We can learn much from China with regards to making civil service recruitment more efficient, says former diplomat Kishan S Rana.
'Growing up in Karnataka, in middle-class and forward-caste background, Ambedkar did not enter our consciousness at all, I realised.' 'The 'exclusion' of sections of our society was not only physical; it was comprehensive in the sense that all aspects of their lives including the life of an exceptional intellectual and stalwart had been under-understood by people of my class, I thought,' says B S Prakash.
Instead of a consumption stimulus the government must address the NPA issue with a war footing and invest in infrastructure, affordable housing and exports, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
The return of Indian Readership Survey numbers has met with a silent response.
Its quiet, whitewashed elegance and colourful vibrancy make the erstwhile colonial town of Puducherry an ambler's delight.
Ajit Balakrishnan rewinds to a decade when mobile phones were unheard of and when an IIM degree had a different purpose and value.
Since 2000-01, the Indian economy has shown the tendency of being unable to absorb all domestic savings as investments.
With the Delhi University still on a defiant path, the University Grants Commission on Wednesday night gave a fresh ultimatum to it to begin the admission process for the undergraduate classes dumping the controversial four-year course.
The nation wants an ex-ante body for endorsing "public purpose" during land acquistion process.
India's limited-overs' skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni may be a shadow of his old self but former Australian batsman Dean Jones feels the Jharkhand dasher will be "missed more in sub-continental conditions" once he calls time on his illustrious career.
'When we saw Saawariya for the first time, I was aghast.' 'If only Bhansali had told me, I would have dissuaded him.
Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com decodes why Modi has decided to retain her in the Union Cabinet despite this controversy and their many internal differences.
This will, of course, go a long way in meeting the promised fiscal deficit target of 3.6 per cent of GDP in 2015-16.
In his latest book, Fly Me To The Moon, former member of Parliament Prafull Goradia provides interesting insights into the man who is India's prime minister.
The outcome of the Bangkok NSA-level talks underscores that Pakistan has got exactly what it wanted -- talks at different levels, talks on Kashmir, talks on mutual concerns regarding terrorism, talks on ceasefire on the border. What if any has been India's gains remains unexplained, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Everything about you and your precious relationships spoke to me, stirred me and I wish you could hear how deeply you touched me,' Sukanya Verma says in her letter to Piku.
When Union Minister Maneka Gandhi sought to project her son Varun as a possible future chief minister of Uttar Pradesh last Sunday, it was widely seen as an attempt to claim Sanjay Gandhi's legacy. Anita Katyal reports
Two years into power, there is very little to show for the Modi government by way of 'achievements' on the foreign policy front, and his China, Pakistan policies are gasping for breath, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
There's still little indication of forward movement in Indo-US defence relations.
'Manmohan Singh was blamed for administrative paralysis, but if you speak to any senior bureaucrat today, they are very bitter and say that files do not move. I am told that more than a thousand files are awaiting clearance.'
Tragically, the Congress party is perhaps the only party with the credentials to resolve the Kashmir question. It could have done so in the decade it was in office, and when India was in a position of strength. Now, India seems to be headed for a period of political instability along with an economic downturn. New Delhi's clout is weakening, says Amberish K Diwanji.
Ronit Roy talks about the second season of Adaalat and his upcoming Hollywood and Bollywood projects.
It's election season in Tamil Nadu and all political parties are tying themselves in knots over the banned jallikattu but none more than the BJP, says R Ramasubramanian.
As the teachers began gaining confidence, it also drew the attention of other women in the community, leading to greater demand for teaching jobs.
Despite all the controversies, the IPL's brand value hasn't diminished. Instead, says Harish Kotian/Rediff.com, the IPL made the BCCI richer by over Rs 3 billion!
At least 13 attempts were made earlier at modernising.
'Today, three areas give banks a big headache -- steel, power, infrastructure.' 'Three Cs are very critical in lending -- character, capacity and collateral of the borrower.'
As we observe Martyrs' Day today, Mahatma Gandhi would have been dismayed by the number of vested interests that are seeking to carve out identities and spaces outside the Republic of India, says Shreekant Sambrani.
'For now, the AAP is the conversation,' Lord Meghnad Desai tells Rediff.com's Sanchari Bhattacharya. 'Everyone is talking about the 'Delhi model'. They have made so much difference. They have changed politics.'
'The summer of 1857 saw violence, perpetrated by the Indians and the Britons, on an unprecedented scale.' 'Never before and never after in the history of British rule in India was there violence at the level that 1857 witnessed.'
Pranab Mukherjee's book The Dramatic Decade: The Indira Gandhi Years takes the readers through the economic and social unrest of the period leading up to the emergency, rise and fall of leaders, many splits within the Congress, while promising to offer more in the next two volumes of the trilogy, says Nivedita Mookerji.
How will India respond to an attack which keeps haemorrhaging India but stays below the threshold of tolerance?
Our generation got independence too easy, we take our freedom too lightly, we treat our country and environment like toilet paper and take the easy way out because we have no sense of pride or self worth except when it is an India-Pakistan match. We need to be broken more so that we may rise, says film director Suparn Verma.
As political rivals clamour to retain their pan-Tamil credentials, the BJP may use the 'nationalist' card to even the odds in its favour, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There are problems related to the Indian film industry that I'd like to address rather than to keep harping on the negative zone of hurdles in film certification,' Minister for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore tells Subhash K Jha.
Naomi Mihara and Ritu Panchal report from Nepal to provide a more humane picture about the conditions on the ground and how the local populace is trying to cope with it.
351 cricketers -- 230 Indians and 131 foreigners -- will go under the hammer in Saturday's IPL players' auction.
Prathamesh Murkute explains why he has volunteered his personal time and money to support a movement called the Aam Aadmi Party.
Jaitley's team presents a quintessential mix of foreign-educated, intellectual technocrats and seasoned bureaucrats
Everyone wants a piece of the Taj Mahal, but do they care about the deteriorating condition of India's best-loved monument
