People were being honoured without a recommendation, he stressed in his monthly radio programme.
India is going into the longest lockdown in the world, with the least amount of notice given to its people and the least preparation by its government.
Patel, 71, who was critical for a few days, was admitted to the Medanta hospital in Gurugram on November 15 after he developed complications. His son Faisal said he died at 3.30 am.
Vijay Keshav Gokhale's tenure as foreign secretary promises to guide India's external affairs along paths never taken before, says K P Nayar.
'I say Modi was India's last chance.' 'Because the kind of work this government has done -- I'm talking about physical delivery -- is fantastic, like no time in our history.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has done the seemingly impossible by finalising the long-pending Land Boundary Agreement ahead of his Bangladesh visit, writes Prakash Bhandari.
An interplay of Modi government's outreach in Bihar and the sequence of events in Chirag Paswan's life could make Bihar a game of musical chairs when the results are out.
'It has even been suggested that Modi and Amit Shah, however grudgingly, harbour admiration for her controlling streak and steely resilience,' says Sunil Sethi.
'A lot will depend on the first Aayog and the power it derives.'
"Our relationship is so big that it is no longer a bilateral relationship. It has global dimensions," the report quoted Jaishankar as saying.
'Little about this regime, given its vindictive credo, is a complete surprise. But we were still taken aback by the CBI raid as it was a complete abuse of due process.' 'These are not legal inquiries, but abusive use of State power. They are not legitimate investigations, but a witch-hunt.' 'Ours is a typical, classic case of the State and its organs being used as an outlet for motivated vendetta of the vilest kind.'
Hindu-American Congresswon Tulsi Gabbard coasts to a rollicking re-election victory in in Hawaii's 2nd District
'People have a certain perception about my political leanings -- and rightly so.' 'But I am an actor first, and then an activist.' 'And I am not an accidental actor.' 'There was no way I was going to be dishonest with my acting,' Anupam Kher tells Veenu Sandhu.
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Raghuram Rajan joked he wasn't expecting to win any votes or Facebook 'likes' in the position.
With Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh prime minister, all is well with the world of India-Bangladesh relations, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
It is unlikely that Delhi's outgoing chief minister will be able to make a comeback in politics. For her, the innings is truly over, writes Pankaj Vohra.
'What hurts people most is dynastic impulses and corruption under a family-ruled Congress party -- and Nehru has borne the brunt of it... I cannot be blinded by how the Nehru family has functioned but just as Gandhi can't be judged by his descendents, why should Nehru?' asks political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
'I would personally like to see Rahul Gandhi continue as party president.' 'I genuinely believe he has far more to offer to the party still, particularly in leading us in these challenging times that we find ourselves in.'
Realtors, consultants and foreign universities vie for big share.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh on Friday, February 20, irritated the Chinese government so much that it summoned the Indian ambassador to register its protest against Modi visiting a territory China claims as Southern Tibet.
The Security Council as it is today is unable to bring peace and security in the world and so there is reason for countries like India to become members of the Council, Ambassador Asoke Kumar Mukerji tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
'The present government's greatest weakness is its intolerance. Tolerance is the key tenet of democracy. How can any government stop someone from speaking one's mind?'
'Is Xi's China stable?'
'No one can say whether the regime will fall all at once or if its leaders are devising a new solid and competitive -- anything but democratic -- model.' A fascinating excerpt from Francois Bougon's Inside The Mind of Xi Jinping.
'The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.' 'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan because that would provide the means to retain control of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.'
'SBI is already too big. Too big to fail.' 'It already is a moral hazard. What will it do with 20,000 branches that it cannot do with 14,000, especially in these days of online and mobile banking?'
'Hindu voters in coastal Karnataka lean more towards Hindutva than Hinduism which explains why the Siddaramaiah government's perception as anti-Hindu worked wonders for the BJP in coastal Karnataka.'
'Hinduism is not a religion, but a way of life, a philosophy.'
'If fame, money and comfort are the only factors that drive us, then we are playing cricket for entirely the wrong reasons.'
