On another occasion, he recalled, as part of the SPG, he was tasked with the security of the then prime minister Manmohan Singh and assigned the responsibility of escorting Tata from Taj Mansingh Hotel in New Delhi.
Whether it was the MGNREGS or the NFSA or the Aadhaar-based DBT scheme for cash transfer, the Modi government has built on the basic architecture created by the Singh government. Policy makers in the Modi government, instead of discarding them as products of the previous political regime, worked on them, expanded their scope and reach, and used new tools to improve their performance, explains A K Bhattacharya.
'We are going to need more technical people in government.' 'You can't expect a generalist to understand the complicated world of financial engineering.' 'I regret to say that most of our politicians have no competence to deal with these things. Nor is there a willingness to learn.'
He dismissed as "hollow claim" Prime Minister Narendra "Modi's propaganda" that things have started looking up
The dangerous thing about the present situation is that the government is complacent enough to not realise that we are in the midst of a protracted economic slowdown, Singh said.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has expressed concerns about the Congress party's leadership role within the INDIA bloc, raising questions about their ability to justify their position. Abdullah highlighted a sense of disquiet among some allies, who feel the Congress isn't doing enough to earn its leadership position. While praising Sonia Gandhi's leadership, he also criticized the alliance's lack of consistent engagement and called for more structured communication to address potential disagreements. Abdullah's comments suggest underlying tensions within the opposition alliance, particularly regarding the Congress's electoral performance and seat distribution strategies.
For net surfers in China, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is a 'hero'. Dr Singh was pleasantly surprised to learn this from Chinese premier Wen Jiabao at a dinner hosted by the Chinese leader for the Indian Prime Minister earlier this week.
"We decline comment," a poll panel spokesperson said on queries related to the prime minister's speech on Sunday in Banswara.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who leaves office this week, was tonight given a warm farewell dinner by Congress President Sonia Gandhi which was attended by a galaxy of party leaders and Union ministers.
We did not disappoint India in the summer of 1991. We will grasp the nettle once again, in the summer of 2011, the prime minister said.
Former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna passed away at his residence in Bengaluru early Tuesday morning, his family said.
Reports (not denied by India) that the USA had 'for the first time provided real-time details to their Indian counterparts on the Chinese positions and force strength in advance of a PLA incursion' into Tawang at the LAC in December 2022, helping India thwart China's expansionist designs, show how operationally effective the USA-India friendship has become on the ground. A engaging excerpt from Sreeram Chaulia's must-read new book, Friends: India's Closest Strategic Partners.
After being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Trump started his inaugural address with a sentence that echoed Modi's coinage some years ago, notes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Delhi faces a severe financial crunch and the deficit is largely due to numerous welfare schemes without adequate revenue flowing in. The success of welfare schemes and electoral promises will need careful financial planning and out of the box thinking to whip up additional revenue, notes Ramesh Menon.
Baraut's sub-divisional magistrate Amar Verma confirmed Musharraf's grandfather lived in Kotana.
Delivering the sermon, he said election and "resolution of the Kashmir issue" were two different things.
His longest I-day speech before Thursday was 96 minutes in 2016 while his shortest speech was in 2017 when he spoke for around 56 minutes.
In a bid to clarify his 'infiltrators' and 'those with more children' remarks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that he did not only talk about Muslims but spoke about every poor family, adding that the day he starts doing Hindu-Muslim, he will be 'unworthy of public life'.
Under constant attack from his political opponents, the public and the media, he is said to have withdrawn into a shell, says Anita Katyal
The new IIP numbers should spread cheer among those who were part of the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance, earlier accused of having presided over a steady deterioration in industrial performance, particularly in the last two years of its tenure, says A K Bhattacharya.
Former External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh passed away on Saturday night after a prolonged illness, family sources said. He was 93.
The special court has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation if the then coal minister was examined by it in a coal scam case involving Kumar Mangalam Birla and others.
Union minister Chirag Paswan has caused a flutter by stating he would choose to give up his ministerial berth instead of a compromise on his principles, in keeping with the precedent set by his late father Ram Vilas Paswan.
The Congress on Monday claimed that the Tata-Airbus C-295 aircraft facility inaugurated in Vadodara was earlier supposed to be set up in Nagpur and alleged that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's instructions, the Centre and the Mahayuti dispensation have conspired to ensure the 'wholesale surrender' of Maharashtra's interests.
The Union government has ordered the complete withdrawal of the counter-terrorist commando force NSG from VIP security duties and handing over its nine "high-risk" VIPs to the CRPF by next month, official sources said Wednesday.
Stating that he had consistently held Singh in high respect, he expected the same from him.
No single individual, institution, or action is to blame for this. The BJP is responding in kind -- definitely not without checking with its government. And they wait for Mr Trump, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to create history when she presents her seventh straight Budget on Tuesday for the fiscal 2024-25, surpassing the record of former prime minister Morarji Desai. Sitharaman, who will turn 65 next month, was in 2019 appointed as India's first full-time woman finance minister when Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a decisive second term.
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
With the tablet carefully kept inside a red cover with a golden-coloured national emblem embossed on it instead of the briefcase, Parliament will be her next destination after the call on President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhawan.
A change in recommendation in favour of Birla did certainly happen but the question is whether it was a bona fide decision. Jyoti Mukul reports
Politely decline to be prime minister, and hand the baton to someone else in the BJP -- like Sonia did to Manmohan Singh -- advises Krishna Prasad.
He allegedly advanced the cut-off date to favour accused firms in allocation of 2G licences.
Pakistan on Friday said it would welcome a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has expressed hope of making a trip to the neighbouring country in the next four months, even as it sought the resumption of the composite dialogue.
After ex-Comptroller and Auditor General Vinod Rai attacked Manmohan Singh on 2G issue, Congress leader Kamal Nath on Friday said the former Prime Minister may have made a "mistake" in not acting despite his letter to him expressing concern over the spectrum allocation process.
Muhammad Yunus proved that he was neither an armchair economist nor a slogan mongering political activist, but a doer destined to do what Mahatma Gandhi said -- to remove every tear from every eye, recalls Rup Narayan Das.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday made serious allegations against the Congress and said the grand old party has in its election manifesto expressed its intention to implement the 'Sharia law' in the country and redistribute people's property.
While China is bigger and feels mightier at the moment, Beijing's rulers would be well advised not to be tempted to provoke India, for that would only trigger a chain reaction around the world that would not serve anyone's interests, says Sanjaya Baru.
'Another term for the government under the prime minister would likely be a step forward on the path to Hindu Rashtra.' 'No question of going back or any slowing down.'
Addressing a gathering at Varsha, the official residence of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Mumbai, Deora said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have a vision for developing the country.
