News for '-com's-shobha-warrier'

At 92, Gowri Amma still packs a punch

Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier keeps up pace with India's oldest election candidate K R Gowri Amma, who has been campaigning vigorously in her 17th election

'Anand has only one passport, and that is Indian'

'Anybody who has seen a photo of Anand playing will see an Indian flag beside him. And, when he wins, the national anthem is played. What more proof do you need about Anand's nationality?'

'Nirmalaji has taken a huge gamble on growth'

'Nirmalaji must consider herself a very lucky finance minister, partly because of the government's response to covid and partly because we as a nation have done very well as an economy, post pandemic.'

Priest on mission to save Sabarimala from plastic threat

Sabarimala, one of the most important pilgrimage centres in the country, is facing a plastic threat. Shobha Warrier profiles a devotee who is combating the menace

Interview/Cho Ramaswamy

'I don't think Karunanidhi's problem was power sharing. The CBI was closing in on the family. It was reported that the CBI was about to grill Kanimozhi," says political analayst Cho Ramaswamy.

An interview with social scientist P Radhakrishnan

'We cannot overlook the crucial importance of cultural capital in intellectual achievements; and virtually all the Nobel Prize winners possessed cultural capital,' says social scientist Dr P Radhakrishnan.

'CUET is a good and welcome idea!'

'We have to provide opportunities for those students who are willing to move for studies and later on for employment, and CUET is one such opportunity.'

These little AIDS orphans have a reason to smile

For little orphans, who are inflicted with HIV+, life in itself is no less than an obstacle. But thanks to people like Dr Manorama, who has been selflessly working for their welfare for a more than a decade now, hope blooms in those insecure hearts. Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier visits Dr Manorama's newly created home for these little angels -- Ananda Illam.

Vishy Anand speaks exclusively to Rediff.com

World champion Anand spoke exclusively from Sofia after beating Veselin Topalov 6.5 to 5.5 to retain the title he won in 2008.

He Made Pawar Withdraw Resignation!

'Ajit Pawar and some other people felt it was better to be supporting the BJP and have a coalition with the BJP than support the Congress.' 'But Sharad Pawar did not want to be a party to this kind of an opportunistic alliance.'

'When we talk about safety, it falls on deaf ears'

'Because of the callous attitude of the railway administration, they don't take care of safety.'

Study Australia: 'There is no racial abuse'

Jamal Qureshi, Regional Marketing Manager, South East Asia, Perth Education City, Western Australia, talks about what is in store for Indian students in Western Australia.

'Our farmers are second to none'

Dr M S Swaminathan, friends with Dr Norman Borlaug for 56 years, recalls how the Nobel Laureate transformed Indian agriculture.

'Unless you sacrifice, you can't fight terror'

'The country must learn to sacrifice some rights to fight terror. While fighting terror, you cannot have the same freedom,' says intelligence specialist Colonel R Hariharan (retd).

'If Manipur's unity is affected, India's unity gets affected'

'If Manipur is divided on ethnic lines, similar demands will come in other states also.'

'Many people thought I'd never clear the exam'

'When I saw my name in the list, it was unbelievable.'

'What kind of jobs are you talking about?'

'On the road, you see only youth in Swiggy, Big Basket and Zomato uniforms.' 'Just now, I had a delivery from Amazon, and do you know what his qualification was? He was an engineering graduate!' 'The Ola driver who took me to the airport had an MCom degree. 'Where is the match between education and employment?'

The Supreme Court Redefines Family!

'Nobody expected it to become a landmark judgment.' 'Because the Supreme Court has expanded the definition of family and included single parents, same sex parents, etc, the scope of looking at families has enhanced.'

'Inflation likely to average above 7% in Q2 and Q3'

'The FY2023 inflation outcome is likely to exceed the RBI's current forecast by a wide margin.'

LIC's Adani Investment: 'Policyholders' Money Is Absolutely Safe'

'It's a clear case of political patronage helping an individual grow.'

'Dalits have not benefited from quotas'

'Identity politics responsible for Manipur situation'

'The State uses identity politics as part of divide and rule; the militant groups too use identity politics and civil society groups are also divided along ethnic groups.'

Anna University proposes free engineering course

The Vice Chancellor of Anna University, Coimbatore, Dr R Radhakrishnan made history by announcing that his university would provide free engineering education to brilliant economically poor students who cannot afford engineering education. An interview.

'Separating Tamil people and LTTE is foolish'

Tamil Nationalist Movement leader, one of the most vocal supporters of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran, speaks on the civil war raging in Sri Lanka.

'Students from the south will be forced to study in Hindi'

'They have brought out a provision whereby the medium of education in the Hindi speaking states will be Hindi even in higher education institutions like IIT, IIM, etc.' 'Think about the students from the south who get admission in the IITs in Kanpur or Delhi or the IIMs in various places.'

Why NASA Recognised Navaneeth Krishnan

'I started looking at the raw images put out by NASA 10-12 years ago.'

'Omission Of Darwin's Theory of Evolution Is A Serious Error Of Judgment'

'We will bring up students with an imperfect understanding of their own history and a superficial understanding of science.' 'This is not what we should be doing to future generations.'

'I have never used a teleprompter'

'In Hindi, Mr Modi is unequalled as an exceptionally accomplished orator.'

'BJP Will Fail In Attempts To Create A Shinde In DMK'

'Tamil Nadu presents a challenge to the BJP and its politics.' 'DMK is making all efforts to resist the BJP.'

'Census Can't Happen Before 2024'

'The general elections in May 2024 may not have any impact on the Census.'

'CPI-M, BJP Were Behind Attacks'

'The police just stood there watching our people being attacked.'

'We are not anti-nationals'

'We know a day will come very soon when people will realise our fight was for the environment and not against the nation.'

Data Breach: 'Government is always in denial'

'Why does a State that sees a national security issue at every turn not recognise the seriousness of the data from sensitive databases being breached?'

'Economic rebound has run out of steam'

'When the average growth in the last three years was just 2.5%, how does that make us the fastest growing country?' 'They only tell you what has happened in the last 2 years; they are not taking into account what happened in FY21 on account of their mistakes.'

'Heat waves are likely to occur more often'

'Because of global warming, the chances of heatwaves like this are much higher.'

'Kerala faces a very serious Constitutional crisis'

'The administration will come to a standstill because the governor will not cooperate with the finance minister.'

'I see this film as part of a larger conspiracy'

'What The Kerala Story is trying to do is take the fake hate propaganda which we saw earlier only on WhatsApp to the big screen now.'

'Hindutva Will Not Get BJP One Extra Vote'

'If they harp on it again, they will begin to lose votes.' 'They have not lost this time, but they will lose next time.' 'Your committed votes will never be enough to guarantee victory for you.'

'Workers are migrating even today'

'The government could not even ensure the payment of wages by the private sector during the lockdown.' 'We have experienced all kinds of exploitation during the pandemic.'

'This government prefers only ease of doing business, they are not interested in ease of living'

'We are worried for the workers because in the private sector, jobs are not secure, there is no decent work condition and there is no social security.' 'That's why we are opposing the economic policies of this government.'