From Sri Lanka's most popular political family to its most despised -- going by the voices on the streets calling for the Rajapaksas' ouster -- what went wrong for the clan? Veteran Sri Lanka watcher N Sathiya Moorthy offers an insight.
"The era of 'lalten' is gone. In the last six years consumption of electricity has increased 3 fold in Bihar," PM Modi said. "Voters of Bihar have taken a resolve that they won't let those who have a history of making the state 'Bimaru' come near them," he added.
"I am deeply proud and excited to call Kamala Harris our next Vice President, the first woman, first South Asian American and first Black woman to ever be elected to the position," Indian-American Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal said.
'Breaking down silos and ensuring a more integrated governance process is just as important to performance.' 'It has been a major priority in the last six years, especially in national security,' External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar points out when delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture-2020: India and the Post-Covid World.
He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge which he announced in his opening remarks at the meeting.
Fiscal discipline has been maintained but toxic assets worth Rs 7 crore are a massive headache
'The Election Commission has to deal with money power, intimidation tactics and caste politics.'
The survey also found that employment opportunities, transport and women empowerment are key issues in the Himachal Pradesh assembly polls.
BJP received chunk of the funds at Rs 437.04 crore, while Congress got Rs 26.65 crore.
The government's initial promise and energy seems to have dissipated.
'The time has come to substitute the present Constitutional set-up with an alternative democratic framework,' argues B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Markets hope the Budget will steer spending towards infrastructure.
The prime minister says he will bring real change to Bengal. Perhaps he will. The interesting thing is that his party has never defined what this change is, observes Aakar Patel.
India studied the Malaysian model, which was scrapped on Wednesday, before implementing the GST and borrowed the anti-profiteering clause to ensure GST benefits are passed on to the end-consumer by the industry
If the Congress lost in Tamil Nadu in 1967, never to return, or the DMK and the AIADMK have kept their place in power and electoral politics since then, it owes not to their love or hatred for gods or for one religion over another. Instead, they had always been linked to performance and incumbency/anti-incumbency factors. There may be something in such constructs for Rajini's strategic team to consider, especially if the superstar is to enter direct politics by around this time next year. But then, they would need to brush up their homework more than at present, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In 2018, the BJP's rare successes in north-east India aside, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong for the party.
It is natural for many of you to ask -- do things like Right to Reject and Compulsory voting violate our Right to Expression? No, I would say it is adding completeness in the opportunity for expression
The last 25 years of Indian democracy have shown that anti-incumbency in state elections is on the decline. This is a positive trend because continuous terms will allow political parties to look beyond single-term policies and focus on long-term development, says Richard M Rossow.
In four years, the state has had to battle cyclones, two floods, and two epidemiological disasters. If people bring Pinarayi Vijayan back to power, he must have done something right, obsevers Aditi Phadnis.
'If there is lesser number of elections, populism will naturally be restricted.' 'Decisions will be taken speedily because there won't be the spectre of adverse electoral impact of the decisions because elections will be held once in five years or maximum two times in five years.'
"While it takes political courage to launch such a trailblazing and massive campaign; it actually takes far more wisdom to give it a happy ending," an article in the state-run Global Times said.
'To those who engaged in the acts of violence and destruction, you do not represent our country. And to those who broke the law, you will pay'
'Votes-for-notes no longer only means cash and goodies for fence-sitting voters,' points out Sunil Sethi.
Jayapal, 51, warned she intends to be ready to stand and fight every step of the way, if Trump does not abandon the divisive rhetoric of his campaign.
The Republican victory is a major setback to Democrats who would lose their filibuster majority of 60 in the 100-seat Senate, which was essential for President Barack Obama's ambitious health care reform bill to clear the Congress.
'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!
The Indian healthcare system currently combines the worst features of the public and private models.
'Vajpayee was predictable in his ways.' 'Modi is a schemer, possessed of a shrewdness that can be rewarding in the chaotic world of politics.' 'His political journey gives reason to believe that 2019 will be another milestone in his private project,' notes Vikram Johri.
Singling out the Congress as the only opponent to the GST, the government hopes to pass the bill after the altered numbers in the Upper House, reports Archis Mohan.
Mahesh Vijapurkar is hopeful that two Supreme Court directives and Gopinath Munde's confession that he spent Rs 8 crore to get elected to the Lok Sabha may lead to a possibility that the processes administered by the Election Commission may get cleaner, even if only over time.
That's why he is now finally focusing on the two things that alone can help: Fiscal expansion -- from December onwards -- and supply management via amended laws and rules that affect business, notes T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan
Governor Banwarilal Purohit administered the oath of office and secrecy to 68-year old Stalin, for whom this would be the first stint as CM
Flurry of economic reform suggests Modi realises his muscular nationalism script is getting jaded. Chances are he'll try for economic recovery but stick to what's worked so far, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'India should pledge that it will only target those provinces of Pakistan where nuclear weapons are located,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'A recent compromise by the state government is accepting NEET exams for medical entrance.'
Public intellectuals who frame the ideological antipathy between the RSS & Co and Jawaharlal Nehru in the light of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination and Hindu Raj alone, miss the point by a yard, argues Shaan Kashyap.
The GST's significance for the BJP's politics is as important as its implications for the Indian economy, says A K Bhattacharya.
'What matters is meeting the needs and expectations of the people who have voted to provide governance for the country.'
Not just candidates, but their spouses and dependents too have to reveal source of income and assets, observes the apex court.
'When one has a lot of power, one can shut one's ears to the other side. This is what is common between the BJP of 2019 and the Congress of 1947,' says Aakar Patel.
