharad Yadav, President of the Janata Dal (United), is one of the architects of the proposed merger of six political parties who trace their roots to the erstwhile Janata Dal. Yadav tells Archis Mohan how the grand alliance with Left parties and even the Congress is the need of the hour.
Arvind Kejriwal's party will need around 50 seats to make a pitch for the Left's space in national politics. For that, it will have to contest more than one third of the Lok Sabha seats, points out Saroj Nagi.
'This is an emotional issue and cannot be resolved by law alone.' 'This can be resolved only by creating trust again.' 'So much bloodletting has taken place, there is no point in going on and on.' 'Let us sit together and negotiate'
In Muthuvel Karunanidhi's passing, Tamil Nadu has lost the last of its Titans.
'No, that is not an abbreviation for the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha,' says T V R Shenoy, 'but for J Jayalalithaa-Mamata Banerjee-Mayawati-Mulayam Singh Yadav... If the AIADMK, the Trinamool Congress, and other regional forces do extremely well, we could be heading for a repetion of the 9th Lok Sabha (1989 to 1991) and the 11th Lok Sabha (1996 to 1998), each of which saw multiple prime ministers and neither of which lasted even half of its five-year term.'
Engineering conglomerate fended off three corporate raids but emerged stronger.
The families of the Muslim youth from Hashimpura who were shot dead 28 years ago had some committed supporters in their long struggle for justice.
India Inc has few leaders who are likely to grab headlines in 2015.
Does Pranab Mukherjee want to be 'PM' by office, not just by initials? The very prospect, with memories of the Narasimha Rao years scarred into their memories, scares the Nehru-Gandhis, says T V R Shenoy.
'There is no evidence that it was Nehru who ordered this surveillance (on Netaji's kin). It was a very low-level Bengal-based operation.' 'Netaji's grandnephew Sugata Bose has written in his book on the leader that the existing evidence that Subhas Bose died in that plane crash is overwhelming. No historian looking at that evidence can come to a different conclusion.' 'Contrary to popular belief, there were very little differences among the three (Netaji, Nehru and Gandhi). Netaji was of the opinion that some amount of violence was necessary to bring independence for India.' Historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee says that the controversy over the alleged spying on the kin of Netaji is a damp squib.
'Once you've made up your mind that you don't like Smriti Irani because she has got where she has far too quickly or far too easily, you find reasons to dislike her and to justify your view,' says Pritish Nandy.
