'Sardar Patel's actions must continue to inspire those who have worked for change today and those who aspire to alter the strangling status quo in our national life.'
'All their idealism, intensity of emotions, acute sense of right and wrong, and burning passion for public causes can never serve as justifiable grounds to be touted by students of any country, let alone of India, with all its fragility and vulnerability, to question its unity in the name of freedom of expression,' says B S Raghavan.
'When the first Islamic State flags appeared, it was called an aberration.' 'When videos appeared, they were termed exceptions!' 'It is high time we accepted that the global jihad is here.'
Known for his witty one-liners, Naidu said "after all, the culture of India is agriculture."
At least 40 people were killed and hundreds injured on Wednesday when Egyptian security forces, backed by bulldozers, stormed two makeshift camps filled with ousted President Mohammed Morsi's supporters, even as the Muslim Brotherhood claimed that 300 died in the "massacre".
A senior official of the premier Central technical institute told reporters that the students had "violated" defined guidelines of IIT-Madras.
The National Rifle Association aims to shoot down Vivek Murthy's Senate confirmation as United States Surgeon General, Aziz Haniffa reports
Journalists from across the country gathered and demanded justice amid call for standing up to "forces" trying to the "muzzle" the voices of dissent.
Already facing severe criticism over its poor show in the elections and now fighting for the Leader of Opposition's post in Lok Sabha, the Gandhis, the first family of Indian politics, is now facing new battles with the BJP in the form of notices being served to the family in the National Herald case. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports on the growing confrontations between the government and the shaken up family.
'Narendra Modi could be too old to change his personality. On the other hand, his attachment to the RSS could be mostly sentimental. So one must hope that if he becomes prime minister, he is able to detach himself from the RSS view of the world as completely as Narasimha Rao detached himself from the Congress's First Family.' 'India cannot be governed by the autocratic methods by which he has governed Gujarat. If he becomes prime minister he will have to learn to speak in a more civil language about his political opponents,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
America Inc tells Aziz Haniffa that Microsoft's new CEO validates what business leaders have long known - 'We need more Satyas travelling to the US'.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
'Those who have followed politics even when there was no Twitter know what the word 'jumlebaaz' means,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
'At Ramjas too, slogans for Kashmir's azaadi were heard. We won't let DU become JNU.'
Stoking a controversy, the Shiv Sena on Sunday demanded that voting rights of Muslims should be revoked as the community has often been used to play vote bank politics.
'The government is using the Intelligence Bureau to go after NGOs.' 'It is not only the NDA, the UPA also didn't like NGOs.' 'NGOs predominantly work with the poor. So, when you cancel an NGO, the affected are the poor, the Dalits, the tribals, the street children and the marginalised.'
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
The BJP is of the view that Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand governments could collapse and a Modi wave may resurrect its chances, notes Archis Mohan.
'An isolationist US and a disintegrating European Union will create a power vacuum that only China is in a position to fill -- a conclusion that is uncomfortable but unavoidable,' says Nitin Desai.
APJ Abdul Kalam was passionate about everything he did. He was perfect, says Aditi Phadnis
Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy tells rediff.com's Shobha Warrier why the UPA lost in the general elections, the decline of the Left and what he expects from the Centre.
'There is a design of fundamentalists that the north east must become an Islamic country.'
Barack Obama and Raul Castro vowed to set aside their differences in pursuit of what the US president called a "new day" for the relationship between the neighbours.
In 1954, a bench of eight Supreme Court judges declared that the Constitution-makers did not recognise the Fundamental Right to Privacy. It is hoped that a larger bench as and when constituted will uphold the Right to Privacy as a Fundamental Right overruling the 1954 decision, says the distinguished lawyer, P P Rao.
'The regional context and the personal ties between Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to a large extent contributed to this dawn of a new era in bilateral relations,' says Srikanth Kondapalli.
As Uddhav Thackeray consolidates his hold over the Shiv Sena, conflict within the ranks seems inevitable, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
'Nobody in AMU supports Jinnah's two-nation theory.' 'It is shameful we are debating Jinnah and not education or employment.'
It said the prime minister of Pakistan has neither chosen to condemn the heinous act nor condoled with the bereaved families.
'He has not done any harm to anyone. Yet you give him life imprisonment.' 'We were told to respect the Constitution. That is what Sai is doing; he is not doing anything beyond the Constitution.'
'Forming cults around Lalus, Nitishes, Mulayams, Mayawatis and Mamatas will do as much harm to the Republic as the bhakti of the Hindus for Modi will do,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The Indian Spring represented by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, which has culminated in the Aam Aadmi Party's impressive electoral debut in New Delhi, began around the same time as the Arab Spring in 2011 but they led to different outcomes in India and the Arab world, says Ramesh Ramachandran.
The Congress on Thursday dared Narendra Modi to an open debate on his governance model in Gujarat, while rubbishing his attack on the United Progressive Alliance over the economic slowdown.
'Intolerance is in our blood. Every person has some level of intolerance. One can't get rid of it, but one has to check and control it for the sake of a peaceful society and country,' says actor Tam Alter.
Rediff.com lists 10 new countries that were formed over the last two decades
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
The Aadhaar Bill passed during Budget session last month, overruling amendments moved in Rajya Sabha.
'The wheel does not need to be reinvented.' 'The question is whether we are prepared to put our shoulder to it to make it turn.'
Militant group Al-Badr has claimed responsibility for the twin suicide attack that rocked Samba sector in Jammu region on Thursday.
India on Wednesday asserted there can be no military solution to the lethal Syrian conflict and societies cannot be "re-ordered from outside" as people have the right to choose their own destiny.