Penguin Random House India has clarified that it is not the publisher of Sonia Gandhi's memoir, "Belonging: A Journey of Love," in India. This statement follows reports suggesting the publisher backed out due to Gandhi's refusal of editorial changes. The company maintains it was willing to publish but has a prerogative to fact-check authors. The book's India distribution remains uncertain, though an e-book version is available for pre-order from another publisher.
Chidambaram said that Operation Black Thunder was the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple, by keeping the Army out of the Sikh worship place.
If Trump doesn't like India, that is his choice. But to use such distasteful language on a public platform is deeply offensive and needs to be called out, points out Amberish K Diwanji.
'We were in a heavily nuclearised environment. China had tested for Pakistan in the 1980s and helped their missile programme stay just one step behind us.'
Mrs Gandhi's power ebbed and peaked with the times. Mr Modi's has almost been constant, barring the few months of hard dip after the 240 seats of 2024, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Mark Tully, the renowned journalist, author, and Indophile, has passed away at the age of 90. He spent a lifetime in India as a journalist, mingling with its people and telling their stories.
'Some states have become more populous, while others have become less populous. Those who became less populous became economically strong. Those where population increased, they became economically weak
The Congress leadership is reportedly upset with former Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks on 'Operation Blue Star'. Party sources indicate that senior leaders should be cautious about making public statements that could embarrass the party.
He chose what was best for India, not for himself. Few can deny that when god took Shastri away so soon, they did India an injustice, points out Harishchandra.
The government has criticized Sonia Gandhi for holding '51 cartons of Jawaharlal Nehru papers' and has requested their return to the Prime Ministers' Museum and Library (PMML) for public access.
'The preparedness of our defence forces and positioning of intelligence assets were very different in 2008, so we had to rebuild our assets and preparedness.'
'Mrs Gandhi had nothing to do in the day-to-day working of Dr Singh's government.' 'People say Mrs Gandhi's office used to give orders, which is nonsense.'
Sonia Gandhi, her son, her daughter, son-in-law, granddaughter and a relative relished Chole Bhature during a family lunch at the Kwality restaurant in New Delhi on Sunday, December 22, 2024.
The ED also told the special court that Christian Michel had spoken about 'the son of the Italian lady' and how he is going to become the 'next prime minister of the country'.
As with biopics these days, Kangana Ranaut's films may be less about telling the story of a dark chapter of Indian history and more about giving fodder to those who seek to defend or justify government highhandedness today, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
Kangana Ranaut's decline as an actor feels complete, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
'Skirmishes with officials in the Press Information Bureau were an everyday affair as the newspapers sought clearances from the media censors for publishing the next day's editions'
'Is it right and proper for the US authorities to allow people like Subrahmanya Swamy [sic] go round the country preaching murder, violence, overthrow of the duly elected Government of India?' A fascinating excerpt from Sugata Srinivasaraju's The Conscience Network: A Chronicle of Resistance to a Dictatorship.
'We were asked to add a dialogue where the politician says she admires Mrs Gandhi.'
Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw Field Marshal K M Cariappa Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh The three highest-ranking military heroes of the Indian Armed Forces. They were the rarest of the rare. The bravest of the brave.
During Emergency Indira Gandhi acquired absolute power. Lakhs of political opponents, students, activists were arrested.
'The critical event signalling a new era for India was Dr Singh's 1991 Budget in which he quoted Victor Hugo to say that no power on earth could stop an idea whose time has come,' recalls T N Ninan.
They try to hide behind the smokescreen that these are works of fiction inspired by real events. So, you can pick and choose from facts and fictionalise to push the right triggers with your audience or appease the powers that be, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'They want to keep the pot boiling all the time.' 'The BJP wants to set a political narrative that the Gandhis are doing wrong things.'
'Indira Gandhi was a very weak person,' Kangana claimed. 'She had many crutches around and was constantly seeking validation.'
He said the Constitution provides for the right to silence, which means an individual can refuse to answer questions from the police in case of arrest or detention.
In a video message posted on X, Kangana Ranaut claimed that she and the members of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) have been receiving threats. She said she is under pressure to not show the assassination of the former prime minster by her security guards.
The actor was to play the late prime minister in a Web series to be produced by Vidya's husband Siddharth Roy Kapur.
Hope this film would be able to teach Indians the value of their rights and the perils of exchanging those for 'economic development' or promises of a better future by some populist leader, notes Utkarsh Mishra.
What do you feel was Indira's contribution to India? Was she the best prime minister India has ever had, as her admirers -- who are legion -- say?
How could a President, seen as a political time-server, have manoeuvred things to a stage where he could strike fear into the heart of a prime minister who, only two-and-a-half years before, had been elected with the largest majority in history?
Will January 22 mark a point of no return for our Constitutional secularism? asks Shekhar Gupta.
'I don't think Waheeda had the confidence that I could pull it off, so she said no.'
Lillian Carter, a trained nurse and a Peace Corps worker, spent two years of her life, when she was in her late 60s, serving the poor in India, in the 1960s. She was posted as a volunteer to Vikhroli, then a village 30 km outside of Mumbai and a Godrej township, and was there from 1966 to 1968.
No single individual, institution, or action is to blame for this. The BJP is responding in kind -- definitely not without checking with its government. And they wait for Mr Trump, notes Shekhar Gupta.
He was colourful. He was dramatic. He was The Master of His Craft. There never will be an editor as versatile as Pritish Nandy, notes Nikhil Lakshman.
Because of his proximity to Indira Gandhi, he was able to intervene directly at the level of the PMO, which he did in the days leading up to the partition of Pakistan in 1971 when he transferred crucial information about Pakistan's moves via information handed to him by an East Pakistani diplomat in Poland where he was posted.
'Fearlessness, courtesy, humour, wide interests and wisdom, deep commitment to science and technology, passion for the environment, objectivity and the ability to see many things through not only a national but also an international prism -- these were some aspects of her life and personality.' R Rajamani fondly remembers Indira Gandhi on her 25th death anniversary.
Former India wicketkeeper Farokh Engineer believes the 1983 World Cup victory must rank among the country's top achievements.
