'After 8 to 10 hours of running, when my body starts paining, I keep thinking about the pain and sacrifice of my mother and it makes my will stronger.'
The full transcript of the exclusive interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On Monday, soon after the election results were out, Ambassador T P Sreenivasan contributed a column to Rediff.com, 'Lessons for Shashi Tharoor from diminished victory', to which the newly re-elected MP from Thiruvananthapuram responds.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who faced flak for his protest in the heart of the capital, on Saturday said the Constitution does not prevent the chief minister from holding a dharna.
In all the highs and lows that India's most powerful, and only woman, prime minister faced in her life, the death of her younger son Sanjay was probably the most soul-destroying.
'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
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.
'I am not a friend of anyone who wants to defend, justify and glorify any businessman, power drunk person or religious fanatics, fake activists, apologists of terrorists, appeasers of some, oppressors of others, pretending to be political leaders,' says Amit Mehra.
The city is becoming more democratic as the past embraces the future says Rahul Jacob.
The United States on Wednesday said employment of domestic workers will now be on agenda for the bilateral talks with India with which it is in conversation to "determine the way forward" in resolving the 14-day-long diplomatic row.
After selling Polaris to Virtusa, Arun Jain will focus on Intellect Design, play the role of mentor and angel investor, and pursue his interests in healthcare and education.
Just like with millions of Indian Muslims, even the vice president of India has been forced to undergo the covert loyalty test: 'you are presumed to be pro-Pakistan until you demonstrably prove you are a nationalist', says Shehzad Poonawalla.
Nowhere on the planet, nowhere in mankind's history has such an idea taken the concrete shape in form of a law. The National Food Security Bill, which will come via ordinance and not after the debate in Parliament, is an incredible economic tool to tackle the hunger of poor Indians. Also, it has already been condemned widely as a political gimmick.
Your choice should be based upon your strengths and goals.
At ATMs, as a step to avoid getting Rs 2,000 notes, people are withdrawing Rs 1,900 in Rs 100 notes and then putting another request for the balance Rs 600, so that they remain within the limit of Rs 2,500 per day of withdrawal.
Issuance of new bank licences proves that the apex bank wants the financial sector to flourish.
The government has relaxed the norms for allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the construction development sector. It is expected the move will boost affordable housing projects and smart cities across the country.
'What would a composite of Dawood, Rajan, and Arun Gawli be like?' 'What if an absconding mafia boss were to land in Mumbai tomorrow, tired from all the running, and tender his final apology to the city by narrating his story and narrating it with brutal honesty?' Sreehari Nair watches Sacred Games.
The December elections in Delhi will be the first real test for the Aam Aadmi Party. Manavi Kapur spends a day shadowing its leader on his campaign
While there is likely no bar on Jayalalithaa meeting with Chief Minister O Panneerselvam and his cabinet colleagues, she may not see senior government officials or see official files.
'Disturbingly, the dissenting judgment of the Supreme Court has raised doubts whether religion, race, caste, community, language etc can be separated from politics at all. It has rightly underlined that this question should to be addressed by Parliament rather than the Supreme Court,' says Dr Madhav Godbole, the former Union home secretary.
Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas with independent charge Dharmendra Pradhan on the controversy over the government's use of Hindi in the social media and how the government is going ahead to execute its plans to honour the 60-month mandate it has been given.
Every demand of the armed forces remains essentially anchored to 1964 and its fulfilment or otherwise largely a function of money availability
Atheela Abdullah, who grew up in a small village in the Malabar region of Kerala shares her inspiring success story.
'The fragility of this case is that taking a side could be a fallacy to do. Because you don't have all the answers. So how do you take one particular side?' Meghna Gulzar asks Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
There is a leader in every man waiting for the right moment. The Aam Admi Party has found it and is already ready with its list for the Lok Sabha. The challenge is enormous but the future beckons the way it had never, before, feels sociologist Shiv Vishvanathan.
'Lending to Mr Mallya was the bankers' season ticket to corridors of power and glamour. Borrowing from them was like a favour Mallya did to them,' says Shekhar Gupta.
State after state has imposed an alcohol ban, and has had to retreat, unable to address the financial and administrative fallout. Are we set for more of this cycle, asks Aditi Phadnis.
Even as an enthused AIADMK cadre celebrate their Amma's return, if the Supreme Court stays the Karnataka high court judgment in the disproportionate assets case, Jayalalithaa may once again lose her chief ministership. R Ramasubramanian reports from Chennai.
'Amit Shah was, briefly, a stockbroker before devoting himself to politics. By instinct or training, he knows the value of keeping blue chips in one's portfolio.'
While study was done before the current boardroom battle began, the findings indicate Tata is no longer viewed as aspirational brand by working professionals.
The curious thing is that savings instruments have not really kept pace with changing needs, although people have access to a wider variety than before.
The real brilliance of this RSS campaign, therefore, lies in building a dominant power base with, and for, a mostly non-RSS leadership. That is why the rise of the BJP in Assam is their stand-out victory, says Shekhar Gupta.
The problem for OPS lies in the fact that most party MLAs believe Sasikala's clan was the force behind their obtaining the party nomination as much as it was Jaya's charisma that won them their seats in the May 2016 assembly polls.
Should Sasikala seek to follow Jayalalithaa's footsteps in the matter, and if at all she is not disinterested in keeping the twin posts together, the by-election to Jayalalithaa's constituency R K Nagar could be the starting point, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Why can't we make it mandatory for all IAS and IPS officers to serve in the armed forces for a year before joining service? What stops us from making it compulsory for every Member of Parliament to spend three months, immediately after taking oath, in military barracks/maybe a few nights in the bunkers on the borders, to learn and understand the life of a fauji?' wonders Tarun Vijay, MP.
'The new Indian cinema has still not found its voice and identity. It's trapped under the deadwood weight of Bollywood and popular Indian cinema.'
Families, torn apart by the Malvani hooch tragedy, where 104 people lost their lives confront a dark and hopeless future.
'I can tell you, Mr Chairman, from personal experience that there is nothing sadder than witnessing a close one, a loved one with mental illness at close quarters.' 'I have lived with a victim of mental illness. Like many in that condition, very often such people are in a state of denial.'
Empowered in the Modi government, junior ministers have enough on their plate.
