Professor Bhaskar Ramamurthi of IIT-Madras discusses the disparity between academic vision and industry needs with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.
These are some of Rediff.com's favourites from all 80 award-winning photos.
'The Reserve Bank's independence has remained a work in progress, an enduring challenge that the nation has been grappling with on an ongoing basis,' says RBI Deputy Governor Dr Viral Acharya.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera shares his impressions from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's landmark artistic extravaganza.
The government's initial promise and energy seems to have dissipated.
'When I started off the process for Kaabil, we were making the character sympathetic as he is blind.' 'Just looking at him and his environment, you would say, 'Arrey bechara'.' 'But meeting blind people, I realised there is no essence of helplessness in them.'
The Opposition is putting up a symbolic fight for the presidential polls as it knows that the BJP has the numbers to get its candidate elected to the top post.
If the Indian Railways thinks it can get away with this sassy attitude, it is because it is, in a sense, a monopolist in the business of transporting people. The distances one has to cover, say from Thane or Virar to Mumbai is impossible by road provides railways the arrogance, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
'Corruption is the tree.' 'Black money is the fruit from the tree.' 'This scheme will expose the unaccounted fruits of the tree.' 'But since the tree will continue to stand, the story will continue,' say Pramod Kumar Srivastava, Sanghamithra and Kravya.
'Pakistan's negativism should be seen as the reason for India losing interest in SAARC.'
'The forces of good are on the run.' 'But dark times also challenge people to fight.' 'I believe Indians will rise against these dark times.'
Finalists in the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition have been revealed and the stunning images have to be seen to be believed.
The sexism may well be lost out on mothers who call their daughters 'ghar ka beta' but there is something heartening in seeing middle class mothers encouraging them to pursue non-traditional careers. Sonil Dedhia/Rediff.com meets a few 'model' mums.
Stunning photos have revealed incredible secrets of the underwater world, with the winners of the 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year award announced. German photographer Tobias Friedrich has been named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018. More than 5,000 images were submitted this year by photographers from around the world. UPY was once again kind enough to share some of this year's honourees with us below, with captions written by the photographers.
'The BJP suddenly seems vulnerable. This is not entirely surprising. In the past too, governments and leaders who won a thumping Lok Sabha majority lost popularity in a matter of months... The by-polls results shows that a degree of disenchantment with the Modi government is setting in,' says Praful Bidwai.
Occasionally, a whistle-blower releases sensitive financial data.
Greeks are split on whether to accept an offer by creditors that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras calls a "humiliation"
Australian model Ilana Davies gets candid with Rediff.com's Tista Sengupta.
Landmark judgments follow new CJI's assumption of office.
With the weaker-than-expected agreement at the recent Climate Change Conference at Lima, there is an urgent need to highlight endeavours in civil society and business for a sustainable global economy with grassroots empowerment, say Rajni Bakshi.
The decision of the Union Cabinet based on the Group of Ministers recommendations only creates an illusion by removing the political executive and creating a proxy institution instead, says Arun Jaitley
The decision of the Union Cabinet based on the Group of Ministers recommendations only creates an illusion by removing the political executive and creating a proxy institution instead, says Arun Jaitley
'As engineers, as alumni and as Indians, we should be concerned about today's leadership that is making tomorrow's leaders at our IITs,' says Air Marshal P V Athawale PVSM, AVSM, VSM (Retd).
Auroville just turned 50. Aurovilians who grew up in The experimental city speak of how their childhood was marked by a sense of openness and possibility.
'His prosecutors have no doubt turned a student union leader into a national figure - howsoever briefly - with their miscalculations and misdeeds, and have done Kanhaiya a huge favour.' 'But he will soon realise that it is a double-edged sword that he has been handed,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'For short-term gain, the BJP makes extraordinary promises, they take extraordinary decisions, but in the long term it is going to impact both them and the country.'
Aseem Chhabra gives us the top films that enriched his year.
The Badshah of Bollywood entertained the houseful audience at IIM Bangalore's first Global Alumni Leadership Summit with his brand of leadership lessons in his trademark style and sense of humour.
Relations between India and America will always be transactional. It is true that the two countries share common values -- democracy, rule of law, separation of powers, etc, but these have failed to establish a long range, lasting and compatible relationship, says Ambassador C R Gharekhan.
'If chutzpah nationalists brought the Babri Masjid down, chutzpah secularists did precious little to stop it from being torn down.' 'If chutzpah nationalists ensured carnage in Gujarat, chutzpah secularists allowed Muzaffarnagar to become their next hunting ground.' 'Chutzpah secularists readily banned SIMI, but dragged their feet when it came to banning the Bajrang Dal.'
Europe will have to make some hard choices if it wishes to take on the militant group responsible for the horrible attacks in Paris.
Did the human drama provoked by the Japanese invasion of Burma and the Indian exodus from Rangoon inspire director Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming epic?
'You may show at the end of December how much money has come into the system, but none would be the wiser because most of see only what we want to see and believe.' 'Some of us will see through it and you will make your proxies call us enemies of the State.' 'I was somewhat with you till here. But we diverge from here on until you can do something which will veer through my cynicism brought about by your policy,' says Harsh N Gokhale.
'There is a point near the hill where you kill the engine and park your vehicle in neutral.' 'The vehicle automatically slides a few inches, which the locals believe is due to the magnetic power of the hill.'
A tourist's leisurely experience of this popular Rajasthan city is enriched by a hands-on interaction with its craftspeople
'Mistaking carnality for sensuality, X: Past Is Present rings as too literal-minded and too talky, with a technique that just about drains any real density or genuine playfulness that may exist beneath all the talk,' says Sreehari Nair.
It was the rejection of the Congress' welfarist economics by voters that led to the party's drubbing, says Andy Mukherjee.
The world is still figuring out the man as he continues his enigmatic journey towards the first 100 days of his presidency.
The city is becoming more democratic as the past embraces the future says Rahul Jacob.
Incisive Editor, brilliant scholar on Islam, and now BJP leader, M J Akbar is at his intellectual best when he dissects the Muslim world and its problems, and offers up a solution from his unique perspective, as he did in this recent speech at the 10th R N Kao Memorial Lecture in New Delhi.
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