The new battalion, numbered 241, was named Bastariya because it included recruits from Bijapur, Dantewada, Narayanpur, and Sukma districts.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
'The NRC had an effect on Assam and I think to cover up or make up for that, CAB has been brought in.'
The second meeting of the NITI Aayog's governing council, was, however, attended by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
My travels made me realise how different the ground situation and people's mindsets in the two states are. People seemed happy and secure in Tripura whilst there was only complaining and suspicion in J&K, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Polling in Madhya Pradesh was marred by complaints of faulty EVMs and voter verifiable paper audit trail machines.
The Asom Gana Parishad's fears relating to the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill are not misplaced. But does the party still matter in Assam's politics?
Winner of the Lalit Kala Akademi award, Ahmedabad-based painter and photographer Harshil Patel offers a fantastic view of the walled city through his paintings and photographs for US President Donald J Trump.
The PM alleged that a 'PC' (percentage commission) culture has become the state government's identity.
His songs were the anchor, the substratum, if you will, upon which life unfolded day after day, decade after decade -- across villages, towns, cities, and regions. Siva Sankar pays tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam, the legendary singer who passed into the ages on Friday.
'People feel concerned about the future, whether it is the land or the jobs.' 'The BJP came to power in Assam with promises of maati, bheti (home, hearth and identity), land, jobs and culture.' 'Are these going to taken care of? I think those are real concerns.' 'The Assam chief minister (Sarbananda Sonowal) was one of the leaders of the All Assam Students Union which fought for and is one of the signatories to the Assam Accord.' 'Today, his comrade-in-arms (Samujjal Bhattacharya, chief advisor, AASU) is leading the opposition in the streets.'
Rediff.com does a quick checklist on what the two manifestos have to say on hot-button issues of the day.
The panel suggested changes in laws relating to marriage, divorce, alimony, and marriageable age for men and women.
In the face of strong opposition to Uniform Civil Code by Muslim outfits, the Congress on Thursday said its implementation would be impossible while the Bharatiya Janata Party asserted that the move is aimed at moving towards a progressive society.
'The condition of some of the Adivasi hamlets is worse than Somalia, worse than what the prime minister described.' 'There are instances when Adivasis have to demolish the hut they live in to bury the dead as they do not have any other place to bury their dear ones.' 'There are tens of thousands of Adivasis who do not have land, a house or even good food to eat.' 'What kind of human development are you talking about?'
People were being honoured without a recommendation, he stressed in his monthly radio programme.
'You can't go on creating division and rhetoric of hate.' 'It comes to roost. We are seeing the first glimpses of that in the state elections.'
Much of the negative perceptions of the north-east diaspora owe their origin and existence to the perverse policies of the central government toward the region and its people. This realisation must be the beginning of an earnest endeavour to address the issue, says R N Ravi.
'In Rajiv Gandhi's time, out of every Re 1 spent by the government only 15 paisa reached the public.' 'At this moment, I cannot say that the entire Re 1 reaches the common man's pocket, but yes, two-thirds of that money definitely reaches the common man.' 'And the rest of the money will also reach soon.'
Creation of new state entails long drawn administrative process, could take as much as a decade
Dominic Jose understood that luxury has a new definition. It's not ostentation, but the experience that matters.
September 12 marked the 122th anniversary of one of the most incredible battles in Indian history.
The Lashkar-e-Tayiba operative also revealed about his training while he deposed in front of a Mumbai court via video link.
Bodo tribals influence as many as 30 seats. No wonder, national parties are keen to forge alliances with Bodo groups.
The BJP doesn't want to focus entirely on an anti-Mamata campaign.
'It is very hard to get the police to file a report against someone from an upper caste.' 'Things are so bad that sometimes we have to sit on a dharna with the body of a Dalit victim to get the police to file a complaint.'
Trinamool leaders have claimed the NRC process and subsequent verification is vote bank politics. Other critics call it as modified ethnic cleansing. But putting poll rhetoric aside, the issue dates back to a time when many of these leaders had no political relevance.
Mayawati has accused 'Ravan' of being a BJP agent who is dividing the scheduled castes.
In the light of the efforts being made to forge electoral unity between scheduled castes and Muslims, Mohammad Sajjad examines what the architect of our Constitution, B R Ambedkar, had to say about the Muslim community.
'The BJP wants to find an excuse to polarise people.' 'Whatever rights J&K has got from the Constitution of India, they want to snatch it.' 'By doing so, they are harming J&K as well as India.'
'If the BJP wants to build a minimally inclusive and secure society, in which vulnerable groups and religious minorities don't feel persecuted, then the Sangh Parivar, the party and its government must change their ways. Or else, they risk dividing India further -- violently and irreparably -- for narrow political ends,' argues Praful Bidwai.
'The Indian middle class ignores the conflicts areas in Jammu and Kashmir, in Central India and in the North East.' 'The violence does not touch us at all and so we are able to easily look away from the underlying reasons and grievances.'
Why are the 'secular' parties silent about the lynchings on our streets? Are they so busy forging political alliances that they ignore the numerous distortions of Constitutional values?
'Beef-eating is the new media frenzy that is being orchestrated to wrongly implicate the BJP government and is reminiscent of the false anti-Christian acts highlighted by the media when the BJP first came to power in 1996,' says Vivek Gumaste.
Many anticipate that by the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, the BJP may come to power, says Mohammad Sajjad.
As the political battle for the future of Maharashtra's political quinquennial future nears its electoral conclusion, Shreekant Sambrani looks at the intertwining nature of national and regional interests and the place for and value of inclusiveness in electoral politics.
'Article 15 is not the work of a hack, or of someone merely scooping a plot out of newspaper headlines.' 'It is a well-researched, clear-headed movie; but its findings have a purpose,' says Sreehari Nair.
I love India and intend to live and die here, but I also want to be able to freely question its imperfections. Just as I have the freedom to say that Islam has been hijacked by a gang of demonic and utterly vile hoodlums and that the rest of us Muslims seem helpless to combat this evil, says Laila Tyabji.
'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.
'Most Hindus believe in living in peace with their Muslim neighbours and vice versa.' 'It is this India we have to preserve.'
