Police in southern Tamil Nadu are facing grave charges of falsely implicating members of a nomadic tribe and torturing them into admitting to crimes they did not commit. A Ganesh Nadar reports from Kanyakumari.
Four fishermen who traveled to the Middle East, dreaming of earning more money, instead ended in an Iranian jail.
'The people who stay with us were not born orphans; they have been abandoned.'
From providing food and succour to pavement dwellers to helping the elderY in times of need, Dinesh Saravanan has been a godsend to the needy.
'The government allowed private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, so it should pay.'
'Where are the 1.3 billion people?' 'I am overwhelmed when I saw my country, my country had come to a standstill.'
'Everyone was talking about migrants, frontline workers and cops...' 'Nobody was talking about sex workers during the pandemic.'
'I must have done a lot of good deeds because of which I was getting the chance to talk to such a mahapurush.'
'The Galwan crisis involves the security of the nation, can't we spend eight hours on that?' 'Why are you scared? Why are you running away from that?
Kudos to Director Karthik Subbaraj for bringing back the Rajini of the 1990s, says A Ganesh Nadar.
Ponmariappan, who has been running a free library at his hair-cutting salon in Tamil Nadu, was featured on Mann Ki Baat on October 25.
'The biggest loser is Raj Thackeray's MNS. The MNS may inspire fear, but fear doesn't fetch votes.'
'Last night someone threw stones at my house at 11 pm. My car was also smashed.'
'During the pandemic, thousands of IT employees have lost their jobs.' 'Many of those who still have their jobs fear that they will lost it any moment.'
Why is the BJP upset about the dialogues in a Tamil movie, wonders A Ganesh Nadar.
When a Hindi film does well in Chennai, it's time to sit up and take notice, says A Ganesh Nadar.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com pays tribute to his school mate, Talat Jani, the man behind quite a few episodes of Kyunki... Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi...
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com meets the shattered families of the five Tamil fishermen sentenced to death by a Sri Lankan court for alleged drug smuggling. Most feel the men are being made an example of to scare off other fishermen from straying into Sri Lankan waters.
'Both are mature enough to realise that a break will not benefit either of them and both will be losers'
A nexus between the panchayat president and the block development officer has led to the failure of Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme in many villages, says A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com
'Saving our economy is a priority.' 'We have to save our people and save our country.'
The Tamil Nadu woman, whose hand was chopped off allegedly by her employer, returns from Saudi Arabia with her meagre salary.
'Vijay acts as himself, so you cannot expect variety from him.' 'He dances the same way, bashes up villains the same way, woos the heroine the same way and says his dialogues the same way,' notes A Ganesh Nadar.
'We are the largest film industry in the world.' 'We employ millions and entertain billions.' 'We generate the highest amount of sales tax.' 'Our stars pay the highest amount of income tax.' 'All I would say is: Don't f*** it up!'
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar spent Wednesday night -- the night before the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu -- roaming the streets of a village, to discover the role money plays in getting the vote out in rural Tamil Nadu.
'Jail was very crowded, we were 56 people crammed together. All 56 of us had to use only one toilet'
'The AIADMK gets votes from all sections of the minorities.' 'By aligning with the BJP the AIADMK stands to lose that vote'
B V Srinivas and his team of volunteers are able to procure and pass medical supplies, including oxygen cylinders delivery at doorsteps and securing hospital admissions for COVID patients.
Although Lesima JeroseMonisha is relieved that her worst days are over after she alongwith her 45 colleagues returned to India from warn-torn Iraq, she has no idea whether she'll ever get her four-and-half-months' salary that the Iraqi government owes her. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar reports.
'You have to get past the phobia that Math is difficult.' 'The brain is exercising when you do arithmetic.'
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com recalls how Kanyakumari MP H Vasanthakumar, the first parliamentarin to die of Covid-related complications, would address his constituents by their names, making it a point to ask after their work and family.
'If he goes ahead with his plan, it might work.'
'Our clients need business. For business you need workers and so we decided to help'
'Out of 45 deaths so far about eight are very suspicious. Every case should be re-investigated.'
The hits and misses of the week.
Migrant workers. Poor students. School dropouts. Impoverished women. Daniel Ponraj and his Shubh Sandesh Foundation are helping them all.
'The prime minister bought spectacles from Germany to see the eclipse, but he cannot see that an eclipse has fallen on the country.'
The agitation saw the participation of 147 farmers when it started, which number swelled to 325 by the time it ended.
'People will vote for Rajinikanth without expecting any money.'
'In 2009 we had 741 new cases of polio. This was the highest in the world. We ran the most apolitical crusade ever. We had the support of every government. We were never short of funds. The central government gave us Rs 11,000 crore a year. In 2011 we had 42 new cases. From 42 to 0 was our most difficult phase,' Mission Director Anuradha Gupta tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar in an exclusive interview about India's monumental campaign to eradicate polio.