Users send a message on the app and a virtual assistant responds.
'...Unless we muck up our policies.' 'We have to become a modernised economy.' 'Our institutions should be stronger. And that is most important.' 'The rule of law should prevail and contracts should be enforced.' 'Above all, we have to recognise the importance of globalisation.' 'It is in our favour at this stage. We should grow and become globally competitive.'
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
It is always wonderful to discover a gem of film at an international film festival. It is even more exciting when that film is from India.
'We are caring and sweet to each other.' 'We do have our tiffs, arguments on everything; neither of us agrees to be wrong.'
Here's why Rajeev Srinivasan believes there will be nothing particularly positive about the prime minister's US visit.
'Hindus are proud of what the Dharmashastras symbolise, but they don't want to do any work to preserve it!,' Sanskrit scholar Donald Davis tells Kanika Dutta.
'I'm very opinionated. I do not stay quiet. If somebody said there are snake charmers in India, I will educate them saying that they are there but we use it for entertainment. People tell me India is known for its rapes. I get asked that in every interview. It's so difficult to defend it.' Priyanka Chopra gets candid.
'Both Main Aur Charles and Titli are essentially stories of two plot-devices that became protagonists. You cannot relate to Titli or Charles, without submitting to the knowledge that neither of them are well-rounded characters; they are more like artifacts -- Charles, a schlock artifact and Titli, an artifact of spirit toughened by years of live brutality.'
'It is important to destroy, to undermine, to debunk the narrative of ISIS,' Olivier Roy -- one of the world's leading experts on radical Islam -- tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel in an exclusive interview.
Narendra Modi would have done well to take a few more months before he agreed to receive or call on heads of countries like Japan, China, and the US. The prime minister is to settle down in his job and it was too soon for him to have full awareness of the nuances of intricate international issues, says B S Raghavan.
The West has always preferred a timid, half intelligent and a dependent India rather than a decisively independent and self-reliant one. A pliable Indian leadership suits the West best, says Tarun Vijay.
While the government interlocutor for J&K may be tasked with holding talks with 'all stakeholders', the central government is singing a very different tune in the Supreme Court, Aditi Phadnis points out.
Maya Vishwakarma gave up her job as a scientist in California to make 'No Tension' sanitary pads for tribal women who have never used one before.
Tarun Vijay on why the victory in Uttar Pradesh belongs to Narendra Modi and the road ahead.
Shashwata Chatterjee on watching the football World Cup, spending days in the MP's Delhi home and the day his Dadu came to visit him in his college in Los Angeles.
Through the book 'Make in India' authors Ranjini Manian and Joanne Grady Husky bring you the wisdom of twelve CEOS who walked the trail before them.
A never-seen-before Rahul Gandhi exuded toughness and aggression. And it was not only about the words he used to castigate the opposition but his dialogue delivery, facial expressions, overall body language that conveyed a different, more confident Gandhi, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
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BBC director Francesca Unsworth says havigna global product is need of the hour
'That cannot be done till they roam around free, get money from Pakistan and seek attention.' 'The cycle of violence was very cleverly generated.' 'During night patrolling when it was discovered that dumper trucks were unloading heaps of stones in various places, it was the first indicator that there would be trouble.' 'Wherever stones were dumped, the stones were taken by the police to construction sites.' 'It was a laborious task, but we did it rigorously.' 'We had to use some smart tactics and soft skills to defeat the cycle of violence.''
Palpreet Singh Brar, standing 6'9 can be an intimidating figure. But sit with him for a chat and his easy-going demeanor and straight-faced humour will have you alter any perceptions harboured of the 21-year-old.
The Siang is a dramatic river that flows through a beautiful land. Rafting on it is a rare pleasure the state offers tourists, says Ajai Shukla.
'Today is our independence day. Udta Punjab is not just a film anymore. It is a movement and one that has ended in the victory of democracy.'
What used to be confined to homes as a winter garment has become a political and cultural symbol, with most leaders and many citizens donning the long cloak at offices and their places of work, observes Athar Parvaiz.
Pavan Malhotra, one of our finest actors, shows us another side of Bollywood.
Sushma Swaraj's suave moves helped Narendra Modi pull off a diplomatic coup, helping regain her standing.
India and Japan have a shared interest in countervailing China's hegemonic ambitions in Asia. Although neither has an interest in forming an overt anti-China alliance, Tokyo and New Delhi feel increasingly obligated to work together to find ways to guard against a muscular Beijing's power sliding into arrogance, says Brahma Chellaney.
Mayank Ashar, managing director and chief executive officer, Cair India, says the reform momentum should continue and the industry should do its part too.
'I don't know how they dared to send Krrish for a National Award. It was a horrible film! Films like Dabangg and Bang Bang are trash films. Goliyon Ki Rasleela: Ram Leela was so bad; only the music was good. Straight talk from Garm Hava director M S Sathyu.
'Outsiders are the ones who have to make the biggest journey to realise themselves, to come back to some sense of normality.' Director Jacques Audiard and actor Jesuthasan Antonythasan discuss the human landscape behind the award-winning film, Dheepan, with Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
Samuel Stokes made India his home and participated in the freedom struggle. He was the only American to be imprisoned for sedition; the British CID maintained a special file on him.
'The India-France relationship has been that of the elites of two countries, who appreciate each other's philosophical traditions -- whether it is ancient Indian civilisation and Sanskrit texts or the French tradition of Rene Descartes, Albert Camus, (Jean-Paul) Sartre... This is a drawback. It doesn't create the buzz, the excitement necessary for a relationship. We need more people-to-people contact, especially among students,' says former Ambassador to Paris, Rakesh Sood.
'Castro told us: "Give me a thousand Gurkhas and I shall keep my neighbour under control!"' 'We pretended that we did not know which neighbour he meant.'
'The UPA's claim of growth at 9.5 percent was absolute nonsense and a fraudulent claim because the country did not grow; it was only statistical growth.' 'I do believe that when there is a determined leader who wants to bring a desired change, the system will begin acting. Today, people think there is policy paralysis, but there is functional paralysis also.' 'When things start moving, people will invest. Many companies are holding cash, many people are not investing. Nobody is making any move. Everybody is waiting for the elections to get over.' Economist and Swadeshi Jagran Manch convenor Swaminathan Gurumurthy in conversation with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'In his eulogy at Sandy's memorial service, President Clinton recounted the unusually hot US Independence Day, July 4, 1999, when most of official Washington was more interested in watching fireworks than international diplomacy. Sandy insisted that Clinton confront Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in no uncertain terms.' Former US Assistant Secretary Raymond E Vickery, Jr salutes Sandy Berger, Clinton's National Security Adviser, as a true friend of India.
By annoying potential allies ahead of the polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate is playing a dangerous game but if he wins, he gets it all, says Aditi Phadnis
Anshuman Magazine of CBRE discusses effective leadership, millenials, Trump's America and his core business -- the real estate market -- with Nivedita Mookerji.
Since 1950 successive governments have tried various options but failed to reduce alienation amongst the people, for different reasons, of Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. It is best to accept this reality and let each region charter its own path, within the framework of the Indian Constitution, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
In an online chat with readers overseas consultant NNS Chandra offered advice.
'That winsome smile is a key asset. And says a lot about her too.'
