Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
The great challenge before the IITs is to act as a catalyst in the growth of quality technical education in the country.
Cleanliness is a good thing, which the society should embrace. But it has nothing to do with Modi, nor can he implement it.
How do you trust a prime minister who said one thing before the elections and does exactly the opposite after the elections?
Our party never tolerated those who use violence for political ends. Our leaders lost their lives standing against terrorism.
Unless the issue of the empowerment of women is addressed, the practice of women being unfairly treated will remain unresolved.
The press in India, I believe, is more free, and happily so, than perhaps media anywhere in the world. Right? Which is a good thing.
We are great believers in the idea that the Internet can help bring justice, but justice varies from place to place across the world.
Sedition involves sloganeering with incitement. It may be anti-national, but not a crime, unless you incite violence or communal tension.
By limiting access to surrogacy based on flimsy and exclusionary criteria, the government may just give rise to a mushrooming black market.
The appointment of judges to the higher judiciary cannot be the sole domain of a few members of the higher judiciary. This turf must be shared.
It would be a matter of concern for government if intrusive data capture has been deployed against Indian citizens or government infrastructure.
To embrace Hindutva is to embrace an obscurantist, backward looking, divisive ideology that seeks to polarise society through identity politics.
There's a difference between those who breed terrorism and those who fight terrorism. This difference should be recognised by the people of India.
If two people cannot live together, both should have the right to opt out of the marriage. In an ideal world, that would be an acceptable solution.
Given an opportunity, Modi has violated the freedom of press both in letter and spirit. He destroys freedom of the press whenever he gets a chance.
Market mechanisms are totally irrelevant when resources are used to serve a larger purpose, especially for the underserved, unserved, or marginalised.
Great research universities around the world are visible not just through their quality graduates but as knowledge creators and technology developers.
The optimal use of natural resources can be made only if there is a well-thought-out policy framework for their exploitation towards a particular end use.
The government must understand that it cannot substitute the health, nutrition, and overall development outcomes of Indian citizens with 'efficiency gains.'
If there are malpractices in sports, part of the solution lies in the organisations themselves taking a very strong view and cleaning up the mess from within.
Ever since Modi became prime minister, he has given a free rein to his ministers and BJP functionaries to create an environment of communal tension and violence.
We must make the government accept that at a time when we are expected to look ahead, we cannot afford to start discriminating against our own people in the name of 'ethos.'
The mindset of a terrorist and the mindset of intolerance know no territorial boundaries when individuals are targeted either for their eating habits or for any other reason.
You may dislike what somebody else has said; that is perfectly valid. You may not agree with what somebody else has said. But saying something cannot possibly amount to sedition.
Appointments to the higher judiciary must be through transparent processes, which ensure that persons of impeccable integrity and high competence are appointed to these positions.
A single element in transactional mode can never be analysed to calculate either loss or presumptive loss. The losses or gains of all elements in the transaction need to be analysed.
The genesis of Public Interest Litigation in listening to the voice of the voiceless and giving access to the poor, the marginalised, and the weak is a unique experiment to be lauded.
When you have a limited resource and you have a lot of people wanting that resource, then those who get more justify as to why they got more, and those who get less say they have been treated badly.
When the state machinery defends criminals and the public prosecutors collude with the accused in certain cases and the victims are members of a particular community, then 'Justice to all' is empty rhetoric.
Most of us tend to be swayed by what we read. Judges are not superhuman. They, too, are mortals. This is why they have to be exceptionally careful in rendering decisions, which cause unintended consequences.
If the Planning Commission said those who live above Rs 5,000 a month are not at poverty line, obviously there is something wrong with the definition of poverty in this country. How can anybody live at Rs 5,000?
The government must adopt a rights-based approach that speaks to the needs and aspirations of surrogate mothers, children born out of surrogacy, and all individuals who want access to altruistic surrogacy services.
Universities are not places where police can come and arrest people. Let the children have a discourse as they want to. They will learn as they move on in life. But to target individuals and institutions is dangerous.
You learn on the job. When I was a young lawyer and got a case, I knew nothing about the subject. You start reading, you look for the philosophy behind it, and by the time you are actually in a court of law, you are a master.
The BJP, undoubtedly, is a party with a mission. Spreading hatred and religious discord, indulging in state-sponsored violence and fake encounter killings, and resorting to divisive politics have been integral to this mission.
If you have decisions taken from time to time at the level of the executives, which gives the impression of being discriminatory, if you are not open when government is functioning, then obviously people will make allegations.
To fix India's healthcare scenario, what is most needed is 'systems thinking.' For far too long, India has followed a vertical approach in its health sector, which translated into disease-specific national programmes being set up.
For a movie, you have to make sure the lyrics are consistent with the rhythm that is given to you. But, at times, during the song's recording, you find out that your words are not appropriate for the track, and so you have to change them.
I have no personal ambitions. I consider it a great privilege to have been given an opportunity to serve, through the Congress party, the people of India. I think that itself is a great reward. I have no personal ambitions in that regard.
When I took over the ministry for science and technology, our weather systems were in shambles. Nobody believed in the IMD. Nothing was in digital mode. I changed all that. We got automatic rain gauges, automatic weather stations, Doppler radars.
The overreach of the judiciary can be attributed to, one, the inability of the executive to deliver; and two, the tendency to issue judicial pronouncements for national good. The second element is dangerous because that's the function of the government.
Normally, the law of nature is such that one who rises falls, and one who rises quickly falls as quickly. I don't know how the law of nature will work as far as Modi is concerned. But some time or the other, all bubbles burst. This bubble will also burst.
In India, by and large, women are not educated enough to be bread winners and, within the moorings of traditional cultures, do not have the courage and the capacity to leave the matrimonial home. Given the inequality prevalent in family structures, the woman's right to opt out is suicidal.
Just as judges have enormous stake in the appointment of judicial officers in the higher judiciary, the government has an equal stake. Since both of us have stakes in the appointment of members of the higher judiciary, the consultation of both of them is absolutely necessary. The government must have a say.
Judges decide upon copyright law. They decide upon trademark law. They decide upon scientific issues. They decide upon very complex technical issues on a daily basis. So you must have confidence in the Supreme Court, that they will apply their mind and they will come out with a decision consistent with the Constitution.
Yes, the state must intervene to prevent the exploitation of poor Indian women who are enticed or coerced into surrogacy, as well as to protect the rights of surrogate children. However, it should also be empathetic to individuals with alternative lifestyles who are well within their legal and human rights to demand access to surrogacy services.