'Our prime minister manifests a vision for India to be great and powerful, but the modernity required -- of thinking, attitudes, behaviour -- seems alien, if not abhorrent, to his constituency and associates,' says Ambassador K Shankar Bajpai.
Two professionals -- from aviation and jewellery industry -- share their stories and lessons they learned from the pink slips they got.
'Ultimately if your aim is that you need to be able to deal with a security situation, you need to deal with a black money situation, you need to deal with a counterfeiting situation then, to that extent, I think everyone will need to able to tolerate a little bit of inconvenience.'
One of the most successful screenplay writers of his time, Salim Khan looks back at his most popular work.
Her great grandfather began sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra. Her grandfather was an eight time MP. Her uncle is currently leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. Her cousin joined the BJP on Tuesday, March 12. Nila Vikhe Patil, who could one day become prime minister of Sweden, unravels her India connections in an e-mail interaction with Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'If, as appears to be the case, India is on way to 'mending fences' with China, and China is equally desirous to 'reset' the relationship, this could be a self-reflexive moment in India's positioning vis-a-vis not just the Dalai Lama, but also the Tibetan issue and China as a whole,' points out China expert Alka Acharya.
The long-neglected fruit may finally get the recognition it deserves.
After 41 days of tears, anguish and at times gruesome testimony in the Pretoria High Court, Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee who became one of the biggest names in athletics, will learn this week whether he will spend the next 25 years behind bars.
This is the story of a biotechnology engineer who, at age 22, founded Terra Greens Organic -- a company that aims to engage at least 10,000 farmers in organic farming in the next one year.
Overseas education consultant NNS Chandra offers you advice on how to pick the right international education.
'The Congress is unsure of emerging as the single largest party or group on May 16. In such a scenario, they do not wish to accord a loser tag to the young Gandhi... The Congress feels Rahul's projection as a prime ministerial nominee in 2014 would come in the way of the formation of an alternative, non-BJP government...' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt explains how the transition of power within the Congress is making the party vulnerable.
'What would a composite of Dawood, Rajan, and Arun Gawli be like?' 'What if an absconding mafia boss were to land in Mumbai tomorrow, tired from all the running, and tender his final apology to the city by narrating his story and narrating it with brutal honesty?' Sreehari Nair watches Sacred Games.
As the Opposition leader in the state assembly, M K Stalin has to fend off the ruling AIADMK on the one hand and prevent the re-emergence of a non-Dravidian Opposition on the other -- but his immediate challenge comes from within, in the form of his wheelchair-bound octogenarian party leader and father M Karunanidhi, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sukanya Verma shares her exciting filmi week with us.
In a weekly chat with readers every Thursday, Rediff's Love Guru addresses their relationship problems and offers solutions.
The external affairs ministry's files, as distinct from those of the ministry of defence or the agencies, at least from before 1974 should be declassified. And if select files that are more than 40 years old are not to be declassified, the ministry should follow explicit guidelines to justify taking such a view, says Jaimini Bhagwat.
Here's looking at some popular Bollywood movies shot in Kashmir.
Not only is Modi's India not the shining land of dynamism and prosperity that he promised -- though it may be that, for some people, in a few years from now -- but socially it has the positively regressive tendencies that were entirely predictable.
'The Army must always be balanced in response.' 'Rabble rousers will demand that it be given a free hand against anti-national elements in the streets. That is exactly what the adversaries want.' 'Burning the Kashmir Valley through the summer is their desire; the Army will never contribute to enhancing their aim,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd), who served as the General Officer Commanding 15 Corps in Kashmir.
Differences within the Aam Aadmi Party again came to fore when its patron Shanti Bhushan hit out at Arvind Kejriwal, questioning his organisational skills and internal democracy in the party.
'Today the Chinese think they can slap India, and there will be no consequences.' 'They must be made to feel the consequences through any and all means,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
The Tata empire turns 150 this year. R Gopalakrishnan, former director, Tata Sons Ltd, imagines a conversation among the group's founder Jamsetji, his son Dorabji, his successor, Nowroji Saklatwala, and his successor, J R D Tata.
Israel is very good at creating innovation engines, India less so.
India's good fortune, experts in the US feel, is not the result of a fundamentally strong economy, but because it is the best of a bad set of options.
What Headley's testimony does achieve is expose the Congress' ham-fisted attempts to taint an otherwise credible probe. That, however, does not become an assertion of Ishrat's membership of the LeT.
Why are more and more young people quitting their day jobs to travel? Abhishek Mande Bhot finds out.
Sandeep Shanbhag offers tips on post Budget taxation rates.
'I ask for bail in the name of justice.' 'Give me a chance to stay alive and see the trial till its end.'
'Modi and Xi can solve the India-China border problem in a single sitting by keeping the big picture before them, by sweeping away the cobwebs of the past, and by mustering a statesman-like spirit and a long range vision,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Among the greatest mistakes women make in their career is losing track of their career goals, not taking additional responsibilities and learning new skills and technology.
Overseas education consultant NNS Chandra shares advice on how to pick the right international education.
After a string of low scores, Chris Gayle has finally found some form in the ongoing Indian Premier League. The Royal Challengers Bangalore opener smashed a commanding 49 off only 31 balls in the crucial victory against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday. Gayle's knock was laced with four towering sixes and five boundaries. Catch the West Indies power-hitter in conversation with IPL T20.com after the game against KKR.
Bezubaan Ishq is pure drivel, warns Paloma Sharma.
Not only did Barack Obama mention and quote Thomas Kailath in his remarks before presenting the Stanford University professor emeritus of engineering with the National Medal of Science, the President also cited Kailath as a shining example of the brilliant talent of immigrants who make invaluable contributions to the United States and the world.
'Madhuri is the best (dancer). She's is not mechanical. Most dancers like Aishwarya, Deepika, Priyanka and Kareena are fabulous but I don't see then enjoying it the way they should. Their focus is on, 'Am I looking beautiful?'' Straight talk from choreographer Terence Lewis.
'I'm a rascal, I'm going to play a paramahansa?!'
'To identify with the common man, Modi had to look like one.' 'The disastrous suit with his name written on it never made its reappearance.' 'Frequent dress changes during the day, which led Arvind Kejriwal to calculate that Modi spent crores on his attire ever year, too stopped.' 'Instead, a newer Modi emerged: Humble and eager to serve.' Narendra Modi has cleverly repositioned himself as a man of the masses in the past three years, says Aditi Phadnis.
One wonders where the inestimable Syed Ali Shah Geelani and his gang of separatist leaders have disappeared.
Pope Francis on Friday called upon the world community to put aside their "partisan interests and sincerely strive to serve the common good".
A documentary on football and a biography of Jesus make Roopa Unnikrishnan mull over the lessons organisations can learn from honest outsiders.
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