The prime minister had openly said the retail sector should be open to competition, domestic and foreign.
Strongly opposing Aam Aadmi Party leader Prashant Bhushan's suggestion on the deployment of armed forces in Kashmir with the consent of the people, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday hit out at his party for taking a "weak" stand on issues of national security.
A realistic assessment will tell us that not much has changed between India and Pakistan; the relationship remains as fraught as before with little prospect of reconciliation, notes Ajai Shukla.
Ahead of the assembly elections next year, the BJP has been wallowing in a welter of ideas that has resurrected the debate on populism versus pragmatism, as it has to pander to two important but incompatible constituencies, of the freebie consuming masses and Bengaluru's heavy hitters craving for even roads, pristine lakes and unbroken power supply, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
'Akhilesh's plan is simple.' 'He wants to lead the party on the strength of the infrastructural development his government has done, capitalise on the massive sympathy wave of young people in the state who dream of doing what he has managed to do -- defy a feudal, greying orthodoxy that occupies and sits on posts and positions never to leave.'
Using the Jinnah portrait as an issue, and by demonising AMU and consequently Indian Muslims, the politics of communal polarisation is sought to be played out ahead of the Kairana Lok Sabha by-poll and to sustain it till the next Lok Sabha election, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Arun Jaitley faces a tough electoral battle in his maiden bid to enter Lok Sabha from Amritsar but is unfazed by his "reluctant" heavyweight opponent Capt Amarinder Singh as he claims the groundswell against Congress "adds to my confidence".
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
'Whoever whispered in his ears that go for demonetisation, misled him completely' and the PM lacked the sagacity to know that it would not work, Yashwant Sinha tells Archis Mohan.
He said land is required for rural roads, irrigation, electrification.
'The two-word answer is: Proper oversight,' says T N Ninan.
A political party's manifesto is the first stage of building a compact with the voters in any governance plan. If that compact is dependent on a document that reeks of fiscal imprudence and lacks credibility, it is a serious setback to the country's democracy and governance, says A K Bhattacharya.
India has moved up 16 positions to rank 55th on a global index of the world's most competitive economies, where Switzerland remains on top.
'Under-employment continues to be a very big problem.' 'What we see today is many youth who would have accepted any kind of job are not willing to accept any job.' 'They are ready to wait for a better job, one that justifies their educational qualification. 'This is one of the reasons why unemployment has risen.'
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain refuted media reports that government is planning to buy surveillance devices for spying.
The larger virtue of maintaining fiscal credibility should not be unduly diluted by quibbles on the fiscal math, says Sajjid Chinoy.
'This government has huge respect for the Supreme Court and when there is going to be a hearing on the review petition, it is appropriate to refrain from taking any action till then.'
However, he refrained from speaking on Mexican immigrants and also declined to repeat his frequent promise to force Mexico to pay for the wall.
The government has received flak for allegedly shielding the corrupt ministers and slow pace of investigation in irrigation scam.
Labelled as the semi-final before the big Lok Sabha poll, assembly elections in five states will set the tone for summer of 2019.
Experts said many of the programmes started in the last one year have been dogged by poor implementation, something which the state seriously needs to answer as it faces a tough electoral battle in the months ahead.
'If India is to emerge as a superpower, we must utilise our huge agricultural potential and not, as in past centuries, merely exploit our farmers,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The best possible move would be for the government to spend the funds on activities like infrastructure development or as it deems fit, says Soumya Kanti Ghosh.
'Washington is telegraphing here is its willingness to support a low-grade, limited use of force meant to send a strong message to Pakistan.' 'Perhaps something along the lines of the surgical strikes in 2016, or perhaps something a bit more -- but not much more.'
If he doesn't, two things are guaranteed: Failure for him, and continued slide for his nation despite its talented people, strong nationalism, the gift of geography and a formidable army, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Classically, the Japanese - who are not guided by short-termism - added capacity during slumps to be ready to reap their good fortune when the business cycle turned upwards again and shortages emerged, says Subir Roy.
The proposed China visit of Oli, who took over as prime minister in October, is in marked contrast to the usual practice the new prime ministers of Nepal follow. Most of the Nepalese premiers have visited India, ahead of China.
Premier Li Keqiang highlighted his government's performance in the last one year and the challenges ahead in various fields. Compared to other reports by his predecessors, Li spoke more frankly about the mounting challenges faced by the country. Srikanth Kondapalli on the two recent Chinese parliament sessions.
After going through more than 78,000 photographs from over 4,700 photographers, the expert judges of the World Press Photo contest have announced the finalists of the 2019 competition. The panelists have selected 43 photographers from 23 countries to represent the best in photojournalism.
Various twists and turns by govt post-demonetisation prove that it has been tall order for the PM
India's decision to skip the meeting came after a year of bilateral discord over China's stubborn opposition to India's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers' Group and a UN ban against Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Mohammed leader Masood Azhar.
The claim was filed on Friday before an Arbitration Court in Singapore and a final order in the matter is likely to come out by end of March next year.
Whether history will remember Edward Snowden as a traitor to his country or as a champion for free speech and less intrusive government is hard to tell, but the issues he has brought into focus need deep thought, writes Ajit Balakrishnan
Modi's visit to some developed countries such as the US, Japan, China and Australia were sprinkled with humongous investment figures. But do we have the wherewithal to absorb such big investments?
The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and other United States schools, Tim Cook, India's Indira Jaising and Mukesh Ambani. The names mentioned above have nothing in common... until now. They have all been named as Fortune's World's 50 Greatest Leaders. Here are some of the prominent names mentioned in the list.
The broader market outperformed with the S&P BSE Midcap down 0.3%, while the S&P BSE Smallcap was little changed.
Indian policy-makers must see the choices before them as economic, not moral, ones, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
West Bengal was the second-most industrialised state in terms of value added and first in terms of number of factories and employment even in the mid-1960s. With a severe and long process of deindustrialisation, it lost its primacy.
Seeking to assuage the feelings of the people of Tamil Nadu opposed to India's participation in the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting meet in Sri Lanka, Centre on Tuesday detailed its relief and rehabilitation efforts for minority Tamils in the war-torn island nation.
The shocking death of 53 infants in the last 11 days at Sishu Bhavan in Cuttack have raised questions about poor infrastructure and shortage of doctors in major hospitals in Odisha.
