Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

(Image Credit- Financial Express) 2018 was a year where we lost some of India's top politicians, actors, and important personalities. These people made a huge impact on our lives and contributed aplenty in their respective fields. Here's remembering those who left us in 2018 
	
	<div type="Slideshow" msid="67193134" hostid="261" title="Here's remembering those who left us in 2018" firstImageMsid="67193135" slideCount="5"></div>

Here's remembering those who left us in 2018

<keyword id="43868" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mamata-Banerjee">Mamata Banerjee</keyword>'s Wednesday visit to <keyword id="689" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sonia-Gandhi">Sonia Gandhi</keyword>'s Delhi residence was not only to greet the latter on her birthday. If reports from political galleries are to be believed, there is going to be a newfound alliance between Congress and Trinamool. However, senior officials of both parties are rubbishing these reports, citing it as an informal chit-chat between old friends. Interestingly, it was after three years that Banerjee was paying a visit to ‘old friend’ Gandhi's residence. 
 The rushed meeting between Banerjee and Gandhi could have had an agenda of preventing an electoral alliance between Congress and CPM. Her party, Bengal TMC, had earlier committed of not disrupting any of the Parliamentary proceedings, but has now shown support to Congress by staging a walk out protesting against the court's summon issued to Sonia Gandhi in <keyword id="1217689" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="National-Herald">National Herald</keyword> case. 
 
What gave rise to these speculations are some recent instances when Banerjee and Gandhi interacted with each other. Both had exchanged Diwali wishes in October, after hugging each other in August, when they met at the central hall in Parliament. 
 
"Even though I am not associated with any political party, as an outsider I feel that Mamata Banerjee is feeling a bit nervous. The nervousness is taking her from this door to that door. In the past three years, she only abused Congress and called them worthless. Suddenly, she overcame all bitterness and is trying to recover the relationship that she built before 2011 assembly election. Now, before 2016 elections, she appears to be really desperate," veteran parliamentarian and former speaker, Somnath Chatterjee told ET. 
 

	<a href="http://www.politicalmirror.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mamata-Banerjee-Sonia-Gandhi.jpg">Image source</a>

Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi with a secret agenda, claim political rumors

