Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations, including NGOs, in social and political decision-making and development planning. Instead, our paranoid government bullies and terrorises them, says Praful Bidwai.
Earning the coveted UNESCO tag would not only have ramped up revenues through enhanced tourism but also helped in keeping monuments and heritage buildings in Delhi free of encroachment, say experts.
The Deen Bachao, Desh Bachao conference in Patna on April 15 was attended by lakhs of Muslims. Will the electoral dividends from this rally be reaped by Nitish Kumar, the BJP (through Hindu consolidation), by both Nitish and the BJP or will it be reaped more by the anti-BJP forces, asks Mohammad Sajjad.
Ram Sumiran Pal arrested in Delhi; hunt for two others on.
From mistreatment, sexual harassment to low wages, domestic workers are in a poor state in India with hardly any legal protections, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Almost every home in this area has a slogan 'Jal, Jangal, Jameen' painted outside. Rashme Sehgal reports for Rediff.com on the four-year battle to save the Mahan forest in Madhya Pradesh.
We list down some of the memorable performances as historical figures.
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It's perverse to rationalise 'controlled' killings or torture -- without going down a slippery moral slope. Once the state stoops to torture, it's liable to sink into tyranny, says Praful Bidwai.
Most of the opposition parties blamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliates for the cow vigilantism.
Mahesh Rangarajan, director of the historic Nehru Memorial Museum and Library in New Delhi, tells Sheela Bhatt how the first prime minister will always remain relevant, and the efforts being made to keep his legacy alive.
'How come with Nehru at the helm, India missed so many buses? He had such unchallenged power that he could have taken the country in any direction he wanted. The sad conclusion is inescapable that Nehru let things drift in true Hamletian ambivalence,' says B S Raghavan.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan came down heavily on Congress leaders for "persistently and willfully obstructing the House" and suspended them for 5 days. The members who have been punished include a president's son, ex-chief ministers' sons and an ex-CM's grandson. Rediff.com brings you the complete list.
Two US warships fired at least 50 cruise missiles at the Ash Shai'rat airfield in Homs province in western Syria, from where the US administration believes Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad fired the chemical weapons against his own people, media reports said.
'If the RSS should be saluted for choosing such a scholarly statesman to address its highly trained cadre, one must also praise Pranab Da's sagacity for having gracefully accepting the invitation, thus disapproving any ideological apartheid,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
'There is nothing traitorous about highlighting the poor record of your own government. If the Indian government does something wrong, we all have the right to point this out at any forum, international or national.'
Former Watson Fellow and social entrepreneur Srikar Gullapalli talks about the issues affecting India's growth and tells us why he wants more people to actively participate in building a bright future and put India on the global map.
Verifiable 'distress-sharing' of available water may still be the way out of the Cauvery water row, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand started his campaign at the Bilbao Final Masters with a crushing win over former FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine in Bilbao, Spain.
Princess Shivranjani of Jodhpur is breathing new life into dead forts and quietly changing the house of Marwar.
Armed with green nod and fund infusion, Gujarat govt getting ready to issue tenders to build infrastructure at the mega investment region
Ajit Doval, former chief of Intelligence Bureau and now head of Vivekanada International Foundation, continues his furious argument against any kind of CBI action against his former colleague Rajinder Kumar in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case of 2004.
Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is underwriting the revival of a vintage Dakota as a gift to the Indian Air Force.
Sushma Swaraj's suave moves helped Narendra Modi pull off a diplomatic coup, helping regain her standing.
Miffed that Narendra Modi's presence has been limited in Varanasi city on Thursday, BJP leader Arun Jaitley slammed the returning officer for denying permission to the party's Bharat Vijay rallies and the Ganga aarti scheduled in the city.
'No private citizen can be prevented from holding or propagating in India or abroad, a view contrary to that of the government of the day. The government, it seems is misreading the mandate in the Lok Sabha as being a mandate to crush dissent. In times when ruling parties have brute majorities in Parliament, the true test of safeguarding democracy is its ability to allow dissenting voices to be heard,' says Indira Jaising, the former additional solicitor general.
'It was only relatively recently that Subhash Kapoor was able to secure the sources in India, Afghanistan and Cambodia, that allowed him to get the really highest level objects, and that helped propel him in recent years up the ranks.'
A look at the life and times of maverick businessman Chinnakannan Sivasankaran
Few top honchos of India Inc did very well in 2014.
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