Why are so many people so reluctant to give up on Arvind Kejriwal? The simple answer is 'Narendra Modi', or rather the fear of Narendra Modi,' says T V R Shenoy.
Indu Sarkar is an effective propaganda movie only to the extent that it knows its mission-statement and knows whom to shame and whom to take in its stride, feels Sreehari Nair.
AAP is arguing quietly that indifference, alienation have to go. These are symptoms of disempowerment. For AAP, the battle to empower people demands new engagements with the marginals and corporations, says Shiv Visvanathan.
'Afzal Guru was convicted of supporting the attack on India's Parliament. The Supreme Court said "the collective conscience of society will only be satisfied if capital punishment is awarded" to Guru.' 'Till we can think up similar justifications for hanging non-Muslims, I do not think we can delink terrorism from religion in our minds,' argues Aakar Patel.
Now that an elected chief minister is at the helm, it is high time the Centre initiate discussions to appoint a full-time governor at the earliest, given that the state is set to face some challenging times, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
In the beginning was Salman Khan and the word was Dabangg. Ever since Sallu bhaiyya outdid every other star's box-office record with his brother's film, by playing the buffoon and dumbing down to hitherto unimagined levels , every other actor worth his namak has had his Dabangg moment: Shah Rukh Khan with Chennai Express, Ranbir Kapoor with Besharam and Shahid Kapur with Phata Poster Nikla Hero.
Putting together a play about the Father of the Nation is no easy task. But when that play is a musical, the challenges increase.
The committee also handed out a 90-day suspension to FIFA Secretary-General Jerome Valcke, who had already been put on leave by the football body, and banned former FIFA Vice-President Chung Mong-joon for six years and fined him 100,000 Swiss francs (67,021).
The two rival factions of the AIADMK may have merged, but there are problems staring at it on all fronts -- governmental, political, electoral and organisational, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The question wafting in the winds over the Vaigai riverbed is, has Karunanidhi's disgraced son accepted his fate? A Ganesh Nadar and Saisuresh Sivaswamy find out.
'I am very sure that Rajnikanth, a patriot and a spiritual person, will not do this movie which is about a tyrant, killer and murderer,' BJP leader H Raja tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
'Prime Minister Manmohan Singh refused to allow us to project his real personality to let the people of India know exactly what he really was. He was always shying away from greater public exposure. Since the last two years we have seen enormous criticism, ridiculing the prime minister. He has been made into an object of jokes. It certainly hurts. I think this man deserves lots of good reviews... His contribution to social policy, his contribution to the economy, his contribution to coalition management, his contribution to foreign policy.' Dr Sanjaya Baru, Dr Singh's former media advisor who is in the eye of a storm over his book on the prime minister UPA speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Raghuram Rajan joked he wasn't expecting to win any votes or Facebook 'likes' in the position.
'To be fair to Arnab Goswami, the television camera is his only fix.' Unlike other TV stars who rule social media, Arnab is nowhere to be found.' 'While they hold forth in newspaper columns, maybe having realised that true gravitas is earned via newsprint not digicams, he does nothing of the sort.' 'He breathes and lives TV news,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan wanted to improve training for staff, through initiatives such as sending them to other central banks for short stints.
Sepp Blatter's shock resignation as FIFA president should allow people to now focus on events on the pitch .
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel -- who covers the Sheena Bora murder trial for Rediff.com -- reports on a day in a Ranchi court.
Former Mumbai police commissioner M N Singh made startling revelations about SRK, Dawood Ibrahim's surrender plan and Sharad Pawar at a book launch in Mumbai.
Are hacker collectives like Anonymous and Legion black hats or white hats, or do they lurk in the space between the two? Dhruv Munjal reports.
These chat show performers contribute to the noise, not clarity, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
Joining hands with his arch rival, Lalu Prasad Yadav, paid off for the Bihar chief minister
The opposition to Gajendra Chauhan's appointment has more to do with his background and less with anything else, feels Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
The Central Reserve Police Force top boss on Thursday said he has asked his troops deployed in anti-Naxal operations to even go to the extent of "violating" the Standard Operating Procedures if such a diversion in rules is required for operational efficiency and safety of the men.
BJP President Amit Shah -- arguably the second most powerful politician in the nation -- granted a rare television interview to the Network 18 group of news channels. Rediff.com's Rajesh Alva checks out what the BJP boss said in this word cloud assessment of the interview.
Contradicting statements have been made about who really blew up the Pakistan terror boat
Protester Sasi Perumal's death has given a new fillip to the pro-prohibition movement, which was beginning to draw attention across Tamil Nadu after different political parties began to make it a part of their poll manifesto for next year, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
There was a leadership crisis in the Board of Control for Cricket in India following the passing away of former chief Jagmohan Dalmiya, forcing the wise men in control of the all-powerful sports body to get into a huddle and recall Shashank Manohar to helm the Board yet again, four years after he had finished off his first term.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf spends a week in Goa in pursuit of his favourite dish, and discovers a few other things about the state as well.
'Fearlessness, courtesy, humour, wide interests and wisdom, deep commitment to science and technology, passion for the environment, objectivity and the ability to see many things through not only a national but also an international prism.'
Emotional Platini says Blatter must go for good of FIFA.
Luis Figo was one of the most talented, successful and exciting players of his generation, leading Portugal to a series of impressive performances which put many bigger countries to shame.
Indrani chose at that moment to wave a folded chit from the accused enclosure. It distracted Bharti, who looked at her sharply for a split second before turning back to Pasbola. The chit was collected from Indrani and her lawyer Gunjan Mangla slipped it to Pasbola. He looked at it, quietly laughed in disbelief and continued with his cross examination.
If this Budget was not packaged and sold as a Budget for the poor and for farmers, Narendra Modi would have lost the next election.
'If there is any industry that is unfit for modern corporate form it is the diamond trade.' 'But no one was asking the right questions.' 'The music was playing and so the game was on,' says S Murlidharan, former MD, BNP Paribas.
'As Karunanidhi and Ramadoss flagged the law and order issue, Subramanian Swamy said Home Minister Rajnath Singh should send Chief Minister O Panneerselvam a directive under Article 246 of the Constitution. Swamy also dangled the fear of Article 356 over the state government.'
Sumit Bhattacharya paradrops into the eastern Uttar Pradesh temple city to find it enjoying its moment in the national sun.
'The CBI and its independence was discussed in great detail. We invited and sought the views of the CBI director as well as several government officials. But the ingenious solution to the problem came from within the committee. The effort was to somehow find a solution. It would not have been possible to draft this Bill if members had not been liberal in their views and if they had not been prepared to rid themselves of their political bias.' Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who headed the Parliamentary committee which proposed the recommendations for the Lokpal Bill, speaks to Anita Katyal in an exclusive interview.
'The 17-year-old boy, who pulled out Nirbhaya's intestines, should have got the harshest punishment because he was not human at the time.' 'Instead, he was given a sewing machine and some money to have a new beginning!' 'Are we giving out incentives?' 'Are we telling our unemployed youth that if they do something like this, the government will give them jobs?'
'It's not only holy reverence that drives them to such vigilantism -- there is adventure too.' 'Some of the younger gau rakshaks enjoy the thrill of the chase: Stopping vehicles, wielding weapons, badgering passengers and then gloating.'