'The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.' 'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan because that would provide the means to retain control of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.'
There was high drama before the commencement of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for medical and dental courses, at various centres across Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Tiruchirapalli, Namakkal, Tirunelveli and Vellore when students were frisked and some were asked to cut off their sleeves, while a few female students were asked to remove their bras!
'India needs to adopt a more proactive policy of triggering exports to China.'
He, however, did not give any date for the proposed challenge which he announced in his opening remarks at the meeting.
'Modi cannot content himself anymore with merely indulging in Congress bashing and referring to the Gujarat 'miracle'. He'll have to show that his party is as clean and as innovative as the AAP. And this is impossible because AAP is new and the BJP is now old: the people have tried it already. What they have not tried already is Modi, and this is what may make the difference,' says the respected political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot.
Venkaiah Naidu said Aadhaar will not be made mandatory till the entire population gets such cards or UID numbers.
China is pulling out all the stops to give a 'state visit-plus' reception to Trump on his maiden visit.
'Do you know there is a 500 page report prepared by an inquiry committee headed by myself? When I placed the report in Parliament, have you heard any single Opposition leader give a notice for discussion? Why are they not demanding a discussion in Parliament on the report? They could have established that there was a scam. Today, a Parliament Committee report is as good as a Parliament report and this report says the 2G scam is no scam. Our government is suffering because of the media hype on these scams,' Congress MP P C Chacko tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.
Members in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday transcended political barriers to voice concern over rape of a young executive in a cab in the national capital, with the House standing as one in condemning the heinous crime and demanding action against the guilty.
'I am a human being, I was surely nervous, I am competing against a lot of people, but even when I played cricket there is not a single match where I was not nervous.' 'Lots of mothers, lots of sisters are so sure that no matter what happens, Sree will stand by them.' 'I will go to any length to help people.' 'If it is important to save somebody I will save him even if I have to die.'
'She was the only prime minister who won a decisive military victory.' 'She won a real war; she didn't play video games on prime time TV over surgical strikes!' 'She understood power better than any other politician, saw it as her birthright and used it with inborn expertise.' 'Every politician today who tries to be a "supremo" through populism and absolute control over his or her party is referring to the Indira Gandhi playbook!'
The winter session of Parliament is set to be stormy with Opposition parties closing ranks to target the government on issues including 'intolerance' even as the ruling dispensation expressed its readiness to discuss all issues.
While even the Opposition doesn't believe that Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is personally involved in the solar scam, the Congress leaders reputation has been tainted. And while he tells Indulekha Aravind that it is only a conspiracy, it may have a bearing on the coming general elections
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.
Can un-democracy be the foundation for a democratic party that aspires to be different from all other parties in India.
'She really doesn't care if she is called heartless.' 'For her, the job needs to be done. That's all that matters.'
Modi said this time 'a third decisive strength is emerging in Kerala and I am seeing this', thanking the thousands of people who stood braving the scorching heat.
In an address that was telecast live on national broadcaster Doordarshan, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday patted the Narendra Modi government for initiatives on national security, economy and international relations in a short period of four months.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the BJP has emerged as the "third force" in Kerala that will replace the two fronts in the next year's assembly elections.
The Question hour in the Lok Sabha was also washed out for the second consecutive day as an aggressive opposition stalled the proceedings over the same controversy.
Tripura should be taken as a case study on how misuse of the AFSPA can be avoided even while transforming public opinion and controlling insurgency, says Sanjib Deb.
'A lot will depend on the first Aayog and the power it derives.'
With an aim of ending insurgency in Nagaland, the government on Monday signed an accord with key outfit Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland- Isaac-Muivah which Prime Minister Narendra Modi described as a "historic" step to usher in peace in the state.
'A master politician who excelled in the politics of intrigue, Subash Ghisingh kept winning election after election, sending a clear message to the state and central governments that he remained the undisputed king of the Darjeeling hills.'
In private, AIADMK spokespersons say that the raid on Chief Secretary P Ramamohana Rao might be aimed at weakening the AIADMK, and demotivating the party from selecting/electing Jayalalithaa's confidante, Sasikala Natarajan, as her successor -- first as party head then possibly in the government, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Indrani Roy deconstructs the controversy over Trinamool Congress MP Tapas Pal controversial remarks on rape.
Drabu said the GST regime will roll out in the state at midnight on Friday, making Jammu and Kashmir the last state to join the new tax regime.
Shankar Acharya gives ten predictions on key politico-economic developments in the world and ten for India.
Most of the opposition parties blamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliates for the cow vigilantism.
He regretted that whatever measures governments in the state and Centre should be taking for normalisation of situation were being taken by the opposition parties.
Demonetisation hit informal sector hard and caused job losses which was not addressed by the budget, Moily said.
Expelled BJP ideologue Prof Hari Om speaks to Pervez Majeed.
The issue of lynchings resonated in the Rajya Sabha; while in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition accused the government of not being sensitive towards farmers' issues.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
Beijing should remember the advice of its celebrated military strategist Sun Tzu: 'Fight not unless the position is critical.'
Filmmaker Shyam Benegal, who as FTII chairman was himself gheraoed by students, gives us his point of view on the crisis facing India's premier film school.
