How much money the Modi government has already spent and is going to spend on all those foreign trips, muses Sunita Iyer
'You can't force people to change. You can only give them the option. Freedom is about options, whether you choose to be who you want to be,' says Kalki Koechlin.
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
'Let me talk about young Indian startups with their hearts in the right place and how they are proving that innovations that represent 'affordable excellence' -- breaking the myth that 'affordability' and 'excellence' cannot go together -- is indeed possible!' says Dr R A Mashelkar, the eminent scientist, in this fascinating feature.
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Candidates in the current state elections must be made to offer specific promises against which their performance can be measured, says Indira Rajaraman
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera shares his impressions from the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, India's landmark artistic extravaganza.
To be at Kakkathuruthu when the sun sets, according to National Geographic, is a surreal experience. Ambassador T P Sreenivasan tells us how the tiny island gradually charmed him.
Meet Mona Patel, one of CNN's Top 10 Heroes of the Year.
Umrika, which won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, finally releases in India.
Meet Sabriye Tenberken, a German woman who is changing lives in India.
This was good enough for Fernandes to hire Chandilya to lead his India business.
The year 2014 is coming to an end. It was the year of conflict, the year of strife. Year 2014 will be remembered for several reasons -- the rise and threat of the Islamic State, the downing of two Malayasia Airlines aircraft and the sudden and effective way of using hastags on social media to generate a buzz about the event. After all, who can forget #theicebucket challenge and the phenomenon it grew into. Read on as we bring you an overview of international news and events of 2014.
'I sat down and asked them what they would want in their new school. One student said a football field, another one asked for computers. One little girl came and sat next to me and said, "A separate toilet for the girls." I think these small things make a huge difference in the future of education in India,' Nita Ambani tells Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
Bollywood's Badshah turns 50 on November 2, and it's time to celebrate his life and movies.
'Voting also involves communal factors, caste factors and so on, but increasingly, the caste factor is making less and less sense to the Indian voter,' says journalist and author Manu Joseph.
Desis in the US recall their earliest celebration of the festival of lights on American soil. Chaya Babu reports
India has built two top-secret facilities in Karnataka to enrich uranium in pursuit of its hydrogen bomb dream.
'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.'
'The new Indian cinema has still not found its voice and identity. It's trapped under the deadwood weight of Bollywood and popular Indian cinema.'
'We used to say two things are found everywhere: A potato and a Sikh. I think you can substitute Gujarati for the Sikh because Gujaratis are everywhere.'
My goal is to implement the Sevak project all over India and make the villages true Gandhian villages -- self sustainable in every way, including health, says Dr Thakor Patel, head of the American Association of Physician of Indian Origin's Public Health Committee. Aziz Haniffa reports
'These are foods that are very common in the Indian diet... Naan, chapatti, rice...' 'Those processed carbohydrates are far worse for body weight and heart health than the fats they replaced.' 'The problem with these foods is that even if there isn't any obvious sugar in them, they turn to sugar very quickly.'
'Every Ali obituary I read made the point that he 'transcended his sport' -- a reference to the many battles he fought with America even as he fought in America.' 'What the obituaries leave out is that Ali equally transcended the boundaries of geography and of information -- as witness the Chennai teen who assimilated that most mobile of fighters through still images shorn of context.'
Two whole weeks after he landed on his feet in unfamiliar territory, Patrick Ward records what it is to be a parachute journalist in the chaos called India
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.
'We have been getting e-mails for assignments and events. People from random islands, like Seychelles, called us to perform for India's independence day. It's crazy to see how the internet affects the world. We feel blessed that so many people recognise us. We have even got mails from low-budget feature film makers in the South -- like they want us to be the heroines!' Twins Poonam and Priyanka Shah give us a jhalak into their lives!
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
'I realised I didn't have to wait for a spectacular event or a character to emerge. All stories of ordinary people, of your family, are extraordinary,' novelist Yasmeen Premji tells Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
In his penultimate State of the Union address, Barack Obama said that the economy is improving.
'The Modi-Xi and Modi-Obama meetings, with an interval of just 12 days, are juxtaposed superbly at a crucial point in the prime minister's life. Can Modi carve out a win-win situation with the superpower and the emerging superpower at the same time?'
'The real test will be in defence-related deals, for instance the Javelin anti-tank missile: Is the US willing to co-develop something with India, on terms that will support the 'Make in India' initiative? Is there defence technology transfer? Or will it dump old junk on India?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
India Inc has few leaders who are likely to grab headlines in 2015.
Read the full transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday at the US Capitol in Washington.