<ul><li>The <keyword id="6355187" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="lok-sabha">Lok Sabha</keyword> lost 127 hours and 45 minutes due to disruptions while the Rajya Sabha wasted 121 hours. </li><li>In the time spent sitting by the Lok Sabha, a grand total of five bills were passed as against a planned target of 40. Two of these, the Finance Bill and the Appropriation Bill, were passed in less than half an hour. </li><li>Around ₹3.7 billion rupees of taxpayers money was lost as a result of the disruptions to the Budget Session. </li></ul>The 2018 Budget session, which concluded on April 6th, saw India’s <keyword id="6354721" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="parliament">Parliament</keyword> record another unflattering statistic. According to PRS Legislative Research, Delhi-based think tank, it was the <a href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Budget%202018/Vital%20Stats%20-%20Budget%20Session%202018.pdf">least productive Budget Session</a> since 2000. Based <a href="http://164.100.47.193/statement/files/statementofwork.pdf">on information</a> from the Lok Sabha secretariat, 127 hours and 45 minutes were wasted in the Lower House of Parliament while business was conducted for only 34 hours. The Rajya Sabha (Upper House) fared slightly better, sitting for 44 hours and wasting 121. All in all, 249 out of a total of 327 hours were completely wasted, culminating in a productivity level of 24%. If you can call it productivity. In human terms, if an MP in the recent session was given four hours to do something, he or she spent three hours arguing about this responsibility, 45 minutes sitting down to think about it and 15 minutes actually doing it. In the time spent sitting by the Lok Sabha, a grand total of five bills were passed as against a planned target of 40. Two of these - the Finance Bill, which comprises taxation measures, and the Appropriation Bill, which details spending plans for government ministries - were passed in quick succession on March 14th. The Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Sumitra Mahajan, was able to pass the bills in less than half an hour without any discussion by administering the “guillotine process”. When a guillotine is applied, all outstanding proposals need to be voted on once a fixed time for discussion is over. The hours wasted by Parliament aren’t borne by MPs but by taxpayers. In September 2012, following a washed-out Monsoon session, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Pawan Kumar Bansal, said that the cost to the Exchequer of running the Parliament for <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/each-minute-of-running-parliament-in-sessions-costs-rs-2-5-lakh-govt-498784">one minute was ₹250,000</a>, a figure which has since been routinely quoted. Based on this estimate, around ₹3.7 billion rupees of taxpayers money was lost as a result of the disruptions to the Budget Session, excluding the salaries of MPs. But one can’t just look at this in monetary terms. There is a significant cost to bills being delayed, not only for the intended beneficiaries of such bills, but in terms of the time they take up in future sessions of Parliament which would normally be reserved for newer bills. At the end of the Budget Session, there were <a href="http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Budget%202018/Session%20wrap%20Budget%20Session%202018.pdf">68 bills pending</a> for discussion and passage, including the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill and the Whistleblowers Protection Bill. India’s electorate aren’t unfamiliar with washouts in Parliament. A number of sessions in recent years have been been largely unproductive and beset by interruptions. For example, the Winter Session in 2016, which took place right after the demonetisation, lost 19 of its 21 days due to disruptions. In the absence of institutional incentives to be productive, India’s MPs have no qualms in substituting debate with protests. These disruptions, rather than individual actions, are usually a coordinated ploy by opposition parties too highlight the government’s failings and are met with a equal reaction by ruling parties who wish to stall discussion over a topic. The blame game This Budget Session was no different and both sides were to blame. First, the <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword> and <keyword id="14666" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="BJP">BJP</keyword> pointed fingers at each other over the Nirav Modi scam at Punjab National Bank. Then, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), along with opposition parties, started protesting against the Centre’s decision to not give the state special category status. This led to a notice of a no-confidence motion, which was never brought to the floor, which only served to amplify the Opposition’s protests. Even though the BJP had the seats to quash the no-confidence motion, it probably did not want to risk the scrutiny and questions that came with such a motion. Finally, the latter end of the session featured disruptions related to the Cauvery water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu as well as the Supreme Court’s dilution of the SC/STs Act. The blame game and hollow gestures continued well after the end of the Budget Session. On April 5th, the members of the ruling administration said that they would <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/nda-mps-wont-take-pay-for-23-wasted-days/articleshow/63618705.cms">forgo their salaries </a>for the 23 wasted days in the second part of the Budget Session, which they attributed to the Congress. On April 9th, Rahul Gandhi led <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/rahul-gandhis-fast-at-rajghat-sajjan-singh-jagdish-tytler-asked-to-leave-top-developments/1126556/">a nationwide, day-long fast </a>to protest against the BJP government and the Parliament’s inability to function. The BJP responded with <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/pm-narendra-modi-fast-on-april-12-why-is-pm-fasting-bjp-protests-rahul-gandhi-congress-amit-shah-parliament-5133495/">its own fast</a> against the stalling of Parliamentary proceedings by opposition parties few days later. <keyword id="834154" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="No-work-no-pay">No work no pay</keyword>? The decision of the BJP MPs to forgo their salaries has brought the notion of “no work no pay” back into the spotlight. As part of the latest Union Budget, the finance minister, Arun Jaitley, decided to double MPs monthly salaries from ₹50,000 to ₹100,000. In 2007, when the BJP led the Opposition, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Somnath Chatterjee, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/somnath-wants-no-work-no-pay/articleshow/2225592.cms">proposed the concept</a> of “no work no pay for MPs”, pointing to the obvious flaw in a system that allowed them to claim their daily allowance for sitting in Parliament even when the session was disrupted. Last month, Manoj Tiwari, a BJP MP and head of its Delhi unit, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/manoj-tiwari-wants-no-work-no-pay-rule-for-mps/articleshow/63385053.cms">proposed the rule again</a>. While the rule makes sense on paper, it presupposes that MPs are motivated to work by their salaries. Many of them are rich to begin with. According to the Association of Democratic Reforms, <a href="https://adrindia.org/media/adr-in-news/13rd-mps-have-criminal-records-82-cent-are-crorepatis-adr">82% of the new Lok Sabha MPs </a>in 2014 had a net worth of over ₹10 million. In fact, the average worth of an MPs assets was ₹146 million. Perhaps the number of days could be increased. While this won’t raise productivity and will likely increase the burden of taxpayers, it could help tackle the growing pile of pending bills and allow more time for matters of public interest to be discussed. The Indian Parliament meets for roughly <a href="http://www.prsindia.org/media/articles-by-prs-team/the-house-is-not-in-session-4425/">70 days a year</a>, compared to 150 in the UK and 140 in the US. Furthermore, MPs are primarily motivated by votes. They are elected to represent the interests of the people who voted for them, not to add numbers to their parties’ protests in the house. It is the responsibility of voters to keep their representatives accountable. Parliamentary disruptions inhibit the functioning of our democracy. The disruptors should be rewarded accordingly when elections come around.

The recently-concluded Budget session of the Indian Parliament was the least productive in 18 years

2018 was a big year for politics on social media. From trading barbs to political mudslinging — it is safe to say 2018 was a year of agenda, propaganda and umpteen controversies. Opinions, debates, social campaigns kept our timelines kicking. It was also a year where we lost some of our top politicians, including former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, DMK chief Karunanidhi and Somnath Chatterjee. Their contributions and controversies also made their way to <keyword id="6354616" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter">Twitter</keyword>. While <keyword id="117594" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="indian-politicians">Indian politicians</keyword> make their way to the top of the list in terms of social engagement; conversations around celebs are not too far behind. Films, actors, trailers, trends and big money were the talk of the town throughout the year. Here are the 10 most talked-about Indian accounts on Twitter. More power to hashtags! <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> (<a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@narendramodi</a>) Followers: 44.7 million Following: 2,069 With elections being an intrinsic part of public and political discourse Indian prime minister Narendra Modi’s Twitter account was the most popular account in 2018. His social commentary, foreign trips, photo-ops with heads of different countries made it to top Twitter conversations as well. This is the top retweeted tweet of the year from the account: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>







































