Jayanta Roy Chowdhury reports on how the West Bengal elections are being fought by the BJP and Trinalool Congress amid COVID challenges, 'Bangaliana', and campaigns based on religion, region, and caste.
Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com reveals how the BMC has contained the spread of COVID-19 in Dharavi, India's largest slum, which WHO wants to know more about.
Retaining the GST rate assumes importance since states are under pressure to increase their revenues, hit hard by lockdown. Also, the Centre has not fully compensated states for their revenue losses on account of GST for 2019-20.
We may be witnessing a slow erosion of the democratic republic and the emergence of the police State, warns Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Rediff.com, present to you a dummy's guide to the historic vote that could shape British-EU ties for generations.
Countries across the world -- from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada to Singapore and New Zealand, are witnessing phenomenal strides by Indian-origin politicians, who are now taking on influential and prominent roles in governments and cabinets.
Equations have changed in the new India. If the '60 and the '70s saw migration of people from South India to North India, it is the reverse right now. And without understanding this new dynamics, if the ruling party were to impose on the majority a language spoken by just 45 pc of the people, it is unlikely to be accepted without demur, says Shobha Warrier.
'And don't underestimate the enabling power of bribery.' 'Hark back to demonetisation.' 'All of the cash did come back.' 'The same thing will happen with the alphabet soup of the NRC, NPR and CAA except that this exercise will deal in documents, not cash.' 'Bribes will be paid.' 'Documents will be magically generated,' points out Devangshu Datta.
United Kingdom will go to the polls on Thursday. This election is being dubbed the most unpredictable of all time.
Chillr recently raised $5 million from Seqouia Capital.
'Maybe the BJP believes, in the post-poll scenario, it will have the might to foist, anybody endorsed by the RSS, upon Bihar,' observes Mohammad Sajjad.
Pictures from the temple visit emerged on social media this week as Khan described the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in north London's Neasden as one of his favourites.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
With a plunge in steel prices, ship owners are getting about $3.6 million less for the 25,000 tonnes of recoverable metal.
Once the two parties finalise the common minimum programme, it would then be shared with the Shiv Sena which is then expected to add issues that are close to its heart, reports Prasanna D Zore.
'There are so many dimensions to history that we need to attend to: We need more space for local and regional histories; we need to delve into the histories of particular communities; we need to emphasise gender history and environmental history.' 'We need to think about India's history beyond India's current borders.'
The government has an opportunity right now to save Indians from deep recession, and in many cases, starvation, notes Kalyan Singhal.
Far from the metros and big cities, the coronavirus crisis in the country's districts, towns and villages is being led by district magistrates.
The responsibility of keeping the pandemic under control lies with the DM or collector.
Subrat Kumar Sen, the young district magistrate of Saran, north Bihar, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how he and his staff are combating a crisis that no one has confronted before.
Stating that COVID-19 has not yet been contained in India, the rating agency in a statement said the government stimulus package is low relative to countries with similar economic impacts from the pandemic. "The COVID-19 outbreak in India and two months of lockdown -- longer in some areas -- have led to a sudden stop in the economy. That means growth will contract sharply this fiscal year (April 2020 to March 2021)," it said. "Economic activity will face ongoing disruption over the next year as the country transitions to a post-COVID-19 world."
FIFA president Sepp Blatter ruled out a January World Cup in Qatar in 2022 and said on Friday November/December was the only alternative to a summer tournament.
The Budget would have been the perfect vehicle to introduce some bold initiatives.
That opportunity has been lost through this Budget, observes Shreekant Sambrani.
The cast of Udta Punjab get together to launch the film.
"As many as 1.12 million expats corrected their professions until July 6. We have also issued and renewed more than 1.6 million work permits during the period," Abdullah Abuthnain, Deputy Minister for Inspections and Developing Work Atmosphere, was quoted by the local media as saying.
The flip-flop by the government has led senior British Indian MP Keith Vaz to revive his demand that the government end all confusion over the issue.
The world's largest Muslim organisation has thrown its weight behind Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup.
The AGP, an ally of the BJP, voted for the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha, after Amit Shah's assurance. However, the scale, intensity and, persistence of the anti-CAA protests since then have taken it by surprise.
The underclass voted heavily in favour of AAP, which led to their victory
As people milled around the hospital compound, some stunned into silence by the enormity of the tragedy that felled their loved one and others holding back tears, the injured were inside, grappling with their wounds and trying to piece together what had happened.
The Indian Embassy in Riyadh has warned its citizens not to overstay their visa in Saudi Arabia and leave the country immidiately once they have obtained Emergency Certificates to avoid penal action over Nitaqat law
Udta Punjab truly soars when being its own madcap beast, profane and powerful and preening.
'It is never a good idea to let the broad population determine policy that is the domain of experts and specialists,' notes Aakar Patel.
Why did such a 'socially conscientious' people adapt to cash-for-votes and the like, as fish to water? N Sathiya Moorthy offers an explanation.
'Most Assamese don't understand a word like ghuspethiya and its insulting connotation.'
'The outlook for private investment, which has been such a weak link for India for so long, remains challenging.'
'These people are living on the edge of starvation and governments need to show much greater compassion towards them.'
Euro zone leaders will hold an emergency summit on Monday.
New rules are expected to make it tougher for British companies wanting to bring in foreign professionals from outside the EU, including countries like India
With 75 per cent of votes counted, the ND party was leading with 39.6 per cent of total votes heading towards a majority in the 300-member Greek Parliament, while Tsipras' leftist Syriza was behind with 31.6 per cent of total votes, CNN reported.
Rohingyas hoping desperately that the Indian government does not deport them.
