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The profiles of the chief ministers of States and Union Territories of India do not instill hope among the common people. The electoral reform that have been carried out so far in the country has only been able to provide 43 per cent of chief ministers with criminal antecedents. Moreover, barring West Bengal and Kerala , every state witnessed rise of the rich to the chief minister post, showing that the present electoral system has totally become conducive for the rich by creating numerous hurdles disallowing the common person to reach there.

Following opposition parties’ feelers to each other, and after Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s meeting with Congress party’s disqualified Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi in the company of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejaswi Yadav, the Bharatiya Janata Party was in some degree of nervousness as was apparent from some visible signs which gripped the party that recently celebrated its 43rd foundation day.

Om Prakash Sabherwal, more known as OP in Delhi’s media circles, was a leading journalist in the national capital for more than five decades in the last century. He joined India Press Agency (IPA) in1959 at the call of IPA founder Nikhil Chakravartty and was connected with the organization till his last days. He died on May16, 2013 at the age of 90.

This year, the Independence Day celebrations and the prime minister’s speech from the ramparts of Red Fort would not make us proud of our architectural achievements, its aesthetics, since Red Fort stands bereft of its history. Taj Mahal, one of the seven wonders of the world, would turn into virtual reality. Like our great poet Rabindranath Tagore had called Taj Mahal, “a drop of tear on the eternal folds of time” (kalerka pol to leek binduashrujol, Taj Mahal). But it is also a fact that no one can tear away the entire medieval period from the weave of time. There is the issue of consistency, and the running chronology of culture, creativity, progress and finally the civilisational truth.

LUCKNOW: All major political parties of Uttar Pradesh are gearing up for crucial urban body polls scheduled in first week of next month. These elections are considered as semi finals for eventual Lok Sabha polls next year. Since the outcome of these polls will set the mood for Lok Sabha polls, all the political parties are quite serious in their preparations.

The visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi on Easter day was notable, as it was his first visit to a church since becoming prime minister over nine years ago. On the same day, Easter Sunday, BJP leaders conducted an outreach in different places by visiting church leaders and houses of Christians to greet them on Easter.

For naysayers it was a the doomsday as the “historic meet” between Nitish Kumar and Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday in presence of Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge not only sent a vibrant message that opposition unity was no more an illusion but would strengthen the ideological narrative of the opposition fight against the RSS and BJP politics of hatred and divisiveness . Further, it will also provide a new vision to the parliamentary politics.

Indian economy, politics, and media was in transition when I joined India Press Agency in March 1993 led by O P Sabherwal as its Chief Editor. I had been sent there by Sumit Chakravartty, Editor of the weekly Mainstream. The transition of the 1990s had then just begun, and as the editor of the largest non-wire agency of the county focusing on analytical journalism, OP had a greater role to play.

Wearing a spotless white safari suit and a dot of vermillion on his forehead, B S Yediyurappa walked out of the puja room through the corridor of his Bengaluru home. He glanced at the verandah and meeting rooms full of people, but headed straight to the cowshed in the backyard to pet the new calf before heading back in.

Fractional ownership of real estate is catching up fast in India, particularly among the tech-savvy investors. As a concept, fractional ownership has democratized real estate investment in that it has given small investors access to commercial properties which otherwise remained the exclusive domain of high and ultra highnetworth individuals and institutions.