A 'White Paper' versus 'Black Paper' battle erupted on Thursday as the Centre and the Congress unveiled documents and crossed swords over the handling of the Indian economy during the nearly 10 years of the BJP-led NDA rule and the previous 10-year tenure of the Congress-led UPA government.
In the 76 years since India gained independence, 53 recipients of the Bharat Ratna have been there. That's less than one every year, which is a healthy ratio given there is the sanctity of this gem of an award to preserve. But four recipients for the year were announced in a few days in addition to one announced earlier. That took the total number in 2024 to five in less than a month, the highest for any year, post-Independence, notes Shyam G Menon.
They all seem to forget that the Music Academy is as much an independent institution as T M Krishna is an individual musician. In drawing those red lines for the Academy management, they do not even seem to recognise that they too have crossed a red line themselves, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Experts recommend awaiting the findings of the 2021 Census, which is yet to be conducted, before introducing population control policies.
Among major Sensex movers, ITC rose the most by 1.70 per cent, Wipro by 1.43 per cent, Tech Mahindra by 1.36 per cent and Nestle India by 1.27 per cent. Other gainers included HCL Tech, Asian Paints and Reliance. On the other hand, ICICI Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement and Tata Steel traded with a loss of up to 0.82 per cent.
'All the big production houses are making superhero films, so I thought I should make one too. So I have made a genuine superhero film,' Vivek Agnihotri says about his new film, The Vaccine War.
A high-level committee on Thursday recommended simultaneous elections for Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step followed by synchronised local body polls within 100 days.
Among the Sensex firms, Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports sustained their gaining momentum and traded higher by 4.40 per cent and 4.37 per cent, respectively. BPCL, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and SBI were the other major gainers. On the other hand, HCL Tech, Infosys and Bajaj Auto traded in the negative zone with a loss of up to 1.54 per cent.
Women, if addressed properly, have the potential to become a decisive factor in elections.
DRDO's failures over the decades have contributed significantly to India becoming the world's biggest weapons importer, points out Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Munda, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai represented the Centre at the meeting over the farmer unions' various demands, including a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also joined the meeting at the Mahatma Gandhi State Institute of Public Administration in Sector 26. The meeting started at around 8:45 pm on Thursday and lasted for around five hours.
Rajan said the government focussed more on fulfilling its political and social agenda rather than paying attention to the economic growth.
This is a moment when the leaders at the Centre and states must show true leadership for the sake of the country. And it is the top political leaders, not attorney generals or bureaucrats, who should be sitting together and settling this thorny issue of compensation, says Arvind Subramanian, former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
A new political party called the 'Jammu and Kashmir Apni (own) Party' (JKAP) will be launched on Sunday and will be led by former state finance minister Syed Altaf Bukhari, with the primary aim of proving "relief to people who have been facing uncertainty since August 5 last year". This will be the first political activity in Jammu and Kashmir after August 5 last year, when the Centre withdrew the special status of the erstwhile state and bifurcated it into Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
Several Carnatic musicans have pulled out of Madras Music Academy's annual December conference to protest the Sangita Kalanidhi award to classical vocalist T M Krishna, who they allege has 'glorified Periyar' and vilified the Carnatic music community.
Under Urjit Patel, the then RBI Governor, the central bank had a habit of making complete about-turns on various issues, including electoral bonds and digital payments, former finance secretary Subash Chandra Garg said in his book titled 'We Also Make Policy: An Insider's Account of How the Finance Ministry Functions.' Citing some instances of about-turns by the then RBI Governor Patel, Garg in his book said, RBI had done so on the electoral bond issue and it had so in case of setting up of Payments Regulatory Board (PRB). RBI also made unilateral decisions like ordering complete data localization for participation in the payment system, Garg wrote in the book which will hit the stands on October 1.
The MP for Richmond in Yorkshire, married to Murthy's daughter Akshata, first entered the UK Parliament in 2015 and has fast risen up the Conservative Party ranks as a staunch Brexiteer who had back Johnson's strategy to leave the European Union.
NCP chief Sharad Pawar said that Malik is being troubled because he spoke against the Union government and 'misuse' of central probe agencies.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was an experienced leader and it would be great if a proposal came to make him the convenor of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), his deputy Tejashwi Yadav said on Wednesday.
As soon as the House resumed at noon, Joshi said, "In protest against the action of their party's former president (Rahul Gandhi) and in your honour and in honour of the Constitution, we would participate in the Question Hour while remaining standing in silence. We request for your permission".
'I wonder how people who come to power through democratic means turn out this way.' 'But people of India are strong, and those who think they can hoodwink people, are mistaken.' 'You can fool some people for some time, but not all people, all the time.'
The state was asked not to publicise the disbursement during the poll code as part of the condition.
If Kerala wants to sustain its room for independent thinking and talk back to Delhi when needed, it should put its finances in order. Or - if one takes the North East example - Kerala's political posturing may end up commensurate with its financial dependence on others, suggests Shyam G Menon.
'It is violation of the Model Code of Conduct.' 'It is a penal offence under the IPC to exert undue influence on voters.' 'Under the election law, it is a corrupt practice.'
In an interview via email days ahead of his visit to New Delhi to attend the G20 summit on September 9 and 10, Sunak said Wednesday the response from the Indian people to his appointment as the prime minister was "overwhelming and humbling."
Not all change is good, but this one is, applauds Shekhar Gupta.
'We think we know him because he's written about everyday.' 'But how many of us know him as a person?'
The counsel for the Centre said the proposal has been sent to the economic affairs department for further approvals, which would also be processed and the petitioner can apply for requisite visa permits.
Union ministers Virendra Kumar, Kiren Rijiju and Anurag Singh Thakur have been included in the rejigged Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs headed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, according to a notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariate last night.
However, Shiv Sena spokesperson and MLA Sanjay Shirsat on Tuesday claimed Ajit Pawar-led NCP joining the Sena-BJP government is as per a larger strategy ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly polls scheduled next year.
Sharif, the three-time former premier, said that there is a need for all the political parties to sit together and form a government to pull Pakistan out of its difficulties.
What the INDIA alliance needs is neither a counter to Modi's tall personality and undiminished charisma nor a counter-narrative to his Hindutva agenda, now centred on the Ayodhya temple consecration on January 22, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Disillusioned with the 'politics' in South African cricket administration, Brian McMillan decided to stay away from the game.
In August, the top BRICS leaders at the grouping's summit in Johannesburg approved a proposal to admit six countries, including Argentina, into the bloc with effect from January 1.
Billionaire Gautam Adani to two Union Ministers and Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis among others on Sunday hailed India crossing $4 trillion mark though there was no official confirmation if the country has achieved the landmark. The finance ministry and the National Statistical Office did not immediately comment on the viral social media post on India's GDP crossing $4 trillion. Highly placed sources said that the viral news was incorrect and India was still shy of that landmark.
States are planning to pass resolutions in their legislative assemblies; however, such tactics will be used as the last resort if the Centre continues to stall allocations.
The point made by sociologist M N Srinivas, that it represented a Sanskritic act that was linked to caste, is never raised in Indian debates and the disapproval of drink is almost universal, notes Aakar Patel.
RediffGURUS Ashwini Dasgupta, Anu Krishna, Dr Karthiyayini Mahadevan and Jinal Mehta answer queries from Rediff readers.
Going by the RBI directive and the overall narrative, Paytm may have lost the rigour of stress tests, audits and compliance.
State higher education minister R Bindhu has directed a three-member team, comprising the principal secretary of higher education, and Cochin University's vice-chancellor and registrar, to inquire into the stampede incident, an official release said.
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