This finance minister has come of age. That's not condescension. It is a praise, says Omkar Goswami.
Modi isn't going to voters on his track record but on the fear of the terrorist across the border and the Muslims within. It's a battle on his terms, says Shekhar Gupta.
While the Congress alleged that the Modi government was indulging in political vendetta, the Bharatiya Janata Party claimed that it is a legal matter.
The city's landmark five-star Taj Mahal hotel, popularly called the Taj Mansingh after the road it's situated on, is likely to get yet another lease extension.
'In the Indian context it is not easy for rival parties to come together, especially pre-elections.' 'Having pulled it off, they should be taken seriously.'
'The biggest challenge and the one that needs immediate attention is massive shortcoming of jobs, leading to rampant migration from the state (almost 4 million Odias migrated!). 'This forces them to work in abysmal and inhumane working conditions.' 'Some are fortunate to come back alive, while some return in coffins.'
'In a party run by 'two-and-a half men', Kovind fits the bill perfectly because, unlike the BJP's previous choice for the Presidency, A P J Abdul Kalam, he is unlikely to return a bill as Kalam did with the office of profit legislation,' argues Amulya Ganguli.
A 42-year-old man was found dead at the residence of former Union minister and Congress leader Kumari Selja in Sunehri Bagh in New Delhi on Monday morning, police said.
The iconic hotel opens after Rs 6-billion revamp
Nath, 72, reached Bhopal late in night to be greeted with chants of 'Jai Jai Kamal Nath' by his supporters.
The Gandhi scion can't be central figure on land bill debate unless he completely changes the way he functions and immerses himself in politics 24/7
Noted author and journalist Khushwant Singh died in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 99.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
GST, a much needed reform that widens the tax net, promises to strangle many legitimate businesses while they wait for the tax administration and systems to catch up, says Rahul Jacob.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
No one on that glittery occasion could possibly have imagined that the Chinese were conspiring to invade India, nor could anyone have predicted that the seemingly benign Dalai Lama was plotting to flee Tibet and seek asylum in India. A fascinating excerpt from Sukanya Rahman's must-read Dancing In The Family: The Extraordinary Story Of The First Family Of Indian Classical Dance.
Payal, who has been residing at 7, Akbar Road bungalow since 1999, however, refused to move out and urged the court to pass an order.
In the crazily complex cauldron that is India, where caste, community, class and cash are just the primary ingredients, no one has yet come up with a fool-proof method to ascertain how voters make up their minds, on which button to press, in the privacy of their 'confessional' booths, notes Krishna Prasad.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation's decision to make washrooms in hotels and eateries open to the public for a fee highlights India's failure to expand access to toilet facilities.
"I urge the PM once again: soldiers should not have to struggle to claim what is their due. OROP must be implemented in a meaningful way! My heartfelt condolences to the family of Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal. Extremely sad to learn of his death," the Congress vice president said.
'It is not that he has not committed any mistakes; he has.' 'But people were willing to forgive you if you were honest.'
'A heavy tanker takes time to move, but when it starts rolling, it's difficult to stop it,' Indian Hotels CEO Puneet Chhatwal tells Shyamal Majumdar.
Why do the biggest, most talented and successful film-makers of India suck up to the establishment so breathlessly, asks Shekhar Gupta.
'Modi followed a prime minister whose second term was marked by such tragic passivity that Indians, it would seem, are willing to go to great pains to help this one realise his ambitions for them.'
The government on Monday countered the Congress charges of snooping on Rahul Gandhi saying it was making a "mountain out of what is not even a molehill" as information collection was part of a transparent security profiling used on 526 VIPs, including Sonia Gandhi and former prime ministers.
Immediately after Narendra Modi's swearing-in ceremony, former prime minister Manmohan Singh on Monday shifted to his retirement abode at Motilal Nehru Marg in the heart of the city after staying for 10 years at the official residence of prime minister at 7 Race Course Road.
The Missionaries of Charity are unaffected by the recent comments of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat questioning Mother Teresa's motives
The party is finding increasing acceptability in the 18-35 years age group with Rahul Gandhi adding a million followers in the past 2 months and Facebook and Twitter also seeing similar spikes.
'The youth associated with this movement were extremely talented.' 'But I personally believe violence cannot change anything in the world.'
Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary is the sort of spy fantasy story that drunks narrate in bars, says Sreehari Nair.
At least half a dozen are in the works with increasing brand awareness and growing purchasing power in upper classes.
Two years is when the honeymoon surely starts to sour, so what should Prime Minister Narendra Modi focus on ahead of 2019? Devanik Saha offers some ideas.
Nitin A Gokhale, Co-founder, BharatShakti.in and long-time Rediff.com contributor, remembers a most unusual politician.
'The American fear of the Chinese military is overblown. The countries that should be concerned are China's neighbours,' Jeffrey Wasserstrom tells Rahul Jacob.
'The BJP can kill two birds with one stone by wresting back control of the message; and the steps are fairly obvious. Once the media is neutral, there is a level playing field,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
His current predicament stems from a combination of personal failing and circumstance
Given the hotel's prime location, it is obvious that there will be some serious bidders trying their luck when an auction is held in the second half of this calendar year.
'For such prices you could get a place inside New York City and inside London.' 'Rs 7 crore is a million dollars and will bring you a handsome place in any city in the world.' 'The truly strange thing is that the conversion of the rupee's actual value makes India's real estate even more expensive,' says Aakar Patel.
What would happen if the home minister chose to go to the movies, and watched the current science-fiction hit, Christopher Nolan's Interstellar
'The effect of demonetisation has been largely to drive black money above ground. But there are several interesting side-effects. One is the uncomfortable realisation that this can happen again, which is a deterrent to future sinners,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
