Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
When Subir Roy met Ruchira Gupta at The Telegraph 35 years ago she was not quite 20 and not a graduate. Today she is the indomitable founder of Apne Aap, which has touched the lives of over 21,000 women who were victims of sex trafficking.
As the year 2014 draws to an end, we at Rediff.com take to look at some of the ridiculous remarks made by some blundering politicos.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday.
Indra Nooyi joins several prominent persons of Indian-origin who have donated generously to US universities.
United States of America secured their passage into the round of 16 riding on substitute Ayo Akinola's 75-minute strike for a 1-0 victory over Ghana in an enthralling Group A game of the FIFA U-17 World Cup in New Delhi.
'We will never really lose him because in death, his spirit, trapped in a frail body, has been set free and will surround us like the air we breathe.'
'It is important to destroy, to undermine, to debunk the narrative of ISIS,' Olivier Roy -- one of the world's leading experts on radical Islam -- tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel in an exclusive interview.
Bert Trautmann, a former German Prisoner of War who became a footballer in England and famously broke his neck playing in goal for Manchester City in the 1956 FA Cup final, died on Friday at the age of 89.
From being the hand-picked choice of Sonia Gandhi as Andhra Pradesh chief minister to sitting on a dharna in Delhi against division of the state, Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy has turned from a Congress regional leader to a disgruntled rebel in his nearly 39-month tumultuous tenure.
Here's a glimpse at what happened around the world last week.
Battling choppy weather, power crisis, inundated streets and the odds, the students, with a few girls among them, survived through the tough times, keeping each other strong.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
The man behind Aligarh Muslim University 200 years on.
Ever thought vegetable jalfrezi & murg malai tikka would be available at the South Pole?!
There is mounting evidence that the Information Revolution may mean the end of large-scale vertically integrated businesses whose guiding principle, "economies of scale", was the defining miracle of the Industrial Age.
'The majority of the audience knows me. My relationship with them is of over 27 years. The people who questioned me are already biased against me; they will question no matter what I do. I don't react to that. The important thing is not to be negative.'
'As India progresses and takes an increasingly hardline approach to Pakistani hostility, the young and restless population of Pakistan, sooner than later, will demand 'Gazwa e Hind' (conquest of India),' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'If majority of the country's population is sentimental about a certain species, why are we so ashamed to say that we want to give it statutory protection?'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India has a chance to rise again as a global economic power and suggested that it could match with China and he has a "clear roadmap" to channelise entrepreneurial capabilities of country's 1.25 billion people.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday termed his Japan trip as "very successful" and hoped that India's infrastructure will improve and the country will become clean with the help of $35 billion promised by Japan over five years, the highest ever amount ever.
What happens when you shoot at night, under pouring rain, as electrical wires snake around and your eyes turn gritty due to lack of sleep?
'It is not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving.' This is what Mother Teresa taught the nuns and her co-workers.
A Ganesh Nadar shares interesting vignettes that usually get lost in the heat-and-dust of election coverage.
Bringing you all the news from the summer transfer window and other snippets from the soccer world...
'I went to slums in India which were quite destitute, where people were clearly really struggling, but typically there is a sort of sense of purpose.' 'People are hustling.' 'What that tells you is that if the country was so organised in a way to give these people opportunity, then they would make something of it.'
'Most likely scenario is Modi comes back with either a much smaller majority and no majority at all and a coalition.' 'Very hard to imagine him doing better than he did last time.' 'He will then be a weaker prime minister,' the author of The Billionaire Raj tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'I served the Indian Army and I am an ex-serviceman.' 'I look at this as a battle I am fighting after I left the army.' 'I will not leave till I get her back as my daughter Akhila, and I believe it will happen one day.'
Thirty-seven-year-old Indian-American physician Vivek Hallegere Murthy has been confirmed as the 19th surgeon general of America by the United States senate. He is youngest person and first person of Indian-origin to hold the post.
Saluting the late music composers most memorable film songs.
With the One-Day series set to begin on October 8, West Indies have come to India with revenge on their minds, says all-rounder Darren Sammy.
The twin-train derailments within minutes of each other that killed 25 people in Madhya Pradesh on August 5, 2015, is being blamed on flash floods. S Pushpavanam wonders if that is the only reason.
Despite losing four years of playing days due to World War II, Don Bradman still is head and shoulders above the rest. Haresh Pandya pays tribute to the incomparable Don Bradman.
In Muthuvel Karunanidhi's passing, Tamil Nadu has lost the last of its Titans.
Kashmir was indeed in need of a messiah that summer; 70 per cent of its population aged below 31 were up in arms against the Indian State. Every nook and corner of the land brought forth stories of youngsters with crushed bodies and an unfaltering spirit.
'It made me sad that these people had to spend a minimum of 20 dirhams from the meagre 800 dirhams they get, to pray.' 'God had helped me many times in my life, it was my duty to help these people.' The incredible story of Saji Cherian.
The Sheena Bora murder mystery has seen more twists in a day than a television sitcom. As skeletons tumble out, a mighty media baron and his glamorous wife have become the centre of a media storm.
'I am considering issuing a diktat - anyone who is a male in my party must keep clear of all remarks, written or verbal, on anything to do with women.' Sherna Gandhy's tongue-in-cheek piece on Didi's travails with the foot-in-mouth netas in her party!
