An exclusive extract from 24, Akbar Road, a new book to be released by Hachette Books India in August, reveals how Rahul Gandhi has introduced a dynamic brand of leadership in the Congress party.
Former CAG Vinod Rai said he will not take a single rupee in remuneration from the government for his work.
Still to recover from their electoral rout, defeated Congress members of Parliament and ministers are now faced with the heart-wrenching job of moving out of their official houses, says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had applied for an official bungalow in Lutyen's Delhi soon after he was sworn-in, official documents have revealed.
According to top Trinamool sources, mercurial Mamata Banerjee is again angry with the Congress -- even before the previous contentious issues could subside -- over non-allocation of a preferred bunglow for her party office in the capital. Banerjee had zeroed in on bungalow number 14 on Bishamber Dass Marg as the ideal place to house her party office in Delhi.
All Delhi government, aided, private and schools run by civic bodies will remain shut, said Sisodia.
Elections 2024 is not as open and shut as has been presumed. There is some life left in it, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The national capital witnessed the worst riots in last three decades this week, with allegations of police acting as mute spectators when angry mobs ran riot on the streets of northeast Delhi.
Not only the common subscribers but even Finance Minister P Chidambaram is also peeved over the way mobile calls drop and wanted to know from the group chairman of the largest cellular operator Bharti Airtel, Sunil Mittal, as to when they would be able to fix the problem. "When will calls not drop in Lutyens' Delhi?," Chidambaram asked Mittal at the NDTV Profit Business Award function on Monday evening.
'Given that the RGF is a family-controlled trust, why would the Congress defend it every time someone accuses it of wrong-doing?' asks Virendra Kapoor.
While austerity is the current fad, the United Progressive Alliance government has splurged over Rs 93 crore in the last five years on renovation and maintenance of the sprawling bungalows of ministers and Members of Parliament, in the posh Lutyen's zone. In reply to a Right To Information query filed by a resident of Mumbai, Chetan Kothari, it was revealed by the government that in the last five years, an expenditure of Rs 93.53 crore has been incurred.
However, metro services, schools, colleges, cinema halls and salons will remain closed, the chief minister said. Wearing masks and following social distancing norms are mandatory in the city, Kejriwal said, adding that no activity will be permitted in containment zones, except for essential services.
Kalam was staying at the 10 Rajaji Marg residence after his eventful term as President ended in 2007.
'I went to slums in India which were quite destitute, where people were clearly really struggling, but typically there is a sort of sense of purpose.' 'People are hustling.' 'What that tells you is that if the country was so organised in a way to give these people opportunity, then they would make something of it.'
When Manmohan Singh takes up residence at his new Motilal Nehru Place address on Monday, he will be greeted by hundreds of bats and several other species of birds and mammals who are old inhabitants of the property.
The 3, Motilal Nehru Place type VIII bungalow, spread over 2.5 acres, was vacated by former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit recently.
The Sikhs love a good fight, and that's what the Modi government has given them.
'If you believe the Congress will win in 2024 because Modi is blundering from one monumental disaster to another, that means you are living in a fool's paradise.'
An image of the President speaking to visitors in the Mughal Gardens.
Sumit Bhattacharya lists what the leaked WhatsApp conversations reveal about the man named Arnab Goswami, and a certain PDG.
'Modi has become confident enough not only to look forward to a second term in 2019, but also to celebrate the 75th year of India's Independence in 2022.' 'It will be in the fitness of things if the vestiges of the past are swept away and the country is reminded that the 1,200 years of 'slavery' under the Muslims and the British were a bad dream.' 'And what better way to achieve this objective than by rubbing out the names of the invaders?' says Amulya Ganguli.
We need to bring solid waste management into all school curricula in an organised and cohesive manner, suggests Anjuli Bhargava.
'The middle class is already alienated.' 'If the stockmarket is destabilised, the BJP is finished; the party will lose in every town.' 'And if the stockmarket crash happens now, the BJP will not cross the 150 mark in 2019.'
'Governments, democratically elected governments, are custodians for a short- specified time.' 'Parents don't let baby sitters decide the course of their child's future.'
Mukherjee's family and relatives paid their last respects clad in PPE kits while conforming to COVID-19 safeguards.
The current headquarters, visited by thousands of people daily, is located close to the residence of party president Sonia Gandhi, raising security concerns.
The government on Wednesday spurned the demands for renaming Akbar Road as Maharana Pratap Road, saying "naming and renaming of streets was not on the agenda".
The bone of contention is the 450-seat convention centre built in the new DRDO building behind South Block at an additional cost of Rs 6.40 crore which has been taken objection to by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
Mayawati has arrived with a bang. Her Lutyen's bungalow in a bylane of Humayun Road is decorated as if some Rajasthani maharaja of old has returned from the battleground after winning enemy territory.
At an online book release event, former vice president Hamid Ansari lays to rest the controversies surrounding his tenure.
"People in his birth place, Mangalore, and also those in Bengaluru have been requesting to bury part of his remains in the two cities."
he said rent that she paid was determined by the government and was the same as for others in her category," the statement said, after a report claimed that she managed to convince the Vajpayee government to reduce the monthly rent of her 2,765.18 square metre house in Lutyens' Delhi from Rs 53,421 to only Rs 8,888 as it was "beyond her paying capacity".
'Our defence services are in a position to checkmate any Chinese adventurism.'
'And so, despite demonetisation, people in business feel safe with Mr Modi,' points out T N Ninan.
After refusing to take security cover, Arvind Kejriwal, who is set to become the Delhi chief minister, has refused to shift to a government bungalow in line with his resolve to end the VIP culture.
Government has rejected former railway minister Lalu Prasad's request for further extension of his stay at the official bungalow at Tughlaq Road in Lutyen's zone in New Delhi.
Other bidders include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.
Police on Tuesday barricaded several roads in the Lutyens zone and shut down Race Course Road metro station to prevent protesters from reaching 12 Tughlaq Road bungalow for a planned meeting demanding its conversion into a memorial of former prime minister Charan Singh.
The police said 10 companies have been deployed outside JNU. One company comprises 70 to 80 personnel.
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