'Here was a man who played a major part in helping the Bengalis of East Pakistan create a new nation, secured the merger of Sikkim into the Indian dominion and built R&AW into a formidable outfit, comparable to the best in the world.' Rameshwar Nath Kao shunned the limelight, hated to be photographed and preferred to work behind the scenes. A revealing excerpt from Nitin A Gokhale's much awaited book, R N Kao: Gentleman Spymaster.
Top Union ministers on Saturday joined a gala event, which had a smattering of Bollywood actors, including megastar Amitabh Bachchan, aimed at publicising the "achievements" of the Narendra Modi government on completion of two years in office.
'It is hard to justify $225 million a plane for an increasingly obsolete mission.' The purchase of the 36 Rafales has changed little for the IAF.
Sarbjit does indeed deal with a story worth telling, but does so in the most obvious and uninspired fashion, writes Raja Sen
'The film industry could never exploit his versatile range as actively as it should have. To not have delivered a *single* bad performance in one's career is an exceptional feat.' Sukanya Verma retraces her steps to the time she became a dedicated fan of Farooque Sheikh's work for life.
Launching a counter offensive against Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi for giving the Modi government "zero out of 10" for handling farmers' issues, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday said that "zeroes cannot see beyond zero".
It is a fight for survival for the Nationalist Congress Party in Maharashtra, which has been its citadel. In an interview party President Sharad Pawar speaks on the NCP's prospects and how the Bharatiya Janata Party is exploiting Narendra Modi's popularity in the state assembly elections.
In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
A 1990s Bollywood album. Ranbir Kapoor as Balraj Sahni. Dimple Kapadia's Crowning Glory days. Agha-Mukri-Kesto's fun, fabulous, forgotten friendship. Sukanya Verma's super-filmi week was a complete blast from the past.
Star Trek is middle-aged and a bit tired but it's definitely here to stay, feels Shuma Raha.
With Dadri-like incidents triggering outrage, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday said "small episodes" cannot damage "Hindu culture" and praised the Modi government for ushering in hope and confidence in the country and enhancing India's standing abroad.
Yet another round of talks on Tuesday failed to end the standoff between the government and FTII students over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as its Chairman, with the students alleging "unwillingness or inability" of the authorities to act upon their core concerns.
That may have reduced clutter, but it would also have reduced choice.
I Ramamohan Rao, former principal information officer of the Government of India, reminisces the day Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was shot dead by her bodyguards.
'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Brushing aside the strong opposition to it from separatist leaders, religious heads and some civil society groups, authorities have decided to go ahead with the high profile Zubin Mehta concert in Srinagar on September 7.
India's first exclusive defence satellite GSAT-7 was successfully launched by European space consortium Arianespace's Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou spaceport in French Guiana on Friday, giving a major push to the country's maritime security.
Savouring Spielberg's fierce, fine movie; salivating over MAMI's line-up; gobbling a Shrek cake; visualising a desi Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants with Alia, Bhumi and more in Sukanya Verma's Super Filmi Week.
Christopher Nolan's next, Gulzar's gussa, Shyam Benegal's Shivaji and RD's Lawrence of Arabia connection, catch all this and more in Sukanya Verma's super filmi week.
Is the price of one fighter Rs 681 crore? Rs 686 crore? Rs 703 crore? Rs 1,063 crore? Rs 1,225 crore?
Setting a new bench mark in transparency in politics, the Central Information Commission has held that political parties are answerable under the Right to Information Act.
'For us, North Indians, who are habitual late comers and lackadaisical in our temple attire; who go to temples in jeans and shorts; who keep our temples dirty; where deities are placed amidst all prasadam and where rotting flowers are strewn on the pathway -- Manipur teaches us grace and discipline,' says Tarun Vijay.
'I toh don't even understand making crores because I have never done such a commercially hit film in my life.' 'It's unbelievable for me.'
In our special series re-visiting Hindi film classics, we look back at the Jeetendra and Neetu Singh starrer Priyatama (1977).
'The biggest success of Andhadhun is that viewers are thinking and debating about it. I didn't expect it,' Sriram Raghavan tells Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.com.
'People want to blacken my face for showing "leaders in a bad light".' 'People want to show loyalty to the party.' 'There's no end to it.' 'How many people should I show the film to?' 'Where do we draw the line?'
Last week, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said buying 90 less Rafale fighter jets than the 126 planned earlier would save him money to buy more Tejas Light Combat Aircraft for the India Air Force.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the fiscal deficit slippage this financial year (2017-18) was largely statistical.
'Why do we feel our parents are not human? That our mother is not a woman?'
Production in India would be open for companies other than HAL
The voyeurism and poor taste on display in the reportage of the murder case involving Mukerjea's wife reflect the mindset of the society we live in and the media we are exposed to
Photojournalist Chandu Mhatre, one of the first to reach Bhopal after India's worst industrial disaster ravaged the city, remembers his worst seven days, in a conversation with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
Sridevi, Karan Johar, Tabu... Sukanya Verma's week was all about time travel and pleasant encounters with the super young avatars of Bollywood's famous folk.
'My father would have liked Piku and PINK.' 'I don't think he would have liked item songs though.'
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.
A combative Rahul Gandhi on Saturday signalled an aggressive campaign against the RSS soon and declared that a reinvigorated Congress alone can "smash" the BJP and its ideological mentor.
The government has proposed that political parties cannot be designated public authorities as defined in the RTI Act. Anita Katyal reports
There is considerable discomfort within the defence ministry about the Rafale deal.
Mark Tully on the India he loves.
'One one hand, the BJP puts Uniform Civil Code as a goal in its manifesto, and on the other, it pushes massive discrimination against Hindus.' 'This is not sabka saath, sabka vikas. Rather it is "Haj ka saath, church ka vikas",' argues Sankrant Sanu.
