'Even if Rahul doesn't emerge with flying colours -- at least initially -- during the jousts with the media, he will at least be posing a kind of challenge which will not be to Modi's liking,' feels Amulya Ganguli.
Experts say Dhoni will continue to be relevant.
Lt Gen Bakshi announced 'full support' to the new chief and made it clear that he won't resign.
Just like with millions of Indian Muslims, even the vice president of India has been forced to undergo the covert loyalty test: 'you are presumed to be pro-Pakistan until you demonstrably prove you are a nationalist', says Shehzad Poonawalla.
Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.
'Marriage is a practical solution in terms of bureaucracy, but it's not a real validation of whether your relationship is successful or not.'
'You are beginning your professional life in a time of global turmoil, when economic systems and the earth's eco-systems are in deep crisis.' 'Societies across the world are struggling with the complexity of technological and social change happening at a speed that our species has never experienced before.' 'May you be more excited than frightened by the times we live in.' 'Precisely because the crises are so deep, there are also unprecedented opportunities for pioneering and brave work that can transform society, culture and economy to create a much better world for your children.'
Images from the FIFA World Cup qualifying matches on Sunday night.
'God gave me a second chance to live and I had to make the most of it.'
'They call us Punjabis as nashedi (drug addicts). So I also asked him with a smile, 'aaj aap kaunsa kar ke aaye hain (what did you take today). He failed to realise my gesture but only saw me smiling,' Akali leader and Union minister Harsimrat Kaur said.
'India has jackboot laws legislated by all parties, a State prepared to stomp all over you, and citizens who don't often realise how easily they can be crushed under both,' says T N Ninan.
'He is posting that someone who took the metro (during a medical emergency) got saved.' 'Let him try doing the same. He cannot peddle nonsense just because he is a star.'
'I like to see myself as a troll-slayer and I have realised the best way to do that is to ignore them. Nothing bothers them more,' Barkha Dutt tells Rashme Sehgal.
NSUI's Rocky Tusheed won the president's post by a margin of 1,590 votes while ABVP's Mahamedha Nagar defeated NSUI's Minakshi Meena by 2,624 votes to win the post of secretary.
The media wittingly or otherwise has been a key player in stymying the AAP. It is not so much the rivals, but the media, mostly the television and from its cues, large sections of the print segment, who got the trophy. The political parties, especially BJP and Congress, can now laugh in their sleeves, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
'These people want to create fissures among the Hindus and they have been trying to do this for quite sometime.'
'The Muslim identity of the family appears incidental to the subject of the film...' 'The self-sacrificing, suffering mother film could have belonged to any religion.' 'The abusive father, who prefers his son to his daughter, could have followed any religion.' 'That the Muslim household is remarkably free from religious symbolism is also the strength of the film,' feels Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
'The UPA was the gang that couldn't shoot straight. The NDA is the gang that can't stop shooting. They (the Modi government) are shooting at anybody, everybody, all directions, shooting themselves in the foot.'
Indian American children maintained their complete dominance in the annual US Scripps National Spelling Bee contest by winning the prestigious competition for the eighth year in a row.
'I get bored easily. I don't want to do a serious film now but won't mind a biopic, which will be different and have a true story to tell. I want to satisfy my needs, my cravings.' Alia Bhatt tells us what's on her mind.
'If you just click sexy pictures, you are only going to have a bunch of perverts following you.' 'What do perverts buy? They don't even buy condoms.'
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
What has not changed in a decade is the character of Rizwan Khan. He is complex, multi-dimensional and lovable. In fact, his character continues to grow on you, notes Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
Meet 22-year-old model Alice Rosario who is walking her second season at Lakme Fashion Week, Mumbai.
'Amartya Sen is a citizen of the country who has every right to criticise or give his opinion on a policy decision.' 'Get back at him! Why get back at Harvard?'
Romance died, came alive and lives on forever, off screen or on it, in Sukanya Verma's fabulously filmi week.
'Any actor who says he doesn't get disheartened probably doesn't care enough. At the end of the day, the filmmaking business is about money. If the film doesn't do well, you feel dejected. The films that did not work are behind me.' Emraan Hashmi looks ahead with Raaz Reboot.
'There are 15 songs in Manmarziyaan.' 'For the first time in the history of Anurag Kashyap, there are two dancing numbers.' 'Luckily, people are not taking this as a serious Anurag Kashyap cliched film.'
Jamida K is the first Indian Muslim woman to lead the Friday prayer.
'Today, moviegoers are in the 13 to 33 age bracket.' 'If people like us have to remain relevant, we have to make movies that cater to them,'
A headline or a tweet or a status update should not, in a civil world, be allowed to contain a spoiler, rants Raja Sen.
The Congress has kept quiet on the way the Union home ministry has handled innumerable blast cases under its rule. It has not openly condemned the bias that pervades within its government and the security agencies, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
The Biju Janata Dal MP from Dhenkanal says crime will come down if cannabis is legalised.
'That cannot be done till they roam around free, get money from Pakistan and seek attention.' 'The cycle of violence was very cleverly generated.' 'During night patrolling when it was discovered that dumper trucks were unloading heaps of stones in various places, it was the first indicator that there would be trouble.' 'Wherever stones were dumped, the stones were taken by the police to construction sites.' 'It was a laborious task, but we did it rigorously.' 'We had to use some smart tactics and soft skills to defeat the cycle of violence.''
'The Quran says that saving one life is like saving humanity. So by donating for Kerala, you are following what Allah told you.' 'This gesture would create goodwill for Muslims and would work as a counter to the hostility they face.' Jyoti Punwani reports how some Muslims won't sacrifice goats this Bakri Eid, instead donating the money towards relief efforts in Kerala.
'In May 2014, India got its Donald Trump equivalent as prime minister in the form of Narendra Modi. Come 2016, we will know if America too gets its own version of Modi by electing Trump,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
'There is no remorse over the Dadri lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq or of Pehlu Khan by cow vigilante groups.' 'But should you not have remorse for those who came to kill them?' 'They were Hindus. Do you accept that?' 'That to kill one Pehlu, 20 Hindus have become murderers.' Rajdeep Sardesai in conversation with Ravish Kumar.
Arvind Kejriwal's strategy to take the pollution bull by the horns needs to be applauded. And I am sure that all the imaginary problems and grievances will be addressed before the restrictions are actually implemented, says Sudhir Bisht.
