The prime minister sees himself as the "vikas purush". But realising his government's agenda for development requires not just a more efficient administration but also a credible implementation plan, says Nitin Desai.
An oil painting by abstract artist Vasudeo S Gaitonde set a new world record for Indian artwork when it sold for a whopping Rs 29.3 crore ($4.4 million) at a Christie's auction in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Dharmendra Kumar Singh explains the four major factors that contributed to Modi's win in the 2014 elections.
True misogyny is when you stop being curious about women, and Milind Dhaimade directs his actresses with a sense of wonder. Tu Hai Mera Sunday has delightful women characters, sketchy men, and individual threads that work better than the whole package, feels Sreehari Nair.
'I have noticed how a certain country wants to establish the presence of ISIS in Bangladesh.' 'Are these terrorists working under some religious inspiration or they are being lured by an obnoxious amount of money?' 'For some mysterious reasons, no action is taken by the government against suspicious organisations.'
'Most likely scenario is Modi comes back with either a much smaller majority and no majority at all and a coalition.' 'Very hard to imagine him doing better than he did last time.' 'He will then be a weaker prime minister,' the author of The Billionaire Raj tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Today, when one Kamalahaasan launches a new political outfit, vowing to cleanse Tamil Nadu polity and political administration of corruption, mal-governance and non-governance, he is pitted not only against Rajini with his commitment to 'spiritual politics', he is also pitted against the real 'Lotus' in Tamil Nadu politics, representing the ruling BJP at the Centre, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Fighting heavy odds, J Jayalalithaa proved her detractors wrong again with her grit and determination as she steered the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam to power for a second consecutive term, bucking the tradition since 1989 when no party has retained power in Tamil Nadu.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on his first trip to New York as leader of the world's most populous democracy, will draw perhaps the largest crowd ever by a foreign leader on US soil when he takes the stage on Sunday in Madison Square Garden before a crowd forecast to total more than 18,000 people.
Hemal Trivedi, a Hindu filmmaker originally from India, and Mohammed Ali Naqvi, a Muslim from Pakistan have made one of this year's most talked about films.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee would seek to placate the hawks in the RSS by stating that the writing of history should not be one-sided. At the same time, he would project a moderate 'Nehruvian' image of himself as the archetypal liberal politician who would strive to attain a balance between conflicting viewpoints. A fascinating profile of the former prime minister and Bharat Ratna by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Shankar Raghuraman.
The Sindhi New Year 'chetichand' holds a lot of importance, as this is a day when friends and relatives come together to meet one another.
Because we mirror his beliefs, says Savera R Someshwar.
'There are too many things that haven't gone out of you. So even though the years may have gone by, you are still close to the films in terms of the making.'
'None of our critics have spoken about JNU's positive contributions. Instead, we are being labelled anti-national. A whole host of BJP leaders are products of JNU including Nirmala Sitharaman.'
'The animosity in the BJP against Swamy continued for a good more than thirty years.' 'It was only after herculean efforts by a reconstituted and more just RSS, that Swamy was finally inducted into the BJP in 2013.'
Yaadhum is a documentary that talks about how Islam spread in South India because of trade and not through invasion.
The 2 countries signed 15 agreements including one on defence cooperation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 'productive discussions' with President Joko Widodo.
'Gujarat is number one in public relations and marketing. Gujarat's PR is strong, it washes like a strong washing soap... The third phase is ours. It is our family and household elections, let him come there... Banaras and UP have taken on the challenge.' Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav tells Rediff.com contributor Neeta Kolhatkar how he plans to keep Narendra Modi at bay.
At a time when the BJP is facing a perception battle, is Sambit Patra, its national spokesperson, helping the party's image?
Drought or no drought... life goes in the water-starved Beed district in Maharashtra's Marathwada region
The Marathi poem, Gandhi Mala Bhetala (Gandhi met me), is a satirical critique of those who falsely claim to follow the path of Mahatma Gandhi
'Politics and religion can be a combustive combination, but this once I am pleased that Pinarayi Vijayan made an issue of a rather innocuous tweet by Amit Shah.' 'It provided the perfect excuse to seek respite from political pronouncements and take (temporary) refuge in the classics,' says T V R Shenoy.
Union Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan welcomed the apex court's order and urged people to abide by the SC guidelines and 'give green Diwali and our environment a chance'
In October 2007 Raja Sen visited Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal's village in Punjab to find out how its residents, and relatives, feel about their oddest export. His report was published in India Abroad, a weekly newspaper published in the US and owned by Rediff.com.
Raja Chari is in training to go to space in 2019. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel presents the story of his journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to NASA. A Rediff.com Exclusive!
'While India's 'secularism' is a matter of cultural values rooted in Hinduism, the Western concept became one of rights rooted in legal rights. India would be secular with or without Article 25 of the Constitution,' says T V R Shenoy.
Meaningful devolution of spending power to states could spread more confidence on the ground and stir precisely the sort of change Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised.
'While military acts such as the Uri surgical strikes are one option, cultural, economic and diplomatic isolation should also be part of the arsenal,' argues Sankrant Sanu.
It is ironic that Raja Mahendra Pratap's Jat connection is being used for vote bank politics. He could not have cared less for his caste.' 'He was aware of the hold caste had on people's lives, and always rose above this kind of narrow thinking.' 'He mentions that once when he landed at Dwarka the priests asked him about his caste. He replied that he was a sweeper. The priests denied him entry. "I did not care to visit it," he writes, "when it was surrounded by people who had no regard for humanity".'
'Every Muslim is painted with the same brush. We are one day linked to SIMI, the next day to Al Qaeda, to Pakistan-based terrorists and now ISIS.'
'Modi, focused on youth and their aspirations, has articulated a truly disruptive change: One of hope, of duties rather than rights, of standing up to the world instead of being bullied by it,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'If Lalu puts the agenda of his son's career ahead of the coalition's interest, this coalition will fare very badly.' 'Lalu will ultimately want that his son becomes deputy chief minister but if he's prepared to wait for some time, nothing bad will happen for the coalition,' Professor Prabhat Ghosh, Director, Asian Development Research Institute, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com
Modi's tweets talk about the celebration of democracy and also puts emphasis on the education of girls, says Mayank Mishra
'If Haider petitions the court and the government for legitimate rights it is called minority appeasement, but when Hardik orchestrates violence he is lionised, romanticised and given huge media space that ends up both legitimising and oxygenating his movement, no matter how contrary it is to the Rule of Law,' argues Shehzad Poonawalla.
A cow that speaks, a question on patriarchy and the story of a 17th-century poet - Sanskrit filmmakers are finding new ways to revive the 'dying' language.
Bollywood has told many 'Brothers' tales over the years.
'We went around with the story, but no one came forward to finance it. They would say 'Who would want to watch this?' Or they would say 'Ek to ladka dal do is me.' We said no, we didn't want to compromise.'
'The dirt in the Indian Ocean must be less than the abuses Narendra Modi got from secular forces.' 'If you are going to put the blame on the central government and the RSS for every wrongdoing, then it is not going to serve any purpose, rather it will complicate the issue instead of resolving it.' 'There are fringe elements in every society, but for an ideal State it is important to finish off the fringe elements.'
'All that Maharashtra can give someone whose husband has died is a piece of cloth. That was extremely tragic for me.' 'If you go back historically there is no reference to Maharashtra whereas there is complete reference to Vidarbha.'
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