'The situation has improved because oxygen tankers are now coming.' 'Before this it was chaotic.'
If the PM gives the historic opportunity of laying the foundation stone of the Ram temple to a Dalit girl, it will send a transformational message to the Dalits in India and will give them a sense of belongingness, says Dr Sudhir Bisht.
India lacks China's culture of collective discipline, so what will provide the glue for people to cooperate rather than follow their raw survival instincts? asks Ravi Bhoothalingam.
KPS Menon (Jr) had a quiet humility and playfulness, and was not motivated by money or power, recalls Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Yoga is considered a form of exercise by those who follow it and those who want to. But the ancient practice goes beyond just physical well-being
While the DMK fears that the Congress with its poor strike rate will pull it down in the 2021 state elections, like it did five years ago, the ruling AIADMK is worried that the BJP may ultimately do a Bihar on it, relegating it to second place in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Kohli is the kind of ethereal athlete who can not only help Elon Musk discover life on Mars, but also test out its gravitational parameters by stroking hundreds in the red dirt.' 'But when playing for India, he needs assistance,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Relive your childhood or enrich your kid's but revisit The Jungle Book you must, stresses Sukanya Verma.
Art historian Yashodhara Dalmia's book on the Sri Lankan artist, who fell so deeply for India that he even claimed Rajput descent, is a momentous publishing event, says Kishore Singh.
'The world wants India to succeed. It also worries now that India over-promises and under-delivers,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Fali Nariman, one of India's best-known lawyers, tells Aditi Phadnis that plurality of political opinion is the only way to counter intolerance
Kareena Kapoor Khan proves what an asset she can be, writes Sukanya Verma
'RBI was focusing on public sector banks perhaps thinking that private sector banks are managed efficiently while PSU banks are not.' 'Now, RBI has to focus on private sector banks too.'
Dominic Xavier/Rediff.com steps into the wonderful world that is the spectacular Kochi-Muziris Art Biennale.
'Though the RSS honours Sardar Patel, who actually banned it, the real hero in the story of its rise is Jayaprakash Narayan,' says Vir Sanghvi.
As the global economy sways into uncertain territories and domestic prices almost certain to rise, Raghuram Rajan's ideas would have come in handy.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to Haji Syed Salman Chisti, Gaddi Nashi, Dargah Ajmer Sharif, the hereditary custodian of the dargah and the 26th generation descendant of Khwaja Garib Nawaz (as the Pir is known) to understand the meaning and significance of the gesture.
The winner of the coveted L'Iris d'Or/ Professional Photographer of the Year title takes home a $25,000 (Rs 15 lakh) prize.
Trump becomes first sitting US President to pray at the Western Wall.
'Its three primary effects are to send the alcohol economy underground (depriving the state of revenue), to criminalise the casual drinker and to criminalise the police,' says Aakar Patel.
'How do you expect me to tone down my anger when the most prominent culture in India today is the culture of corruption, in every sphere of life?'
Tarun Vijay visits 20 Durga Puja pandals in five towns in Bangladesh and comes back impressed.
'there is absolutely no question that the Hinduism of the mob-lynchers, the people who have actually gone and killed others because of what they are eating or how they are worshipping or the faith they belong to or what they're doing professionally, those are, to my mind, not Hindus at all.' 'Hinduism needs to be reclaimed for the Hindus who are not bigots.'
'ISRO provides a very positive atmosphere. What matters here is your talent, not your gender,' says Ritu Karidhal, Deputy Operations Director, India's Mars orbital mission, Mangalyaan. A fascinating excerpt from Minnie Vaid's Those Magnificent Women And Their Flying Machines, Isro's Mission To Mars.
Never one to mince words, Rajan will walk away with a mixed legacy
In the city to lead India's 70th Independence Day celebrations, M J Akbar called terrorism a major threat to human rights.
India-Israel relations are at a crossroads. Simply chanting old hackneyed mantras on terrorism, secularism, democracy, et al, won't suffice. There is danger of stagnation setting in, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'After his road shows, the people of Varanasi are debating what forced the prime minister to move around in the narrow lanes of Varanasi.' 'If he had taken out one road show, no one would have objected.' 'But what was the need to do it thrice?'
If you have the cash, the big fat Indian wedding just got bigger. (Psst! And the good folks at TripHobo.com have a few ideas!)
In an age of patents and intellectual property rights, it would be improper to deny that yoga comes from the Hindu tradition, says Sankrant Sanu.
'For some South Asians, it may be tempting to think "I'm not Muslim, this doesn't really affect me".' 'But please know, it affects all of us,' says Arun Venugopal, a reporter at WNYC in New York.
Maharashtra has a rich wealth of forts, more than any other state in the country. 'If nothing is done, some of the small forts may simply disappear in the next 50 years.'
Pavan K Varma, diplomat, writer and politician, embarks on a quest about Hinduism's great thinker's stay in Varanasi.
A few incidents of protests were reported in Jammu city even as mobile Internet services remained suspended and policemen deployed in strength to thwart any flare up.
'Cultural property crimes have been linked, by the United Nations and others, to terrorism.' 'These links show the perpetrators to be associated with major criminal and terrorist networks like ISIS.
'Vietnam has become an adjective as well as a verb -- the Americans, for instance, were driven by the passion to do a 'Vietnam' on the Soviet Union when that country invaded Afghanistan in 1979.'
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
'At a time when sports leagues are often smothered by the allure of spurious glamour, it is easy to forget what makes them so exciting in the first place: The sport itself.' 'At its core, the PKL has a fast-paced, engaging sport working for it.' 'Simply put, kabaddi, with its end-to-end action and oscillating fortunes, is almost never dull to watch,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Celebrations in Mutharamman Temple in Kulasekharapattinam, a coastal town in Tamil Nadu, have devotees visit the temple in an avatar of their choice. They could be dressed as kings or beggars, monkeys or demons, but the more popular is different forms of the Devi.