'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.'
As they nurse their wounds, police officers and their men recall how stones rained on them from lanes and by-lanes of Srinagar and other urban areas of the Valley.
Before he boarded the Amtrak train at New York's Penn station, the home minister learnt what novel security measures the New York Police Department, Coast Guard and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were taking to deal with possible terrorist attacks. In the wake of the terror attacks on Mumbai in November last year, the NYPD had incorporated changes to deal with similar attacks from the sea and on soft targets.
Finance Minister P Chidambaram's budget may have evoked mixed reactions across the country but it has brought a smile on the faces of officials in the Forest Department. The Forest Department in Karnataka, which is all smiles after the state was ranked second in tiger conservation, says the additional allocation of funds will help them go about their job better.
'If on the back of the resentment against the Modi government, on the very outside chance that the Congress emerges as the single largest party in May 2019, will Rahul Gandhi become prime minister?' 'Or will he do a Sonia and appoint someone else?' asks T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
The Congress officially said the party stands in support of its senior leader while accusing the government of "persecuting" its citizens for speaking truth to power.
Budget speeches have been replete with incomprehensible and even hilarious statements, says Rathin Roy.
The apex court was hearing a matter pertaining to review of sentence awarded by it in May 2018 to the cricketer-turned-politician in the 1988 road rage case.
In a recent public appearance, Mr Chidambaram was quite candid in saying that UPA-II misread the signals from its electoral performance in 2009.
In Mr Chidambaram's third stint as finance minister, which lasted till his government was voted out in May this year, he had a fairly pressing crisis to deal with.
'It is entirely possible that Sonia Gandhi wants her son to be prime minister.' 'If so, it is game, set and match to the BJP,' says T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
India has a high and rising current account deficit rather than a surplus; fiscal deficits far exceed anything close to prudent; and the inflation numbers have exposed India as an embarrassing outlier among emerging market countries.
The vote-on-account is essentially a measure to seek Parliament's approval for government expenditure until the full Budget is presented.
Investors would have much preferred a gritty, honest appraisal of the tough trade-offs.
India needs administrative reforms that make it easy for investors to do business in the country. Currently, it is more difficult to do business in India than in Rwanda, Pakistan, Nepal, Kenya, Nigeria and Bangladesh.
In a developing county like India, the role of the Finance Minister is a crucial one, specially when the country is going through it's worst period in recent times. M R Venkatesh, has a few valid suggestions for Mr Chidambaram.
Mr Chidambaram is known for his ability to think up new taxes to collect more revenue, and a tax for the super-rich could be one of those ideas he might introduce in the coming Budget.
Pakistan on Monday welcomed Home Minister P Chidambaram's remarks about sharing the findings of the probe into the Samjhauta Express bombing, claiming that the level of cooperation on interaction on security matters had enhanced between the two nations. Welcoming his Indian counterpart's statement in this regard, Interior Minister Rehman Malik said, "I welcome the statement of Mr Chidambaram on Samjhauta Express investigations to be shared with Pakistan."
Ratcheting up pressure on the United Progressive Alliance government on Telangana issue, a senior Congress leader on Sunday joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in attacking Home Minister P Chidambaram for not delivering on the statehood "promise" even as the 'rail roko' agitation disrupted normal life in the region for the second day.
Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik has tweeted, describing his tough-talking Indian counterpart P Chidambaram as a "very intelligent and capable leader".
Call it the twitter diplomacy. Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik has invited India's Home Minister Chidamabram to twitter.
Governments make budgets to retain and consolidate their hold on power, not to please opponents or economists. They do so by trying to gratify as many as possible without causing harm to the others, says Shreekant Sambrani.
The time is here and now, and the prime minister must visit Kashmir before Independence Day and spell his vision for the state, unilaterally, without fear or favour
Rediff-India Abroad reader Ashok K Dharmani, a resident of Detroit, could not attend his mother's funeral in India, thanks to the indifference of Indian visa rules and the high-handedness of some staffers at the Indian Consulate in Amsterdam. In a letter to Home Minister P Chidambaram, Dharmani talks about the anguish and harassment he suffered at the Amsterdam airport.
The stress of dealing with the crisis, often with potentially conflicting objectives in front of them, appears to have brought the differences between the finance ministry and the RBI back to the surface.
The war of words between United Progressive Alliance government and the main Opposition BJP over the economic situation saw BJP leader Yashwant Sinha calling Finance Minister P Chidambaram a 'conceited person' for labelling L K Advani 'our own John McCain'. Advani, Leader of Opposition and BJP's prime ministerial candidate, had called a meeting of 15 top captains of Indian industry on Thursday to discuss the issues plaguing the Indian economy in the wake of the global meltdow
History shows that confidence is at its highest just before a fundamental change occurs.
Manmohan Singh may be the best suited to take charge of the finance ministry after Mr Chidambaram's shift to the home ministry. The problem is that Dr Singh already has a full-time job.
A look at education consultants, educational loans and other ways to manage the steep costs of internatinal studies.
Minimal tax at the lower level may be ten\n>per cent. But that should start at Rs 500,000 and there should be no tax between Rs 100,000-Rs 500,000.
Congress party compromised national security for political purpose, said the BJP over Ishrat Jahan case.
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