Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation on the eve of 72nd Republic Day.
'We should not forget the sacrifice these men made.'
'The sorry image of a wailing leader visiting relief camps for riot victims was completely incoherent with what he did next, blaming the minority community for the disturbance.' Utkarsh Mishra pens a tribute from the heart.
'Jinnah developed a belief that Gandhi had stolen the tag of the leader of the Indian people from him and that he later used religion to reduce Gandhi's idea of a united India to naught was his revenge.'
India is also likely to push for a Free Trade Agreement with the Eurasian Economic Zone and is sharing details of the study it conducted in this regard.
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
'Art Deco was the last of the truly international styles.'
'If we can award Madan Mohan Malaviya who died in 1946, then why not the Mahatma who died in 1948?' 'Why not go a little further back in time and give the award to Rabindranath Tagore who died in 1941?' 'And should we mark Lokmanya Tilak's 100th death anniversary in 2020 by giving him a Bharat Ratna,' asks Amberish K Diwanji.
Modi's minimum government, maximum governance will go a long way?
'They were the leaders of my country and the children of Mother India, but they didn't die as martyrs.' 'They were killed, most unfortunately, by a well planned enemy plot, and they were victims of political violence,' states Sudhir Bisht.
'We want to protect our history, we want to protect our people from getting overwhelmed by the influx from Bangladesh, that is why the people of Assam are out in the streets,' says former Assam chief minister and Asom Gana Parishad leader Prafulla Kumar Mahanta.
On the 40th anniversary of the beginning of one of the darkest periods in our history, here are six painful facts about the Emergency.
'Both Nehru and Patel were thorough gentlemen and whatever their differences never disrespected each other.' 'Neither Modi nor Rahul Gandhi has much in them to claim such legacies.' 'They are symptomatic of the sad days that have befallen the nation midwifed and contemplated by Nehru and Patel,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
'The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.' 'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan because that would provide the means to retain control of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.'
'What was previously buried in the sands of time now gets buried by the weight of banality,' notes Sreehari Nair.
'Though she was deeply religious, she was against communalism. Whenever she got the chance, she did speak out against the communalisation of society.'
'Politics has become a toilet because we delegate everything.' 'We have to catch a bus, watch a cricket match, live our life... we feel this (politics) is not part of our responsibility.'
'This is basically aimed at vilifying Nehruvian ideals.' 'Why?' 'Because, Nehruvian leadership is seen by Hindutva forces as the one which did not let them have their Hindu Raj.' 'The Hindutva proponents have always assumed that had Sardar become the first prime minister, India could never have become a secular State,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'There is a design of fundamentalists that the north east must become an Islamic country.'
New Delhi-based Samskrita Bharati has decided to take upon itself the task of cleaning up Indian languages and introducing Sanskrit as the mainstream language. Dinesh Kamath, the organisation's all-Bharat organising secretary, speaks to Vicky Nanjappa about the cause.
'At the end of the interview, as he walked with us to the elevator, he looked at me and said, "Do you think it was my karma that I should have made this film?"' Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com recalls his encounter with Richard Attenborough.
Dr Kalam, The Dalai Lama, M F Husain. Mrinalini Sarabhai. Dancer Astad Deboo lists his favourite Indian treasures.
'How can the monument where the prime minister unfurls the flag on Independence Day, in a ceremony broadcast and telecast nationally, be maintained by a private entity?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
During his two day visit, Modi is expected to seal a raft of major deals in defence, nuclear energy and hydrocarbons sectors to further cement their 'special and privileged strategic ties'.
'Nitish's claims of development are false. He has only helped corrupt officials.' 'I want to remind Lalu that this is not the 1990s. This is 2015.' 'I am a bahubali for those looting society.'
When most nonagenarians are content to pass their time in their neighbourhood's gardens, Raj Kumar Vaishya, 96, has enrolled himself in the Patna-based Nalanda Open University to pursue his lifelong dream of earning a masters in economics, reports MI Khan.
'A new doctrine now needs to be evolved for a new situation, and the army will do it.' 'You won't see more Kashmiris driven in front of army columns.' 'Nor will the army massacre hundreds, Dyer style,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP doesn't want to focus entirely on an anti-Mamata campaign.
Rangoon haunts in unlikely fashion and, while the director's most straightforward picture, holds enough of its own marvels to justify multiple viewings,' notes Raja Sen.
Historian Stanley Wolpert, author of several books on India, passed into the ages recently. We remember Professor Wolpert with Rajeev Srinivasan's March 1997 interview published on the occasion of his controversial book on Jawaharlal Nehru.
'The extended Bose family is insisting that the Japanese government must release all the information they have on Bose's ashes. It cannot be forgotten that Bose was in Japanese care when his 'death' occurred. Ultimately, it is the Japanese who hold the secret about what happened to him.'
'The majority of transmission will be via people who are within two metres of one another.' 'The closer you are, the more likely that you'll be infected.'
Raag Desh is one of the best films of the year, Sreehari Nair raves.
Addressing the Indian diaspora on the second day of his three-day visit to Malaysia, Modi said India draws strength from its diversity and that his government is working to create an environment where enterprise flourishes and everybody gets basic needs like roof, sanitation, water, health care and education.
'In the first elections, Hindutva forces got only 6% of the votes and won only 10 seats.' 'It was a great defeat for them.' 'They have held that grouse against Nehru since then.'
Rai Mamta Kumari's first shot at politics ended before it could begin. She had gone to file her nomination with a procession of 56 four wheelers and distributed 1,800 food packets. But then something went wrong.
Bharati Dutt witnessed life-changing events that shaped India on the threshold of freedom. Her memories are an account of how ordinary Indians saw India change.
In embarking on building the world's tallest statue, Modi is hoping his stature will also rise - if not across India then at least in Gujarat, says Bharat Bhushan.
There's no steam in the intolerance debate anymore but the opposing sides still refuse to let it go, says Sampath.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
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