'It is certain Jayalalithaa will be in no position to attend to official business.' 'Indeed, doctors would have forbidden anything that would aggravate her condition and lead to complications,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant, advising how a Constitutional vacuum can be averted in Tamil Nadu.
'During his visit to Vietnam on September 3 -- the first visit by an Indian prime minister in 15 years -- Modi will notice the widespread anti-China sentiment in that country.'
Vandana has been attempting to bring in radical changes in the unhealthy food habits amongst the tribals.
'There appears to be in the Indian polity a link between being Single and being of prime ministerial timber. It is a trend, a preponderance -- not a statistical verity,' says Dr Shashi K Pande.
Puneet Talwar, one of the most respected Middle East policy specialists in administration and Congressional circles, has been nominated by United States President Barack Obama to a senior State Department position.
'Evacuating' Devyani's maid's family from India on T visas -- associated with severe sex or labour trafficking... The maximum number of persons thus evacuated by the US from foreign countries last year was from India... A thorough investigation of this is required at India's end,' says former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, 'with the US warned that such interference in India's judicial system will not be tolerated.'
'Jurassic World is a perfectly passable blockbuster with a B-movie heart -- but why on earth would you want to watch something so unremarkable when Mad Max: Fury Road is still in theatres and gets better on each viewing?' asks Raja Sen.
With GDP down by 2 per cent, while 99 per cent of banned notes make way back to the banking system, whom did demonetisation benefit?
Unless the judges factor in the ungovernability of technologies and their beneficial owners, present and future Presidents, prime ministers, judges, legislators and officials handling sensitive assignments may become redundant with reference to their age-old roles for securing 'national resources and assets', warns Dr Gopal Krishna.
Does Pranab Mukherjee want to be 'PM' by office, not just by initials? The very prospect, with memories of the Narasimha Rao years scarred into their memories, scares the Nehru-Gandhis, says T V R Shenoy.
'I say Modi was India's last chance.' 'Because the kind of work this government has done -- I'm talking about physical delivery -- is fantastic, like no time in our history.'
'Only he can bring change in India that all of us have been dreaming of since we saw America for the first time when our plane touched down at JFK airport.' Narendra Modi's friends in New York and New Jersey travel down memory lane and remember a simple man with great ambition. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com tracks down the Modi bhakts, who knew since his first visit in 1993 that he was destined for bigger things.
Manmohan Singh had joined a pre-medical course as his father wanted him to become a doctor but pulled out after a couple of months, losing interest in the subject, according to a book on the former prime minister by his daughter.
Richard Rahul Verma, the first Indian American to serve as US Ambassador to New delhi, quips that surviving the first month in India is his first goal.
Payal Taori, Mumbai University's MA topper this year, shares her journey.
It is in Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi, officials in Washington believe, US President Barack Obama has found an Indian leader who is willing to walk the talk to realise the common goals of the two countries. Lalit K Jha reports
Enrich a woman and you can enrich a nation. Hurt women, deny women equitable rights, and a nation's death sentence will soon commence, says Dr Krishan Jeyarajasingham.
Is North Korea really dismantling its nuclear programme? Rajaram Panda explains the many challenges to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.
Educationist Dr Shashi K Pande on how he sees India, and how he would like to see it change.
Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation might not be as iconic, but it is genuinely compelling, says Raja Sen.
'India has to understand that the permanent state of war that exists between India and Pakistan has to be expected,,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd). 'The only way to ensure peace or absence of war is to maintain a militarily-dominant position over Pakistan.'
Shares of hospital operators, health services providers and insurers rallied broadly
For the thousands of destitute that Mother Teresa treated, she was 'god incarnate' and her hand was the miracle of love the poor needed. Attributing scientifically-unproven remedies as miracles does not help the followers of Missionaries of Charity and humanity in general, says Pallava Bagla.
They gave voices to sexual assault & harassment survivors across the world.
Even a doomsayer like Nouriel Roubini says India is in a sweet spot. If only we'd live up to the promise, says Shekhar Gupta.
'Renu Raj has exploded many civil services myths.' 'The popular belief is that unless they come from English speaking, sophisticated and affluent families, prepare at a young age, get educated in a first rate college, go to a coaching class in one of the metro cities, take the examination several times, the aspirants cannot make it to the civil services list, particularly its very top.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan -- who serves in an honorary capacity at the NSS Academy where Renu coached for the IAS -- on how she surprised even herself by topping the UPSC exam.
Auroville just turned 50. Aurovilians who grew up in The experimental city speak of how their childhood was marked by a sense of openness and possibility.
Donald Trump's executive order prohibiting the entry of people from seven Muslim-majority nations widened the rift between the Trump administration and several leading American companies.
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif continues his exhortation for US mediation in Kashmir, and harks back to his meeting with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee when the latter had agreed to a resolution of Kashmir imbroglio; senior us officials assert there is 'absolutely no change in us policy' that Kashmir has to be resolved bilaterally. Aziz Haniffa reports.
'This is going to be an opportunity to hear from the prime minister of the new India and the progress made in the last two years of the growing cooperation between the US and India in several areas, including areas that would have seemed implausible a few years ago.' US Congressman Ed Royce, who led the campaign to have Prime Minister Modi address a joint session of Congress, speaks to Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
Stating that India is new bright spot of hope and opportunity for the world, the prime minister said India among other things is igniting the engines of its manufacturing sector and making its farms more productive and more resilient.
Narendra Modi would have done well to take a few more months before he agreed to receive or call on heads of countries like Japan, China, and the US. The prime minister is to settle down in his job and it was too soon for him to have full awareness of the nuances of intricate international issues, says B S Raghavan.
'He cooked chicken curry and so because of him, curries entered the British royal kitchens.' 'Eventually, he became a political advisor to the queen.' 'This guy was disrupting the royal household. It sent shockwaves...' Ali Fazal on his character Abdul Karim and working with acting legend Judi Dench.
'We will have to wait till the snows melt in June/July 2016 before we can get a clearer idea of whether Pakistan intends to get serious about ending support for cross-border terrorism,' says G Parthasarathy, India's former high commissioner to Pakistan.
'Aamir has bigger goodwill than even the Tatas and Birlas.' 'The Sanjay Dutt biopic is amazing because of Rajkumar Hirani, because of Abhijat Joshi's writing and because of Ranbir Kapoor's acting.'
Meet the US Attorney who took on Donald Trump.
'What was predictable, but entirely missed by Modi's strident critics, is that the excessive and intemperate demonisation of Modi allowed him to assume his own metaphor -- the underdog, the martyr, the marginalised,' says Dr Aseem Shukla.
'I want to leave behind the bank stronger and better than when I took over.'
'Young Indians are reading, but the wrong stuff.' 'They are reading and sharing Pappu jokes, Alia Bhatt memes and all the irrelevant material online.' 'My aim is to get them interested in books.'
'We don't have to be the world's policeman. We don't have to impose our values. But we need to lead and when we pull back as we've done, you begin to see exactly what happens -- the voids are filled by threats of terror that countries have to suffer with, including India.'
