The list of exempted goods from central excise duty has shrunk from 400 items in 2011-12 to 300 now.
'In one instance of the Pakistani army's violation of the Ceasefire, I ordered a far tougher response designed to deter the enemy.' 'I warned that 'unexpected damage' to their forces will be inflicted if they continued with such ceasefire violations.' A fascinating excerpt from Lieutenant General K Himalay Singh's Making of a General: A Himalayan Echo.
'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 transition to a single, nationwide tax on goods and services will streamline business and boost the economy by tearing down barriers between 31 states and union territories.
A group of Adivasi women are using organic produce grown on their farms to change our perception of healthy eating.
'What we have is the bill and the Act passed by Parliament.' 'And then there is a criterion of exclusion as to who will not be covered in EWS.' 'Beyond that, we have no clue where this idea came from.' 'And most importantly, why is it 10% reservation, and say why not 15% or 20%?'
Controversial Uttar Pradesh politician Raghuraj Pratap Singh -- better known as Raja Bhaiya -- who was dropped from the Akhilesh Yadav ministry, is all set to be re-inducted into the government on Friday.
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of indulging in "shout and scream" practices to disrupt Parliament, Union Minister Sachin Pilot has said government is more than willing to "walk the half way" to debate issues raised by the opposition.
Aseem Chhabra lists the movies that taught him about the Idea of India.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
'Patriotism is a sentiment, a feeling of belonging to a place.' 'Nationalism is an ideology, and like all ideologies, it is absolute and restrictive in nature,' Ashis Nandy, arguably India's leading social thinker, tells Geetanjali Krishna.
'I don't want to develop a bag of tricks that I keep reaching into and repeating myself.' 'When you act every day, you start repeating yourself and that's a trap.'
'Don't forget the BJP in the last election almost doubled its vote.' 'Even if they were not traditional BJP supporters, they were convinced about Mr Modi.' 'If the voter perceives that Mr Modi has performed well and he reinforces it, they will vote for him.' 'Otherwise, they won't.'
Prashant Kishor wants the Congress to project either Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi as its chief ministerial candidate in UP. The Gandhis are far too arrogant to accept a provincial role, says Aakar Patel.
'We are making a transition from governance to campaign mode.' 'The speed of execution is picking up,' says Union Minister Jayant Sinha.
'Since Pranab Mukherjee is the Custodian of the Constitution, he should present practical ideas to solve the problems he has been so outspokenly highlighting,' feels Sudheendra Kulkarni.
'A foot-in-mouth disorder seems to grip the government, and is growing chronic by the day,' says Sunil Sethi.
The price of ensuring no disruption after rolling out the GST seems to be an imperfect GST with many relaxations in its compliance norms, says A K Bhattacharya.
'There was no TV, no fridge, just illumination, so at least they could avoid the occasional snake, the frequent scorpions,' says Kishore Singh.
What's it like for two people of the same sex to be in love Mumbai? Anita Aikara/Rediff.com finds out.
Journalist Anita Saluja was one of the last persons to meet Sushma Swaraj on August 6. She spent nearly an hour chatting with the late leader, which is why her sudden death later in the evening came as an unexpected shock for her. She talks to Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com about her association with Sushma Swaraj over the last few decades.
'The idea behind the new rules is that slaughter markets must buy directly from the farms as is the case in the bloody world.' 'The cattle markets have become centres for the organised beef mafia.'
'Politics is not a post for retired people to enjoy.'
Vikram Kothari, managing director of Rotomac Pens, is now fighting a battle that might be difficult to win.
'If we chose to do the right things, it is possible to avoid job losses at a mass scale,' ABB MD Sanjeev Sharma tells Raghu Krishnan.
It is far from clear that this GST will have the silver bullet effect that the "pure" GST would have provided, says Mihir S Sharma.
'It is a national shame that the only country that enacted a food security act is now better known as the land of farmer suicides. Indian farming can change only if national irrigation policy is implemented in totality,' Dr M S Swaminathan tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Following is the full text of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's speech at FICCI's 86th annual general meeting on Saturday:
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
"Will anybody want a servant that who is on vacation when needed at home? And nobody knows where he is," he continued.
Gandhi accused BJP of re-inaugurating projects launched by the UPA dispensation.
Rahul would know that fealty can be a fickle thing, and that if the Congress bucks the trend and actually wins the next national election, selfies with him would find their way from phones to walls, replacing those taken with Modi.
He alone gets the credit for reviving consumer interest in Ayurveda, says Bhupesh Bhandari.
After his revolt against elevation of Narendra Modi last month, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Thursday attended the first Parliamentary Board meeting along with the Gujarat chief minister to discuss the strategy for the next polls.
'We have promised to ensure reduced tax rates.'
'There could be some aberrations here and there. This has nothing to do with the government or the ruling party. The government machinery is put in action when atrocities take place. They are not sitting silent.' 'Beyond making sensational news, what purpose does returning the awards serve?'
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has accused BJP of practicing "politics of blood" by pitting one religion against another and one caste against another to come to power at any cost, escalating the Congress attack against the opposition party.
Follow these simple tips and you will be on your way to getting prosperous.
'I am not a Hinduwadi leader, but a nationalist leader. I am a leader of every religion, every caste, every language and every class'
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party government for spurt in prices of essential commodities during its 45-day rule, Opposition Congress on Monday took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for riding to power on promise of controlling inflation yet doing nothing on it.
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