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.
'Rahul is misguided by a handful of family retainers who don't want him to show unrestrained initiative in forming allies.' says Sudhir Bisht.
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.
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.
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.
'It is not that he has not committed any mistakes; he has.' 'But people were willing to forgive you if you were honest.'
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
'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.
Noted author and journalist Khushwant Singh died in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 99.
Why do the biggest, most talented and successful film-makers of India suck up to the establishment so breathlessly, asks Shekhar Gupta.
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.
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.
'The youth associated with this movement were extremely talented.' 'But I personally believe violence cannot change anything in the world.'
"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.
Neeraj Pandey's Aiyaary is the sort of spy fantasy story that drunks narrate in bars, says Sreehari Nair.
'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 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.
Nitin A Gokhale, Co-founder, BharatShakti.in and long-time Rediff.com contributor, remembers a most unusual politician.
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.
The Missionaries of Charity are unaffected by the recent comments of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat questioning Mother Teresa's motives
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 American fear of the Chinese military is overblown. The countries that should be concerned are China's neighbours,' Jeffrey Wasserstrom tells Rahul Jacob.
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.
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.
'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.
'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.
His current predicament stems from a combination of personal failing and circumstance
'The answer is no, the entire country's is.' 'So why such obsession with Delhi?' 'But the most powerful people in India live here: The prime minister, civil servants, Supreme Court judges, MPs, diplomats, dadas of the media...' 'If they can't deal with their own problem, what chance does the rest of the country have, with its foul air, dying rivers, frothing lakes, and crumbling mountains?' says Shekhar Gupta.
'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.
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 babas' vote banks and the politicians' greed for en bloc votes, is the curse of Punjab and Haryana.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will soon shift to a five-bedroom duplex flat in central Delhi from his current residence in the Kausambi locality of Ghaziabad.
'I am happy that Aurangzeb will no longer dance before my eyes as I jog down A P J Abdul Kalam Road. Instead, the serene, saintly, smile of the late beloved President will bless me when I take an evening stroll there.'
The Centre will grant Rs 500 crore for each of the smart cities.
Congress leader Anand Sharma said the scheme was coming in the way of MPs discharging their duties and not being able to attend the meetings of Parliamentary Committees due to it.
PM Modi inaugurates the second phase of Rashtrapati Bhavan museum.
'The middle class stood by the BJP, especially after demonetisation, and they expected something in return.' 'Some section of the BJP believes the middle class is condemned to vote for the BJP as they have no other choice.' 'They think they can treat them any way, still the middle class will run to vote for it.' 'That's what the Budget seems to convey.'
The primary problem is that India's garment factories are too small and they typically have 150 people and about 80 machines.
In the midst of a raging row over the conversions in Agra by Hindutva outfits, the Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah on Friday favoured a strong law to stop forcible conversions.
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