'Govt of India should stop harping that Kashmir is an integral part of India. They should come out open with their ideas. '
If Modi's political retreat -- he has tried to avoid a pre-1984 type of situation in Punjab -- helps soothe Sikh sentiments, nobody should complain Modi, asserts Sheela Bhatt.
'There were any number of Congress leaders who disliked Sonia Gandhi, but they were very close to Ahmed Bhai and he would listen, and give a shoulder to cry upon.'
'To get control over world affairs Americans need to fight many wars. But American soldiers are not ready to die,' says the Iraqi ambassador.
'He also presented a facsimile of the scroll that was given to Gandhiji in Johannesburg in 1908 by the Chinese community there. I think that was quite a thoughtful gift,' Sabarmati Ashram Director Tridip Suhrud tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
'America's survival depends on war. It requires the control of Iraq to inject new blood in its ailing economy,' Salah Al-Mukhtar, Iraq's ambassador to India.
'For Modi and Shah, the humiliating setback is bigger than the electoral defeats in New Delhi and in Bihar in 2015.'
'Whether she will remain CPP chairperson or not, that she will decide.'
After watching Uri: The Surgical Strike, Syed Firdaus Ashraf gets the feeling that Modi has added another tool to help him win the 2019 Lok Sabha election: Hindi cinema...
Is this 'Yashpal Kapoor' the late Congress leader, one of Indira Gandhi's closest aides in the 1970s?
'The border has stayed the way it was for over 30 years, and they are now trying to change it'
Much before Rashtrapati Bhavan confirmed the new ministers' portfolios, we had said who will get what in Narendra Modi's Union council of ministers!
Both countries are closer than before due to these two leaders's public display of mutual connectivity and warm exchanges of words, but how it will help India to serve its interests will be known on Tuesday.
Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi, who praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a conversation with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, later backtracked from his statements to claim that he was quoted out of context.
Studies in China claim that traditional Chinese medicines seem to be working effectively on patients with mild or moderate symptoms of coronavirus.
'Neither Modi nor the BJP have lost control over the minds and votes of their original supporters due to their tremendous political ability to play upon baser communal instincts.' 'But this buoyant support will melt away if the economic scenario remains depressing.' 'That makes 2020 an interesting year to watch out for,' notes Sheela Bhatt.
'These naval sailors should have been given due respect as freedom fighters.' 'February 18, 1946 should be as important as January 26 because that date changed everything.'
Sheela Bhatt drives from New Delhi to Agra and Firozabad to capture the stories of an India under lockdown.
'It will be like a never-before-visit by an Indian prime minister to America,' a senior diplomat told Rediff.com
Sheela Bhatt visits a large urban basti a mere 20-minute drive from the prime minister's home to discover a story of grim struggle in the time of lockdown.
Ela Gandhi, the granddaughter of Mahatma Gandhi and a member of Nelson Mandela's party, recalls some fond memories of the South African legend in a conversation with Sheela Bhatt.
'B Raman knew that Yakub Memon should not be given the capital punishment but at the same time he harboured too much anger against Dawood Ibrahim and 'Tiger' Memon, and wanted to see that they do not stand to gain in the legal process in any manner whatsoever.'
The anti-corruption watchdog posts have been vacant for the last nine months.
Rahul Gandhi's sister may finally break her self-imposed ban on political life, reports Sheela Bhatt.
'He always avoided eating non-vegetarian food in presence of his deputies if they were fasting for the month of Shravan.' 'There were no Hindu, Jain, Parsi and Swaminarayan festivals he would forget.' 'He was a conservative Muslim and therefore could get along well with conservative Hindus.'
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has been persuaded to agree to a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into IAS officer D K Ravi's death.
Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal, who appeared on the Rediff Chat to take questions from our readers on Tuesday, told Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt that he will not be fighting the Lok Sabha elections.
S Jaishankar took charge as foreign secretary, replacing Sujatha Singh, on Thursday.
The current crisis has forced the government to announce measures to ensure that India becomes self-sustaining for any kind of bulk drug. The government says India will not depend on any other country for vital key ingredients for drugs within six years, reports Sheela Bhatt.
Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister of Russia, in an exclusive conversation with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt says, what Russia can do and has done for India nobody can do.
'Unlike India and Sri Lanka, there was no internal air travel needed.' 'For all 8 teams, different hotels are available, a separate one for the broadcasting team too.'
'Pakistan should evolve a common narrative. The country should have common position in combating all kinds of terrorism and not fight selectively.' 'The main motive was revenge, of course. But the Nobel Prize to Malala Yousufzai also contributed to the Taliban's anger' Bestselling Pakistani author and foreign policy expert Ahmed Rashid speaks exclusively on the Peshawar school attack with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
Kanti Bhatt, respected Gujarati author and journalist, passed into the ages on August 4, 2019, at the age of 88. In tribute, we reproduce an article his wife Sheela Bhatt wrote about him 19 years ago.
Sheela Bhatt reports on the tortuous negotiations to form a Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government in Maharashtra.
GST implementation could happen in September itself, with the next meeting of the Union Cabinet likely to take up the matter.
'The mental issues are too complex to be handled.' 'It is hitting us hard for one reason.' 'We have such a high level of fear about this disease.'
This was a difficult election to win, but the Modi card, the caste divide and the division in the Opposition vote bank helped overcome many challenges.
'...If people follow the lockdown well.'
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