'This week we once again heard the prime minister and finance minister speak, at a recent media house event in the capital, about how well the economy is doing. The truth is nothing can improve our economic fundamentals till public investment is sharply increased. Manipulating statistics may help manage global headlines for a while, but cannot strengthen our economic fundamentals.
'The instant noodles brand launched by yoga teacher Ramdev has not obtained mandatory product approvals from the Food Safety and Regulatory Authority of India, officials said, even though Patanjali Atta Noodles packets display an “FSSAI licence number”. “Patanjali Atta Noodles has not got product approvals from us. The matter has been brought to our notice. We are pursuing it,” Ashish Bahuguna, FSSAI chairperson who also holds additional charge as its CEO, told The Indian Express...'
'There's no doubt over Pahlaj Nihalani's love for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. After the Central Board Of Film Certification chief made 'Har Ghar Modi', for the Prime Minister, he has now come out with a new video called 'Mera Desh Hai Mahaan, Mera Desh Hai Jawaan'. Besides being available on YouTube, this five-and-a-half-minute music video — a paean to Modi and the policies he has instituted as PM — is reportedly playing in several cinemas at the interval point of Sooraj Barjatya's Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, which released on Thursday.
'From inflation to social sector spending to reforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at the Delhi Economic Conclave has proved that Truth is dead... Truth would have also gone on to point to the soaring prices of pulses (with arhar dal selling at an unprecedented Rs. 200 a kg). Imagine that? Truth would have also dared to talk about what an ASSOCHAM report said (the report said that prices of brinjal, onions, cucumbers and tomatoes have become much costlier, while the prices of fruits have increased by 40-45 per cent).
'Two newspaper advertisements by the BJP in Bihar have been banned by the Election Commission, hours after leaders from the Nitish Kumar-led "Grand Alliance" complained to the election watchdog, accusing the BJP of promoting "lies and communal tension" in the state through its advertisements. The Election Commission, in a strongly-worded advisory to the Bihar's Chief Electoral Officer Ajay Naik, has asked to ensure that the two advertisements aren't published in any newspaper from tomorrow till the elections in the state are over.
'Amit Shah, president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims that when political leaders speak in public meetings, they often become "emotional" and that "their statements should not be taken with full stop, comma and all." How then should one understand Prime Minister Narendra Modi's repeated claim that BJP governments have never tinkered with reservations, during his election rallies in Bihar? His declaration that no BJP government has ever diluted the reservations policy nor will it do so in future, is as blatant an untruth as one can get, with or without commas and full stops...
'Suresh Rana said: “Now I will tell you the truth. We charged them with rape, but it wasn’t rape, it was consensual. We slapped a rape case against them to teach them a lesson."... According to various media reports, leaders from BJP, VHP and RSS are involved in what can be best described as the fight against Love Jihad. For the uninitiated, the term Love Jihad is used to describe the act of a Muslim man wooing young Hindu girls and then converting them to Islam.
"The BJP's battle for Bihar just got murkier with the party's own lawmaker and former Home Secretary RK Singh alleging that money has changed hands for tickets. "They are giving tickets to criminals. How will they give a clean government? This is injustice to the people of Bihar. Some people have sold tickets to criminals. Many BJP workers are angry over seat distribution," Mr Singh said in Patna today. "When the tickets were distributed, I called Sushil Kumar Modi, but he did not receive my call," he added.
'An article that appeared in thehoot.org in November 2013 has suddenly been attracting considerable attention. Reason: the article was about how Peter and Indrani Mukerjea sold their stake in the INX/NewsX media group of companies and how India's biggest private corporate entity, Reliance Industries Limited, headed by the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, acquired control over these firms for a period of time in a convoluted manner.
'...As the monsoons finally reached the capital last week, leading to cooler climes but also traffic snarls, a cloud also burst on the heads of the BJP and the Narendra Modi government. It has been raining scams for over a month now, but the darkest clouds have surely built around India’s most lethal one, Vyapam. This involves more than financial swindles, something the nation may be a little immune to. With Vyapam, there is a human connect in the pile of corpses, all such ordinary people, and some so young.
