Advising judiciary to avoid "perception-driven" verdicts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said it should have an internal mechanism of "self-assessment" as judges are considered "divine" and seldom face any criticism unlike the political class.
'For a film like Haseena, which is made for Rs 11 crore, the publicity budget was Rs 8 crore. I think it's a waste because that could have gone into the film and I could have done something bigger and better.' Director Apoorva Lakhia looks back at his film Haseena Parker.
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India has been pursuing measures that discriminate against overseas businesses, says US Congressman Erik Paulsen.
The attacks on Karachi airport and the Airport Security Force camp are growing signs how Pakistan's home-made monster, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, is growing stronger and is no longer under the tight grip of the Inter-Services-Intelligence, its godfather. Vicky Nanjappa reports how these attacks are just the beginning and there are many more to come.
'We have to find a way out of this confrontational politics.'
The escalating situation in the Kashmir valley is the vanguard actions of global jihad, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd). And in this battle, he believes, perception management operations will be just important as operations to neutralise the terrorists.
The 'Raj Bhavan/Nakkeeran Gopal case', in which editor S Gopal was arrested in the morning and set free by the court in the afternoon, is not the first one where the Tamil Nadu's once-reputed police force is seen as faltering in the eye of the law, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The sense of urban loneliness is felt most in the modern residential complexes. To be in the neighbourhood does not make one a friendly neighbour, so while one may appear friendly does not mean one is a friend. I am alarmed at the rate at which we Indians have grown away from some old systems that were ingrained in our society,' says N Suresh.
Known for his witty one-liners, Naidu said "after all, the culture of India is agriculture."
Mumbai's Chabad House, which was attacked in the 26/11 terror attacks, is unlike any other Jewish centre, Rabbi Israel Kozlovsky tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
After 800 days, is it a little clearer that Accused No 1 through 4 are responsible for her death?
'Serving as the AG is one way of giving back to society or to the profession from which you have earned your name, fame, money and reputation. A lawyer practises for only about 50 years. I have already put in 35 years. If I put in 40 or 50 years, out of which if I take five or 10 years to give back to the profession, it's not a big deal.'
India are using the ongoing ODI series against Sri Lanka as preparation for next year's World Cup and home team's captain Virat Kohli says recent performances of the pace bowlers, especially Umesh Yadav, has given him a lot of hope going into the mega-event.
Lavish in his praise for centurion Virat Kohli, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said the swashbuckling batsman paced his knock very well while guiding India to what turned out to be a match-winning total against South Africa in the do-or-die fourth One-Day International in Chennai, on Thursday.
'She isn't the same Aishwarya, who walks the red carpet at Cannes. She doesn't look like that at all in the film. That is half the battle won from my side.' Sarbjit director Omung Kumar tells us why he likes transforming his actors.
Strategy or confusion? The Tamil Nadu BJP has many reasons to feel let down by Prime Minister Modi's whistlestop tour to the state on Tuesday, says R Ramasubramanian.
Aseem Chhabra mourns the passing of the gentle and knowledgeable Mr K D Singh, who owned a quaint bookshop in New Delhi.
'How can you blame poor Kabir Khan for the Tubelight fiasco?' 'We know that his Job Description expects him to work below full capacity, to sell his soul, and we know his SOP-sheet has the title: Design the next Salman Khan Project.' Sreehari Nair sees through Kabir Khan's cunning.
India on Wednesday asserted there can be no military solution to the lethal Syrian conflict and societies cannot be "re-ordered from outside" as people have the right to choose their own destiny.
Not many Indians know how RAW functions, or what life in India's external intelligence agency is like. This is what former Research and Analysis Wing officer Amar Bhushan told Rediff.com in 2012.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday
Today, with the 'Cauvery row' in full flow, the DMK has managed to wrest the 'pan-Tamil initiative' for the Dravidian polity as a whole. What more, the DMK has also stolen much of the 'Tamil thunder' that had belonged to peripheral pan-Tamil groups over the Jallikattu protests in January 2017, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The whole country supports the government. The exceptions are only two -- those who thrived on black money and those who are inimical to Indian interests,' argues Major General Mrinal Suman.
Pakistan on Saturday accused the US of deliberately trying to sabotage its peace process with militants by carrying out the drone attack that killed Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, saying it would review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and cooperation.
'It was impossible to please everyone with Amy Winehouse's story because it is complicated and dark. Everyone has his or her own version of what was going on and I found myself caught in the middle of it.'
'The Indian Army served with honour and distinction in France and Flanders, East Africa, Gallipoli, Aden, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Transcaspia, Persia and even China.' 'The sacrifice of India's soldiers was consigned to the dustbin of history in the post-colonial world.'
'Sasikala definitely has an emotional advantage over the others, but there are very seasoned politicians with a strong support base.' 'For the time being, they may toe her line.'
In the 2012 election, the BJP's performance was the poorest in Purvanchal, winning only 12 of the region's 112 seats. Will 2017 be different? Will the party ride on Varanasi MP Narendra Modi's charisma?
'Whether he will apologise or not is not a problem.' 'I want him to make an effort to create a new world, by learning from history.'
'Professor C Y Bayly was undoubtedly the tallest of his generation. For so many of his students who were privileged to be taught by him he was much more than the rarest of rare scholar.' Professor Seema Alavi remembers a teacher who left an indelible imprint on India history.
Majaz, based on the life of Asraul Haq Majaz, the John Keats of Urdu poetry, marks Talat Aziz's debut as a composer in Hindi cinema. The film could have been an excellent biopic had it stuck to the poet's poetic self rather than his unfulfilled love, says Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
If the radical Islamic movement had been largely peaceful, Headley would have probably found another way to ensure real life excitement.' 'But I really do believe that his relationship with radical Islam is real. Very real.' 'It was a match for his desires.'
'Single life is pretty good. I like the attention. If I feel lonely, I just call my mom and she sleeps in my bed,' Kalki Koechlin tells Rediff.com contributor Paloma Sharma.
Shaken by the Taliban terror attack in which 148 people, including 132 school children, were killed in Peshawar on Tuesday, Pakistan has pledged to announce a "national plan" to tackle terrorism within a week with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif saying "this entire region" should be cleaned of terrorism.
'A close look at the time-lines tells you that exactly as the back-channel negotiations were in their most crucial stage, "somebody" was planning the 26/11 attacks in Mumbai,' says Shekhar Gupta questioning Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's account of a peace deal with India.
'I had once gone to Kashmir with him and his wife. He would talk to the boatmen, the watchmen, at the dargahs he would ask so many questions. He always had a notebook and would write down everything... He was an intellectual and he was fun. He loved people, loved life and had the spirit of enquiry. He used to advise me, "When you write - inform, provoke, abuse".' Sadia Dehlvi on her 30-year-old friendship with Khushwant Singh.
'This was a total and complete failure of the State. The rule of law was usurped. It is also the failure of Naga society. The state must be held accountable but simultaneously Naga society must engage and ask where we are going?'
Our country recorded 24,771 dowry deaths in the last four years, as per the National Crime Records Bureau data.
