'The uneducated think of their rights as a gift. This is deeply troubling.' 'If they were educated they could claim what is rightfully theirs.'
Secularism as a principle and practice in India is in "danger", but "forces of hatred" cannot alter the country's secular character, senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said during an interview on his new book 'The Battle of Belonging'. In the book, Tharoor makes a stinging critique of the Hindutva doctrine, asserting that it is a political doctrine, not a religious one.
About two dozen discoveries of the state-owned ONGC, Reliance Industries and the Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) in KG Basin alone are languishing for want of right price.
Indian two-wheeler majors Hero MotoCorp and Bajaj Auto are the biggest beneficiaries of this surge and, between the two, they are estimated to control about half of the local market there
'He has been made CM of Uttarakhand because everybody thinks he is not a challenge to anyone.'
'When the clouds lift and the mists clear, when saner heads and minds sit down to parse the outcome, they will find that the Congress was not lacking in either fight or spirit,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Transport minister says they are cheaper mode of transport than road and rail; so far only 5 river stretches have been declared waterways
In a boost to India's bid for a strong foothold in the resource-rich Arctic region, the Arctic Council on Wednesday expanded to include six new nations, including India, as observer states.
'The BJP wants an AIADMK government so that they can implement their policies.' 'All the policies implemented in UP are being implemented in Tamil Nadu.'
'Human rights issues continue to be exploited selectively, more often for narrow short-term political ends,' Modi tells Ban.
'The economy will pick up in 2020 or a little later... When it picks up, will it reach 10%, 8% or still lower? It all depends on how realistic are the diagnosis and the prescriptions that follow,' says Professor K J Joseph.
'This country's backwardness is exposed when Indians bribe, coax and cajole agents to get back-breaking jobs abroad to save a little money at home,' observes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Driven by hardship, adventurous souls mortgage their homesteads in Punjab or Haryana, pawn the family jewellery and borrow heavily to satisfy the greed of the criminal traffickers who organise their trips, points out Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The two leaders shook hands and exchanged pleasantries at the end of the media briefing which was addressed by Chinese President Xi Jinping. China is the host and chair of the SCO.
'A dangerous and false binary is now surfacing in Indian political discourse, which must be firmly rejected.' 'It is that we have to choose between freedom and development.' 'For us freedom is neither merely an instrument for development nor to be subordinated to development.' 'It is, as our founding fathers proclaimed early in our freedom struggle, 'our birthright' on which we shall never compromise.' 'Growth, wealth and development are fruits of democracy, not substitutes.' Dr Manmohan Singh's thoughts on democracy: A Must Read!
'We should credit Prime Minister Modi with having foresight and courage and showing leadership on climate change.'
Fencing the border between Myanmar and Nagaland is expected to adversely affect the Naga tribals. Gautam Sen, an expert on Nagaland, explains why the Indian government needs a more comprehensive and long-term perspective on this issue and why it must take local tribal sensitivities and customs into account.
Water shortage is likely to lead to political tensions and instability in the future, warns Simon George, President, Cargill India.
Bangalore-born Bhattacharyya, an alumnus of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 for his services to science and technology and made a life peer in the UK's House of Lords in 2004.
'The Indian State needs to focus on healthcare, education, infrastructure and law and order, and get out of all these regulatory cholesterols.' 'Then, India will fly.'
The Coast Guard's latest and largest offshore patrol vessel, Samarth, was on Tuesday commissioned at Vasco Da Gama in Goa by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar who asked the force not to sit on past laurels and focus on securing India's maritime interests.
Govt mulls gradual switchover to the January-December financial year
The world, he said, needs to move towards a transparent and flexible market for both oil and gas.
Bukhari, who was elected president of the JKAP, said the party's core agenda would be the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood and its residents' domicile rights in land and jobs.
'...but from those who control the narrative.' Powerful nations have mastered this art of narrative building. Those nations who aspire to become global powers must do so, observes Shanthie Mariet D'Souza.
Pitching for 'zero tolerance" against terrorism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told leaders of the five-nation grouping BRICS that the "choices" they make now will shape the future of the world at large.
The pricing and marketing freedom for exploitation would be capped by a ceiling price.
According to him, there are enough laws but their implementation is important.
Inaugurating the first Engineers Conclave, 2013, Pranab Mukherjee said it is happening at a time when the world is beginning to emerge from the global economic crisis.
In a veiled attack on India, Pakistan army chief General Raheel Sharif on Saturday accused it of "creating instability" through ceasefire violations and supporting militancy in different areas of the country.
The politics of hate does not pay. The people are too sensible to fall for such a ruse, says Amulya Ganguli.
'While high-level interventions may help smoothen inter-State relationships, they cannot fundamentally change the alchemy of such relationships, which are firmly rooted in mutual benefits and mutual interests,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Financial globalisation - or ultra globalisation - has done more harm than good to the majority of economies, say Anshuman Gupta & Karunakar Jha.
Gadkari said the NDA govt is keen to develop inland waterways in the country.
'The men in black suits and hair dye in Beijing have not only completely blown the cover story of "peaceful rise," but have managed to antagonise regional powers in the Indo-Pacific.'
'On one side you have the farmers of India and on the other side are few corporate families.' 'Unfortunately, those holding the levers of power today are more sympathetic towards these corporate families and helping them benefit at the cost of poor farmers.'
'The Jharkhand government is increasingly intolerant of voices of dissent.' 'Recently 20 persons, including activists, writers and academics, were booked for sedition.' 'Many of them have been critical of the government's apathy towards Adivasis,' notes Siraj Dutta.
If solutions are not found, adequately and in good time, things could simply slip out of everyone's hands, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
