Rumours of a joint ticket between the two men in the 2024 race were fanned by the Trump campaign's praise for Ramaswamy after the first Republican primary debate on Wednesday, in which he emerged as a breakout star.
In a nation of 1.4 billion people, where a potential new creator is born every second, we pick 25 influencers who have ruled social media this year.
"No, she will not make me the PM," was Dr Pranab Mukherjee's cryptic response in a reference to Sonia Gandhi when he was asked by his daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee about his chances of becoming the prime minister in 2004.
The story of Sahara India Pariwar founder Subrata Roy, who died in Mumbai on November 14 aged 75, is the stuff of movies - of a spectacular rise and an equally spectacular fall. Born in Araria, Bihar, Roy was 30 when he set up Sahara in 1978. He started with a capital of about Rs 2,000, a peon, a clerk and his father's Lambretta scooter in Gorakhpur, eastern Uttar Pradesh, writes Tamal Bandyopadhyay in his 2014 book, Sahara: The Untold Story. Sahara was not his first venture.
The Tamil film industry won't forget Vijayakanth's large-heartedness, how he took care of fellow industry persons, male or female, rich or poor, young or old...recalls N Sathiya Moorthy. How he sent money quietly for the family of a stunt artiste to meet his funeral expenses, how he always ensured that all female co-stars, including junior artistes, had secure accommodation on outdoor shoots, and how he would always the first to rush help if anyone from the fraternity was in distress.
India's tough stance is better late than never.
Arvind Kejriwal warned the media that "very big forces" would try and break the INDIA alliance by showing that there was a lot of acrimony among them.
Within a few hours of Nitish Kumar leaving the NDA, entirely reasonable people were speculating as to how the CBI or ED could be used against him or his party, notes Mihir S Sharma.
'I've never seen such cooperation before. Problem solving. Everyone working together. And truthful.' 'Someone from the prime minister's office was there the entire time, at the table, one of the team.' 'Now you have to figure out how to get them out. And I'm just gonna sit here patiently.' 'But if you annoy me, I could actually ruin the whole game for you and for the people in here, which is the avalanche'.
There are plenty of shootouts and a fair amount of sex over the nine brisk episodes though the dialogue is thankfully free of profanity, observes Deepa Gahlot.
'I have never seen a common man tapping a chief minister on the shoulder and giving him his petition, like needing money for a child admitted in a hospital.'
Admirers in southern India have a particular way of showering affection on their heroes, whether they are politicians, cricketers or actors.
With changes to Delhi's architectural map, a re-naming rash, and more Hindu symbolism in secular spaces, the government is making it clear it wants a clean break with post-colonial India, asserts T N Ninan.
'We can't leave this to Parliament; we are sure they (MPs) are not going to sensitise anybody.'
This is a challenge India's political establishment will have to face unitedly, without looking for electoral benefit, warns Vir Sanghvi.
China has spent half a century plotting to defeat America and in some respects, the Chinese military is already at par with the US armed forces, Haley said in a major policy speech on the economy in the key early primary State of New Hampshire on Friday.
'His biggest contribution as defence minister was to change the rules of bringing martyred soldiers' bodies home.'
The veteran politician said he spoke to Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia on Tuesday night and promised to visit them at the protest site.
Kiren Rijiju's exit from the coveted law ministry came in the midst of his frequent criticism of the judiciary, particularly on the system of appointment of judges to high courts and the Supreme Court.
Very few know of his scintillating mind, the outpouring of fresh ideas, the attention to detail in every endeavour, the extraordinary administrative and organisational skills, and a limitless stamina and energy with which he pursues every interest and commitment, notes Ambassador Talmiz Ahmad.
'Today, bankers don't want to take risks as the good decisions taken by them were not protected.' 'There is risk involved in all decisions, like businessmen taking risks in their businesses.' 'A banker must have taken a decision when the economic condition was different, and you cannot question him on the basis of the present situation in hindsight.' 'Naturally, this has affected the morale of bankers.'
The challenge is to enhance opportunities for people to generate livelihoods through entrepreneurship, both big and small, argues R Jagannathan.
Pranab's earlier fear of Sonia relying too heavily on a coterie due to her lack of experience turned out to be unfounded. As per Pranab, Sonia had her close advisers but she did not follow anyone's advice blindly. A fascinating excerpt from Sharmistha Mukherjee's Pranab, My Father: A Daughter Remembers.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has apologised for the Canadian Parliament's recognition of a man who fought for a Nazi unit during World War II, an incident that drew global condemnation and was termed by the Opposition as the 'biggest single diplomatic embarrassment' in the country's history.
An FIR has been registered in Meerut against Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's personal assistant on a complaint from party member and actor Archana Gautam's father who alleged that his daughter was threatened with death, the police said on Wednesday.
At a time when the BJP's stars are at the top on the eve of the Lok Sabha polls, the Puri-Joshimath Sankaracharyas may have kick-started a row whose efforts might be to divide Hindus, not in the name of castes, but on what passes for greater belief, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
He is currently on a two-day swing to the crucial State of Iowa. On January 15, Iowa would kick off the 2024 Republican presidential primary season.
'I am a human being, I was surely nervous, I am competing against a lot of people, but even when I played cricket there is not a single match where I was not nervous.' 'Lots of mothers, lots of sisters are so sure that no matter what happens, Sree will stand by them.' 'I will go to any length to help people.' 'If it is important to save somebody I will save him even if I have to die.'
'Perhaps it isn't protocol at all, but power before which we abase ourselves,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'With over 50 per cent of medical seats reserved for those who have the ability to pay a fee ranging from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1.5 crore for a five-year MBBS course and quotas in accordance with affirmative policies in government colleges, the band of seats available for the not-so-rich and non-OBCs is very narrow.'
The Congress on Monday promised that a government led by it will conduct a nationwide caste census and implement 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and state legislative assemblies at the earliest, including adequate representation for women belonging to the OBC community.
Mainstream American newspapers, many of which had been sceptical of India's space mission and sometimes even made fun of it through cartoons, noted the great Indian achievement.
With half of their staff on duty and no visitors allowed in waiting halls, many top leaders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who are under quarantine due to the extended lockdown are exploring ways to keep themselves busy.
'Unfortunately, there is no movement towards peace in Manipur.'
The crux of the UK prime ministerial frontrunner Rishi Sunak's message was around honesty as he clashed with his four remaining rivals in the first televised debate of the race to replace Boris Johnson as the Conservative Party leader.
Three others too were sentenced to life in the Mahendra Singh Bhati murder case.
Jawan springs a real surprise when it boldly and directly points fingers at the ineffective government and appeals to recognise the power of the finger and vote. Six months before the next general Indian election, this is no coincidence, observes Sukanya Verma.
As the government submitted a list of 627 foreign account holders to the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the spotlight is on family of former Maharashtra chief minister, former minister in the UPA government, a Mumbai-based corporate among others. Vrishti Beniwal reports
'The ending Vijay Tendulkar had written was different.' 'According to him, the film ended with Anant Welankar's suicide.' 'I felt such an ending would be too nihilistic.' 'Bahut zyada defeatist ho jaata.'
By keeping the Sanatana Dharma row alive and adding the Ayodhya temple consecration scheduled for January 22 and adding the free darshan promise from four polled states to the entire country, the BJP may have a self-fulfilling concoction, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
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