 <keyword id="5268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Rahul-Gandhi">Rahul Gandhi</keyword> (<a href="https://twitter.com/RahulGandhi">@RahulGandhi</a>) Followers: 8.09 million Following: 198 While Virat Kohli, captain of the Indian cricket team, accepted fitness challenge from sports minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, he also nominated PM Narendra Modi for the challenge. As sarcastic as it may seem, Rahul Gandhi, President, Indian National Congress (INC), challenged Modi to reduce fuel prices. Here is his most retweeted tweet: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>





































 Amit Shah (<a href="https://twitter.com/AmitShah">@AmitShah</a>) Followers: 12.1 million Following: 281 With three state elections debacle and a mammoth general election in the offing, BJP Amit Shah was a huge search with tweeples. Amid the political debates on last year’s Karnataka election, President of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah, tweeted on the outcome of elections making it the most retweeted tweet from the account. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>




































 <keyword id="43254" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Yogi-Adityanath">Yogi Adityanath</keyword> (<a href="https://twitter.com/myogiadityanath">@myyogiadityanath</a>) Followers: 3.15 million Following: 44 The Uttar Pradesh chief minister,Yogi Adityanath has been in controversy ever-since he was elected to the top seat in India’s most populous state. Mr Adityanath faced flak for changing the names of prominent Indian cities. The rationale was bizzare for some, while some seemed to nod in agreement. This led to a mini war-of-words across social platforms. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>





































 <keyword id="260213" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arvind-Kejriwal">Arvind Kejriwal</keyword> (<a href="https://twitter.com/ArvindKejriwal">@ArvindKejriwal</a>) Followers: 14.2 million Following: 210 To help those affected by the Kerala floods that resulted in the death of over 483 people, Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal had said that he would donate a month’s salary, including that of his lawmakers to the relief fund for the victims. This comment went viral on Twitter and was his most retweeted tweet through the year. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>





































 Pawan Kalyan (<a href="https://twitter.com/PawanKalyan">@PawanKalyan</a>) Followers: 3.4 million Following: 1 Potentially criticising for abuse and making business out of profanity, Pawan Kalyan, an Indian film actor tweeted to boycott certain news channels. The statement was his most retweeted tweet. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>





















 Shah Rukh Khan (<a href="https://twitter.com/iamsrk?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor">@iamsrk</a>) Followers: 37 million Following: 79 “Hug from the Thug....!! Beat that!”, said Bollywood’s popular actor Shah Rukh Khan in a tweet that shared a picture of the two B-town celebs ( Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan) hugging. The tweet was his most retweeted tweet. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>



































 Vijay (<a href="https://twitter.com/actorvijay">@actorvijay</a>) Followers: 1.9 million Following: 0 Tamil actor and playback singer, Vijay, got loads of attraction from Indian viewers towards the end of the year 2018 for his Tamil film ‘Sarkar’. The movie has been making massive gains worldwide, winning appreciation. The tweet sharing his movie’s ‘second look’ was the most retweeted so far. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>



































 Mahesh Babu (<a href="https://twitter.com/urstrulyMahesh">@urstrulyMahesh</a>) Followers: 7.22 million Following: 21 Mahesh Babu is one of the biggest actors of the Telugu film industry. In 2018, he delivered his career-best performance in the Telugu blockbuster ‘Bharat Ane Nenu’. He was a rage on Twitter and #BharatAneNenu was one of the top hashtags of 2018. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>





















 Shivraj Singh Chouhan (<a href="https://twitter.com/ChouhanShivraj">@ChouhanShivraj</a>) Followers: 5 million Following: 262 Talking of controversies, one cannot ignore the Vyapam Scam that has its roots in India’s central Madhya Pradesh, with its former chief minister, Shivraj Singh Chouhan at the epicentre of it. The Vyapam scam was an entrance examination, admission and recruitment scam that was unearthed in Madhya Pradesh in 2013. Recently, in an election shocker, Chouhan was upseated from the state in the assembly election results — after serving three consecutive terms. He was gracious in defeat and even joined his opponents onstage as they took the baton from him to serve Madhya Pradesh. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Text"><cdata><![CDATA[
 
]]></cdata></div>

You Searched For "Somnath Chatterjee" and got 4 results

Here's remembering those who left us in 2018

BI India Bureau

Mamata Banerjee met Sonia Gandhi with a secret agenda, claim political rumors

BI India Bureau

The recently-concluded Budget session of the Indian Parliament was the least productive in 18 years

Dilsher Dhillon

From Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to his rival Rahul Gandhi — A look at the top 10 Indian Twitter accounts that made 2018 interesting

BI India Bureau

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides