'Modi's long arm reached out to Madam Singh. It is not at all a pretty sight when a Colossus comes down so heavily in an patently unequal tussle -- and I am not speaking about gender equality alone. A prime minister should not stoop so low to conquer. It is simply below the dignity of his high office.'
'According national security and higher defence management empathetic political attention they warrant is critical. Will Prime Minister Modi pick up this gauntlet?' asks C Uday Bhaskar.
More than four decades ago, the Nixon administration knowingly broke United States law to help the Pakistani army against Bangladesh and encouraged China to mass troops on Indian border to oppose the strong stand taken by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, according to a new book.
'Attempts at long-term rapprochement have been rather feeble from both sides. The primary cause of the lack of progress is that these efforts do not appear to have the support of the Pakistan army,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'If you invest your entire capital in talks, you cannot abruptly change gear and decide on war.'
Dr Kalam, The Dalai Lama, M F Husain. Mrinalini Sarabhai. Dancer Astad Deboo lists his favourite Indian treasures.
'Article 15 is not the work of a hack, or of someone merely scooping a plot out of newspaper headlines.' 'It is a well-researched, clear-headed movie; but its findings have a purpose,' says Sreehari Nair.
The proposed changes, as per the draft, could continue some of the existing conflict between wildlife protection regulations with the implementation of Forest Rights Act, 2006, which gives rights to tribals in all kinds of traditional forest lands -- including the wildlife zones, such as national parks. The new proposed law, just as the original one from 1972, does not explicitly recognise these rights in all wildlife areas.
The challenge of cleaning up the taxation system and introducing the goods and services tax (GST) regime cannot be underestimated.
'Will 'Make in India' be able to harness the demographic dividend so it does not become a disaster?' 'Will 'Digital India' live up to the lofty promises the government and private sector made as part of its recent launch?'
'E Ahamed will be sorely missed as a decent and wise man who made the best use of his political career and personal abilities for the good of the nation,' remembers Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'The only positive I see are the youth of India who were earlier just after money. The young now want to do something for society.'
Indeed, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who as Gujarat chief minister was considered close to certain business groups and industrialists, has hardly been seen with any Indian business head.
As oil minister, he has overseen India's petroleum and natural gas needs. But now he also runs the environment ministry, where he has issued permits for 100 stalled projects in a month-long spree that has delighted industry but shocked green activists.
'Tilting at the Government in English in front of India may make him feel like Joan of Arc, but without a feel for Bharat he will merely be Don Quixote,' says S Muraleedharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
'As the interest rates rise, people are going to say why should I be taking big risks when I can get 4 to 5 per cent in a bank account.' 'So, I think you have to change your thinking.' 'You need to look at the balance sheet, look at dividends.' 'These issues that have been ignored.'
Two US lawmakers write to the House Speaker asking to extend an invitation
'Demonetisation, is in principal, a mistake, because it involves a theft -- a taking of private property by the State.' 'It is one of those bad Indian ideas that has been tried twice in the past, with two failures for the record books.' 'This cloud over the economy will probably remain as long as Modi is in power.'
'President Obama will make a historic visit to India in January, becoming the first US head of State to attend India's Republic Day and the only sitting US president to visit India twice.' 'There's little doubt the relationship has been re-energised, with renewed enthusiasm to take our partnership to the next level.'
'It is a concocted letter and we suspect the IB (Intelligence Bureau) to be behind this game.' 'All the investigation agencies should have quietly gone about finding more about this alleged plot to kill the prime minister.' 'Why are you leaking such a letter that reveals the plot to the press as well as to BJP spokespersons?'
'Indira Gandhi, it appears, did not to consult her Cabinet colleagues, or diplomats, or civil servants when she decided to sign the agreement in Shimla.' 'We ruefully recall Bhutto's perfidy and the Indian prime minister's gullibility,' says Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd).
'Despite frequent high-level interactions there has been little traction on substantive issues between India and France,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
The cascade of cordiality on both sides after the Modi-Sharif handshake in Paris was preceded by much planning and even goading from UK, US and Germany.
'Tying somebody to the jeep is not the military way, but the officer was able to come out of the situation without any bloodshed.' 'I am not supporting him, but I am also not criticising him.' 'He had to use some mechanism to save the uniformed personnel, many of whom were Kashmiri boys of the J&K police,' points out Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd), who was instrumental in the surrender of a record 1,267 terrorists in Kashmir.
'Let us remember that Make in India for defence must not be our goal.' 'The goal is to have a strong military to help the nation protect its identity and assert its will.'
The new army chief's highest priority must be to address the critical hollowness in the Indian Army's operational preparedness, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
AMU has once again been pulled into a crossfire of crass political opportunism. In these post-truth times, that the university also had political stirrings not subscribing to the Muslim League is chosen to be forgotten, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'There are some castes that grab power, then pass on the benefits to those who belong to their own caste.'
'We were supposed to be a united nation based on unity and diversity.' 'Now what we are doing is there will be a class called Marathas, Dangars, etc.' 'The 100 per cent of our nation's population will be in classes and you will be allocating the nation's education and service resources in terms of classes.' 'How does it work out in terms of equality? Where is your equal nation?'
Retirement blues can sometimes result in actions that are dysfunctional, notes Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Implementation of the US-India Defence Technology and Trade Initiative is as much a test for the Modi government to direct its bureaucratic processes, as it is of US commitment,' says Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd).
Through the book 'Make in India' authors Ranjini Manian and Joanne Grady Husky bring you the wisdom of twelve CEOS who walked the trail before them.
Here are some tips to help you crack the Staff Selection Commission Combined Graduate Level Examination.
"Who will be his men?" a distinguished official close to the prime minister asked. Frankly, nobody has an idea. Hardly seven weeks are left for a regime change, but the idea of Narendra Modi on Raisina Hill looks abnormal, if not unreal. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt captures the uncertain mood in the capital's bureaucracy ahead of the largest democratic transfer of power in the world.
Meaningful devolution of spending power to states could spread more confidence on the ground and stir precisely the sort of change Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised.
Modi asked bureaucrats to imagine whether or not their life has become "robotic". "If it has happened than this impacts the whole government and system. We can't be robotic. That can't be our life," the prime minister said during an hour-long interaction with civil servants at the 9th Civil Services Day function at Vigyan Bhawan.
The National Democratic Alliance government has adopted half measures instead of moving decisively on defence.
India's rising GDP may have propelled the middle class to become richer, buy new cars, travel around the world and build assets, but it further pushed the economically disadvantaged and poor into poverty and drudgery, says Devanik Saha.
'All of Indira Gandhi's bad economic ideas are being strengthened, from nationalised banks to anti-poverty, handout yojanas,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'We use the word "historic" perhaps too much, but the prime minister's visit certainly was historic in so many ways.'
