Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's supporters seemed desperate to get a glimpse of their leader as they waited patiently on balconies and rooftops along the 4 km route of his road show, reports Sharat Pradhan
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.
"The people, who were in power earlier, now are suddenly taking U-turn. They are making such statements shamelessly," he added.
In an era when the misguided youth of today are trying to build political careers by subscribing to divisive ideologies, they need to look to independent thinking icons such as Acharya Kripalani, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'We cannot ignore the role of public institutions in driving development... I don't see much focus on institutional renewal.'
'The Statue of Unity is wasteful expenditure, but engineering-wise they have chosen the right place and correct spot. It is a simple statue and well executed.' 'Here, the government has chosen a wrong spot. They have chosen a wrong design.' 'The Shivaji Maharaj statue is holding a sword and the length of that sword is 48 metres, which is equivalent to a 16-storey building!'
'I want to assure the country that no country, no government can tolerate anybody taking the law into their hands, whether it is an individual or a group.'
No one on that glittery occasion could possibly have imagined that the Chinese were conspiring to invade India, nor could anyone have predicted that the seemingly benign Dalai Lama was plotting to flee Tibet and seek asylum in India. A fascinating excerpt from Sukanya Rahman's must-read Dancing In The Family: The Extraordinary Story Of The First Family Of Indian Classical Dance.
'Our daughter's name is ANITA-BRIGITTE. She should actually bear the name of AMITA, but the German authorities would have certainly objected to such an unusual name so we chose the name Anita which is almost sounding like Amita.' 'Brigitte was chosen by me because its short form in German is Gita.' Netaji's family had no idea that he had married and had a child till his brother Sarat Chandra Bose received a letter from Emilie Schenkl. A fascinating glimpse from Madhuri Bose's book, The Bose Brothers and Indian Independence, An Insider's Account.
Mahendra Raj is a towering figure of 20th century Indian architecture.
The Telangana government's decision to organise its first Independence Day celebrations at Golconda Fort instead of the Secunderabad Parade Grounds has sparked off a political controversy with opposition parties questioning the motive behind the move.
'The biggest advantage for India was its seasoned and experienced political leadership who had spent decades struggling against the Raj and had spent years behind bars.' 'Not a single prominent leader of the Muslim League spent one day in jail.' 'Gandhiji, Nehru and Sardar Patel were intelligent, shrewd men with their hands on the popular pulse.'
'Officers have been made the scapegoat for political failure.' 'No effort has been made to find out who scuttled the prime minister's decision to introduce competitive bidding and why and at whose instance.'
'Now you have a full clampdown and a huge security blanket. How long are you going to maintain that? The moment you lift it, all that suppressed protest and anger will come out.'
Mayawati urged the Muslim voters to vote for the party, saying her party has given tickets to 99 candidates from the community.
"Just a handful of Indian youth have joined the ISIS. Some have also returned after being persuaded by their families," asserted the home minister.
In the case of Air India, even competition could not compete with the government.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that vague laws that lend themselves to different interpretations are the foremost reason for pendency of cases in courts.
Bharatiya Janata Party is making hectic preparations ahead of the visit by BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, who will undertake a "grand road show" before filing his nomination on Thursday for the mega battle in this holy city where he is challenged by AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal and others.
Dr Jashu Patel, who led the delegation, told Rediff.com he did not discuss the protest when he met Modi, "but he was aware of who we were and we had communicated with him three days ago". "I am concerned about what is happening in Gujarat," said Dr Patel, "So we submitted a memorandum to him."
Later addressing a public meeting in Varana, Gandhi asked Modi to respond to allegations of manipulative share trading by a firm linked to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
'She really doesn't care if she is called heartless.' 'For her, the job needs to be done. That's all that matters.'
Sharpening his attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused them of trying to usurp the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and recalled the Congress stalwart's description of the RSS as "a venomous organisation" which could "finish" the country.
"We will work out the parameters then we will see as to how mentioning will be done," he said.
'It is a travesty that I have to prove my commitment to Gandhi and to this country.'
Abhimanyu Mithun's brilliant bowling at death enabled defending champions Karnataka to edge out Bengal by six runs in a thrilling semi-final of the National One Day Championship for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, in Ahmedabad.
After starting the series with a crushing victory, an upbeat India will aim to maintain their stranglehold over an under-prepared Sri Lanka when they meet in the second ODI in Motera on Thursday.
Modi, who turned 67, unveiled the plaque dedicating the dam to the nation.
Bhagwat said a sense of idealism is good and described himself not as 'anti-modern', but as 'pro-future'.
An article published by the party's Mumbai unit has caused a stir as it blames Jawaharlal Nehru for the state of affairs in Kashmir, China and Tibet.
How has Raj Thackeray, who is as much a businessman as politician, been able to pull it off, when most Opposition politicians live in fear of IT and ED and CBI, asks Krishna Prasad after attending a Raj rally in Nashik.
Thursday's protests across Tamil Nadu was less pro-Cauvery and more anti-Modi in character and content -- including in it various development projects in the state that are perceived as 'environmentally unfriendly' and hence 'anti-Tamil', says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The reason the protests are not happening in Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Gurgaon and Noida is that there are options available to the youth in those cities. And many people can access this sort of job because most of them are armed with English, integrating them into the global economy. This is something not available to most youth in Gujarat (the government schools do not teach English till Class 5),' says Aakar Patel.
It is a sight that both warms and breaks the heart. The women of Shaheen Bagh seem oblivious of the cold, these women and their children, the latter ranging in age from 19 days to early teens, who have been occupying the road for over two weeks now. Some of them have not gone home for days, but their faces are clear, unlined by fatigue, their eyes bright and fierce as those of the falcon, shaheen, the area is named for.
The time is nigh for India to ensure that investment by its former citizens is encouraged by protecting their rights, says C B Patel.
'I would say it is not going to be days and weeks. It is going to be months and years, over which we would make an assessment on the decisions taken by the Parliament at this point of time. 'We are in for a long haul is what I would say.' It was a very diverse India, which was coming together, politically, in a very cohesive, democratically-resilient way." Professor Navnita Behera examines the wisdom of the exit of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to ride high with rock star gigs abroad and no challengers within or outside the party at home. With international oil prices dipping to unforeseen lows and inflation declining sharply, a perked-up economy provides the perfect backdrop as he strides the national and international stage.
Meet Anand Kumar, a government clerk who transformed into a real estate and hospitality baron.
Sam Manekshaw led the Indian Army to its greatest military victory this month 46 years ago. Lieutenant Colonel A K Shinde (retd), the field marshal's doctor for 35 years, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih about the charming man behind the soldier's uniform.
'I bow to the 125 crore citizens of this great nation and promise to stay true to the trust they have bestowed on me.'
