As representatives of diverse Hindu traditions with deep histories, we are dismayed to see Hindu leaders in India and abroad openly embracing Hindutva — a century-old political ideology that sees citizens of other faiths as inherently foreign and not qualified to enjoy the full benefits of Indian citizenship.
The intrepid and nonchalant coming of age of a 13-year old, taking her class of boys and girls and school along an exhilarating journey of self-discovery, as narrated almost lyrically by a 44-year old came as a most welcome gust of fresh air.
Freight equalisation, near zero royalties on minerals for decades, poor credit deposit ratio in backward states, revenue deficit grants to cover populist measures are among the measures through which funds are transferred from poor to better off states.
The NHPS should be modeled around the Employee’s State Insurance Scheme of India, where a progressive premium could take care of indoor, outdoor and diagnostic services.
The move to tax long-term capital gains will disrupt the transition in the saving habits of Indians. Demonetisation and the progressive lowering of interest rates of traditional instruments such as fixed deposits have led many to invest in shares and bonds.
The monsoon will always be sporadic. Leave alone big cities like Bengaluru and Mumbai, Assam, which faces flood almost on a yearly basis, has not found a mechanism to manage the floods and reduce the loss, both of human lives and public property.
Law and order agencies are always expected to maintain order with minimum force so that the loss of lives is minimised. However, they should be allowed to act as per a set standard operating procedures. They should be able to carry out their duties and under no circumstances should the situation be politicised.
By falling back into the BJP’s arms Nitish Kumar has made one thing clear: He can no longer harbour ambitions to be PM. For the BJP, a powerful opponent has been nuetralised. But the Bihar CM’s reliability as an ally is now dubious.
Orders asking people in government offices to sing the national song once a month, school and colleges twice a week and directing movie theaters to play the national anthem before every show do evoke this analogy. The nation should not beg, plead or demand patriotism; it has to come from within.
It’s true that an important purpose of the Lok Sabha is to ensure the government’s accountability. But the rule of law should be supreme. Many precious hours have been wasted as a result of disruptions. The speaker, who is responsible for maintaining order, discharged her responsibilities well.
The mess in West Asia owes much to the “different” interpretations of the Quran. Muslims recognise it as the “Word of Allah”.The writer rightly argues that this view need to be changed. If Christianity could be modernised 500 years ago with “cherry-picking”, it is high time that Muslims did the same.
In Kashmir, even today, there is recognition of the Sufi tradition in which a Muslim ascetic becomes Nund Rishi and a Hindu poet gets recognition as Lal Ded or Lalla Arifa. But in all parts of India — not just Kashmir — resources drawn from composite heritage are being used to create rifts between communities.
But the reason people gave the BJP a clear majority was because they believed the party’s promise to bring about change. But what we see today are a minority forced to become refugees in their own land.
The crown prince’s appointment comes at a time when the kingdom is mired in number of crises like drop in oil price, the Arab Spring, war in Yemen and more recent crisis with Iran and Qatar.
The Opposition should have shed its ego and supported the NDA nominee for President of India. The Congress knows that it can’t muster a win for Meira Kumar so her nomination seems to be just to play at the political game.
After the recent atrocities against Dalits in different parts of the party, the BJP had to regain lost ground amongst these communities. The choice of Ram Nath Kovind should be seen in this context.
It is true that Kovind was a little known figure till the other day but now we know that he is humble, has a clean slate and while in active politics he had been above controversy.