Among the notable absentees were Congress president Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's M K Stalin, Telugu Desam Party chief K Chandrashekhar Rao, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray and Delhi chief minister and Aam Admi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's address on the eve of 70th Republic Day of India.
For its development, India needs a movement akin to the freedom movement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday.
Sudheendra Kulkarni on Tuesday described himself as an "agent of peace" and asked Shiv Sena to respect other people's freedom of expression.
Calling India and the United States "natural partners", President Barack Obama said the two countries have elevated their relationship and are committed to a new partnership.
Sonia told party MPs to work with dedication, loyalty and enthusiasm with Rahul to strengthen the party and said he was her boss to.
Yadav has hinted that he may float a new political outfit along with fellow rebel Prashant Bhushan
She also hit out at the government for posting retired bureaucrats, who she alleged were its 'yes men', as head of institutions.
'Having dealt with security and insurgency for 15 years, I am fully convinced that the steps taken by the government in regard to J&K and the measures in force there are essential,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Rejecting reports of his evading the law, he told reporters that the charges against him and his son were 'nothing further from truth'.
'Elections don't offer easy or ideal choices. Voters may find there is no candidate whom they can fully trust. But here is a litmus test for choosing between competing imperfection: Reject any candidate or party that asks you to put growth above secularism,' says Rajni Bakshi.
The issue of "not inviting" Punjab government to the foundation stone laying event of a cancer hospital in Sangrur snowballed into a controversy with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal accusing the Centre of "grave and avoidable political impropriety involved in keeping Punjab in the dark".
Al-Qaeda chief's daughters released for ex-Pakistan Army chief's son, claimed a media report.
'Modi's initial forays into foreign policy had the flavour of Aswamedha Yagas launched by ancient kings to conquer the world.' 'He overcame the hesitations of history and explored unconventional ways to win friends and influence people.' A fascinating excerpt from Ambassador T P Sreenivasan's new book, Modiplomacy -- Through a Shakespearean Prism.
Can un-democracy be the foundation for a democratic party that aspires to be different from all other parties in India.
'The reality is that 377 compromises the freedom and affects many of us adversely,' Navtej Singh Johar tells Manavi Kapur.
So, how does Pompeo's check list look like? In a broad sense, he is coming here 'to make sure that we have economic openness'; to ensure that 'we have to deliver'; to understand that 'we have to execute' what we promised to do; and, to 'broach some tough topics', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It looks as if competing political parties in Tamil Nadu have not grasped the full impact and import of a sizable section of voters possibly staying away from voting -- voters, supposedly with a predictable polling pattern -- owing to the Covid second wave and more so, how it could affect the outcome in individual constituencies and even booths, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'As a member of Congress, it was important to meet with Prime Minister Modi. Promoting the India-US relationship is a priority. It is important to have a constructive dialogue with the biggest democracy in the world,' US Congressman Mike Honda tells Ritu Jha/Rediff.com
'The Election Commission has to deal with money power, intimidation tactics and caste politics.'
'Some of his decisions were not so good, but his intentions were always guided by a deep national interest.'
Religious tolerance in India is "deteriorating" while religious freedom violations are "increasing", a rights expert has told American lawmakers.
What manufacturing was for China, super intelligence will be for India: Ambani
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has resigned as the party's convener ahead of the national executive meeting
'Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably,' predicts Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.
Speaking for the first time after the government announced an halt to anti-militancy operations in the state during the holy month of Ramzan, the prime minister said there is no alternative to peace and stability.
Globally, the proportion of people who said they volunteered time fell slightly, to 21.0 per cent from 21.3 per cent.
Sonia claimed that the Congress was the only one party that followed the path shown by him and carried on his legacy.
New Delhi is approaching Gota with an open mind, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Chambers said Internet will facilitate 3-5 times the economic impact at a much faster pace
This, the Congress said in its political resolution, was necessary as there were misgivings on the 'misuse' of EVMs to 'manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict.' The resolution called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballot as adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.
The sub-quota scheme may now lead to a ganging up of non-Vanniyars in individual constituencies against the Vanniyars just as in the past, such ganging up against SC-ST candidates was seen in the non-quota constituencies, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a Sri Lankan House of 225 members, the cut-off figure comes to 113. With Wickremesinghe side touching 102 and Rajapaksa's team at 101, the three-party Tamil National Alliance with 16 members and the left-leaning Sinhala-Buddhist nationalist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna with 6 members hold the key. But with the latter declaring that they will not support either formation in a vote count,that leaves the TNA as the deciding factor, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
From India's fight against COVID-19 to China face-off, Kovind spoke on several issues during the televised address.
'Modi has shown political courage by instituting several economic reforms which include demonetisation, ushering in GST, eradication of benami transactions...'
Besides criticising CM Arvind Kejriwal on scores of issues, Shah alleged the AAP government made only promises throughout its tenure and now in the last three months, public money was being spent on advertisements for its announcements.
Back of the envelope calculations put government expense on each of the new schemes promised by the DMK and the AIADMK at tens of thousands of crores. But then, neither party has said how they are going to also address the mounting debt burden either, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We saw how vigorous democracy was when it dislodged authoritarianism under Indira Gandhi. We saw its vigour again when it voted Mr Modi out of humble origins as prime minister. It was Nehru who laid that foundation for India and what is worrying today is Modi's rather imperial style of functioning,' says writer Nayantara Sahgal.
As the Narendra Modi government nears completing a year in office, the Congress on Wednesday stepped up its offensive against the prime minister accusing him of weakening democracy by running a "one-man show" while scoring maximum on "arrogance" and minimum on governance.
'Pure, uncluttered anti-Modi-ism, however angry, can't be an ideology or an electoral alternative.' 'The best it can do for you is damage Mr Modi enough for him to finish below 200.' 'Can it enable you to cross 100 to begin with?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
