Shops remained closed in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan for a few hours and internet services were restricted in sensitive areas to check 'rumour-mongering', but normal life remained largely unaffected
While historian Ramachandra Guha and Iranian-Canadian philosopher Ramin Jahanbegloo believe Gandhi was less than the perfect father, author Sandhya Mehta treads a more middle path.
In a sight rarely seen in the United States senate, dozens of Democrat members shut down the House of Representatives to protest their chamber's lack of action on a legislation to stop gun sales to people on some terrorism watch lists.
The Supreme Court on Monday rapped the Uttar Pradesh government for not appointing Lokayukta in the state despite its directions and ordered compliance by December 16, saying it seemed that appointing authorities have their "own agenda".
'We want to protect our history, we want to protect our people from getting overwhelmed by the influx from Bangladesh, that is why the people of Assam are out in the streets,' says former Assam chief minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
Both Messrs Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri claim to march independently, but most of Pakistan believes they are marching to the Army's tune
Meerut Police's action came a day after the MP indirectly blamed Muslims for the population growth in the country.
"I am being targeted for a decade-old case, there is an attempt to suppress my voice. Rajasthan Police team came to arrest me. Someone told me plan was being made to kill me in an encounter," the VHP president claimed.
'The brutal violence of the UP government's first response to the anti-CAA protests suggests that the BJP will test drive the NPR/NRC in UP, where it has both a massive majority in the assembly and a chief minister whose instinct for Hindutva extremism and whose appetite for punitive policing allows a prime minister as darkly majoritarian as Modi to appear statesman-like,' notes Mukul Kesavan.
On planes, on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Zee5, Hulu, MUBI, Kanopy, film festivals... Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 309 films in 365 days.
The second part of our series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers with a criminal record.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 10 images.
'Had Sam Bahadur not dictated the timing of India's military intervention, Bangladesh would not have been created without a prolonged battle.' 'Manekshaw's strategy won the war for India in just 13 days,' says Sudhir Bisht.
Santosh Koli, a close aide of Arvind Kejriwal and Aam Aadmi Party candidate for Delhi polls who was critically injured in an accident, died on Wednesday in a Gurgaon hospital after battling for life for 37 days.
'The CAA should be kept in abeyance, without making it a prestige issue.'
'Laying down a clear policy on the future of illegal migrants will dispel anxieties and help in implementing the CAA, NPR and also the NCR,' suggests former Union home secretary Dr Madhav Godbole.
'Tagore repeatedly denounced the "My country, right or wrong" attitude.' 'We often use the phrase "unity in diversity" like a cliche and often make diversity secondary, giving precedence to unity.' 'You do not have to shout from the rooftops that we are very tolerant.'
Uber is battling serious backlash from the establishment in several countries.
'She was just a little girl. She didn't understand religion. Who is Hindu, who is Muslim.' 'She was just 8! Why punish her?' The family of the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu's Kathua district say everything has changed since that horrific crime.
Yet, Guddu Rangeela never quite soars, says Raja Sen.
'If they were really serious (about conferring the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar) what were they doing for the last five years?' 'Why do they have to take so long?' 'Gandhi himself never got the Bharat Ratna so it does not really matter.'
While no one has been named in the two FIRs yet, the official said police is investigating the video evidence of the violence that took place on the days of incidents.
Meet Bollywood fan Ranjit Dahiya. If you are in Mumbai, you can't miss his massive tributes to the industry that he loves.
'Unsurprisingly, the joint statement issued after Modi's visit contains a paragraph on terrorism.' 'It is on the usual lines that India would have with, say, Croatia.' 'The surprising part is that it shies away from getting into specifics,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
2015 was characterised by some interesting events and trends.
Senior journalist Darryl D'Monte reports exclusively for Rediff.com from Paris.
Erstwhile RBI governors, including Raghuram Rajan never had cordial relations with the government.
One of the best stories coming out of Bihar is about a place where Chandragupta Maurya, Buddha, Ashoka, Sher Shah Suri and India's Mona Lisa meet.
Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Obama's daughters and Joshua Wong, the face of the Hong Kong protests against China have been named by Time magazine among its list of the 25 most influential teenagers of 2014.
Gandhi and Birla, in spite of their closeness, too differed.
Ever wondered what happens when Hollywood A-listers turn protestors? Take a look.
'There is a storm of unrest brewing as a younger, more educated and independent India grows up. The government needs to realise that force may give them temporary respite but force never is the answer,' says filmmaker Suparn Verma.
The Supreme Court bench comprising of Chief Justice T S Thakur and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud warned if there is a false statement given by BCCI office bearers on affidavit, then perjury or contempt proceedings could be initiated.
As we observe Martyrs' Day today, Mahatma Gandhi would have been dismayed by the number of vested interests that are seeking to carve out identities and spaces outside the Republic of India, says Shreekant Sambrani.
'You are beginning your professional life in a time of global turmoil, when economic systems and the earth's eco-systems are in deep crisis.' 'Societies across the world are struggling with the complexity of technological and social change happening at a speed that our species has never experienced before.' 'May you be more excited than frightened by the times we live in.' 'Precisely because the crises are so deep, there are also unprecedented opportunities for pioneering and brave work that can transform society, culture and economy to create a much better world for your children.'
Pranab Mukherjee's book The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years takes the readers through the economic and social unrest of the period leading up to the emergency, rise and fall of leaders, many splits within the Congress, while promising to offer more in the next two volumes of the trilogy, says Nivedita Mookerji.
Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday came out with its manifesto for the December 4 Delhi polls, promising to enact Jan Lokpal Bill in 15 days if voted to power.
'The so-called separatists are representatives of Pakistan. They get paid from Islamabad for propagating that country's policy and conniving in her ploy of accession of Kashmir to Pakistan.'
The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment regarding leaders with a criminal background and said that they stand to be disqualified on date of conviction. The number of members of Parliament with a criminal background is 162, which means 30 per cent of those who govern the nation in the Lok Sabha have pending criminal cases.
Biometric authentication is based on the unscientific and questionable assumption that there are parts of human body that does not age, wither and decay with the passage of time.
