'The chief minister has to remember that the people of Bengal have suffered a lot. They waited for three decades for a change in rule. Hence, they are impatient and want fast and effective action.' Legendary writer Mahasweta Devi rates the Trinamool Congress-led government in West Bengal.
Sheela Bhatt blames the Delhi gang-rape and its aftermath on the dreadful transport mafia, the offspring of the nexus between politicians, crooked bureaucrats and shady operators.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt, Telo Tulku Rinpoche, who heads the biggest Russian monastery in Kalmykia and is the president of Buddhist Union of Kalmykia, says while in New Delhi, they want to attract Putin's attention to an urgent need of visa to the Dalai Lama, despite China's reservations.
Modi will have greater satisfaction to see that Sonia Gandhi's political secretary Ahmed Patel's Bharuch Lok Sabha constituency is also going the Bharatiya Janata Party's way.
'Every minute, one has to listen to some diktat or the other. As a Trinamool Congress member, every step of ours is vetted. One has to take permission before doing anything,' MLA Sikha Mitra, suspended for criticising party leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, tells Indrani Roy.
What does the high voters' turnout of 68 per cent in first phase of Gujarat election mean? Sheela Bhatt tries to find out.
Congress Party may agree to form a coalition government in Gujarat, a senior leader tells Sheela Bhatt
"The Congress is in the hands of a few people. Rahul Gandhi, C P Joshi, Mohan Prakash, Ahmed Patel, Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia have decided on all the 182 seats. Once again, our leaders are plotting to defeat each other. They have made a mess of the Congress's improving fortunes. Like 2007, the Congress will lose both the election and prestige."
"The Congress is in the hands of a few people. Rahul Gandhi, C P Joshi, Mohan Prakash, Ahmed Patel, Shaktisinh Gohil and Arjun Modhwadia have decided on all the 182 seats. Once again, our leaders are plotting to defeat each other. They have made a mess of the Congress's improving fortunes. Like 2007, the Congress will lose both the election and prestige."
The Calcutta Stock Exchange inaugurated a book on capital markets -- Taking Stock -- in Braille.
'The biggest damage is inflicted not during the riots, but after the riots. The curfews and inactivity brings misery to survivors of the riots. In every riot, some 3,000 Muslim families slip below the poverty line. Nobody talks about them.' Zafar Yunus Sareshwala, who speaks in Narendra Modi's favour and has initiated the dialogue between Modi and Gujarati Muslims, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
'The biggest damage is inflicted not during the riots, but after the riots. The curfews and inactivity brings misery to survivors of the riots. In every riot, some 3,000 Muslim families slip below the poverty line. Nobody talks about them.' Zafar Yunus Sareshwala, who speaks in Narendra Modi's favour and has initiated the dialogue between Modi and Gujarati Muslims, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
The Congress has done a disservice to its party leaders and workers by fielding a non-entity like Shweta Bhatt to take on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, feels Sheela Bhatt.
The Congress has done a disservice to its party leaders and workers by fielding a non-entity like Shweta Bhatt to take on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, feels Sheela Bhatt.
Deepak Babaria, secretary, All India Congress Committee, on the Gujarat polls.
'Naveen Patnaik's simplicity makes him look like an innocent fellow. But he is not like that. You can go to Odisha's mining areas and you can understand what is going on under his nose. A colossal loss to the national exchequer has taken place in Odisha,' Union Minister Srikant Jena tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Asif Ibrahim's appointment as Director of India's Intelligence Bureau has stirred considerable interest. Observers believe the UPA government has chosen the new heads of the IB, the Research and Analysis Wing and the Central Bureau of Investigation, keeping in mind the next Lok Sabha election, reports Sheela Bhatt.
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Samjawadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party will have to change, modify or amend their stand on Foreign Direct Investment in retail to break the deadlock in Parliament, says Sheela Bhatt
Contrary to what Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde told the media, Sheela Bhatt discovers that the decision to execute the Pakistani terrorist was a carefully calibrated move taken by the nation's top governmental and political leadership.
'The idea was not just to kill those hundreds of people,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Sheela Bhatt, 'the idea was to provoke people against Muslims. It is really shocking that Pakistan is in denial about what happened in Mumbai.'
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