Sushmaji in Islamabad is fine, but why?

  By Vijay Darda | 14-12-2015 The good news first. Our external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has travelled to Pakistan. She is the first foreign minister from India to go to Islamabad after the long forgotten S M Krishna in September 2012. Better news still awaits us when in nine

Chennai: Nature’s fury, man’s failures

  By Vijay Darda | 07-12-2015 When India’s fourth largest metropolis comes to a complete standstill – no flights, no trains, no phone services, no electricity with people dying in hospitals as the generators have stopped functioning – then you have the definition of a total collapse. When this happens

All of us are worried, Aamir

  By Vijay Darda | 30-11-2015 Aamir Khan is an iconic Bollywood actor. He is also well-known as thinking actor, and the entire clutch of his movies is beyond the song and dance around the trees routine. Right from his debut film Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak (1988) that got him

Looking beyond oath taking at Patna

  By Vijay Darda | 23-11-2015 In true celebrations of democratic victory, oath taking ceremonies are now grand public affairs beyond the high formality of reciting vows to follow the Constitution, and discharging the responsibilities of office. Prime minister Narendra Modi sent out a clear message to all the SAARC

Horrors of Paris exclude none

  By Vijay Darda | 16-12-2015 Whether it was 9/11 in America, or 26/11 in Mumbai or the latest terror incident in Paris, the fact is that such attacks target us all – in the sense of us being peace loving citizens defenceless against determined terrorists who kill indiscriminately. Political

Nourishing his idea of India is vital for democracy

  By Vijay Darda | 14-11-2015 Remembering Panditji As the year-long 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India and rightly called the architect of our modern nation, conclude today, my mind goes back to an event that took place in the mid-fifties.

Diwali: A universal celebration

  By Vijay Darda | 09-11-2015 In our every day colloquial language, when someone has a good day, we say that he is celebrating Diwali. This is true for the more fortunate sections of the society. But for the average citizen, the real time for celebration on this festival of

A year of mixing realpolitik with growth ambitions

  By Vijay Darda | 02-11-2015 When it comes to Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, first impressions and looks could be deceptive. With an almost boyish, cherubic face he does not look like a ruthless boxer in the arena of power politics. Besides, his academic curriculum vitae does not cut

Simply not done, Sir!

  By Vijay Darda | 26-10-2015 Our Union minister of state for external affairs Gen ( retd.) V K Singh is held in high esteem as he rose to the position of the chief of our army. But his conduct as a minister of the union, constrains us to point

Supreme Court accepts case for judicial reform

  By Vijay Darda | 19-10-2015 Last week a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court with a 4-1 majority delivered a momentous judgement. It made headlines and a message got conveyed that the court’s verdict was a setback to the government’s efforts to change the way in which the judges