'People are more interested in India now than ever before.'
"They would say, 'Look at these modern women. If someone puts a hand on their shoulder, they cry sexual harassment'. I became the butt of everybody's jokes." Read on to find out more
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
India along with China, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and UAE voted against equal rights for gay staffers in UN
Announcing that the Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, has bagged the HIMSS Analytics Asia Pacific Award for its IT capabilities, Sangita Reddy, executive director -- operations, Apollo Hospitals Groups, said, "We will have 6,000 beds covered with the system and capabilities by the end of the year and in another six months from that all 9,000 beds of Apollo Hospitals will be covered."
'A lot of fraud films are being made in the name of realistic cinema.'
Seeking a peaceful and secure neighbourhood amidst threat of terrorism and extremism, India and Kyrgyzstan on Sunday signed four agreements including one on bolstering defence cooperation and holding annual joint military exercises.
'Women were not allowed in the Territorial Army before January 5, 2018. Presently girls are not allowed in Sainik Schools and Rashtriya Military schools. Women are not allowed in the army education corps, in the engineering services (as permanent commission), they can't be religious preachers in the army. There's a need to change with the times.'
The two countries, among the very few fast growing large economies globally, also decided to boost bilateral trade and investment in areas of oil and gas, renewable energy, IT and pharmaceuticals, during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
Mumbai-based start-up Purple Squirrel Eduventures is helping students decide on their careers through industrial visits
'All their idealism, intensity of emotions, acute sense of right and wrong, and burning passion for public causes can never serve as justifiable grounds to be touted by students of any country, let alone of India, with all its fragility and vulnerability, to question its unity in the name of freedom of expression,' says B S Raghavan.
Make The World Wonderful, an NGO founded by Meghana Dabbara in 2015, is on a mission to set up 2,500 child adoption programme centres by 2023.
'One of his most famous scenes is set in a prison in Delhi where the British try to subvert Karla, the legendary Soviet spy who is being transferred back to Moscow and is being temporarily detained by the Indian agencies.' Ambassador B S Prakash salutes John le Carre.
Here's our weekly round-up that brings you the latest news on models, designers and celebs from the world of glamour and entertainment.
Irrfan Khan's fascinating interview with Savera R Someshwar/Rediff.com.
Devanik Saha wonders if saffronisation of India is on the rise
Kailash Satyarthi, co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, in front of packed crowd made a rousing speech asking every person to come together and set our children free. He honoured those who came before him and also said that he accepted this honour on behalf of all the martyrs and activists in India. Here's the transcript of his moving acceptance speech.
'Never lose your optimism. Never lose your aspiration and never -- even if India becomes a prosperous consumer society -- never ever lose that shining light in your eyes,' advises Dr Peter McLaughlin, headmaster of the Doon School.
'If you are a slave, nobody has any problem. The conflict starts when you question and ask for equal rights.'
Ajit Balakrishnan on understanding the anti-cash chorus.
A number of studies and statistics prove that marital rape is a reality in India. But laws that do not acknowledge this are another reality that a large number of married women are forced to live with.
Rediff.com reproduces the translation of the remarks made by President Ashraf Ghani at a press conference.
'Naik is an outcome of an image-centric Islam, which is linked to the technological changes introduced by new media.' 'English educated upper middle class Muslims embraced Naik's image-centric Islam in the 1990s.' 'Television converted him into a religious object.'
A day after the anti-superstition and black magic ordinance was passed by the Maharashtra cabinet, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan tells Neeta Kolhatkar in an exclusive interview that 'fundamentalists' behind the cold-blooded murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar will try to scuttle the Bill, but he will fight for it.
It's your diet that holds the key to a fulfilling sex life. Boost libido by changing what you eat.
Manipur needs an integrated politico, military, socio-economic approach, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
The winners of the 60th annual World Press Photo Contest have been announced. The winning shot was taken by Turkish Associated Press photographer called Burhan Ozbilici, with an image he has simply titled An Assassination in Turkey. Showing Mevlut Mert Altintas shouting after shooting Andrei Karlov, the Russian ambassador to Turkey, at an art gallery in Ankara, Turkey, on December 19 2016.
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.
'I don't care about how people are used to seeing me -- that is their problem. They make little compartments in their heads and they want to fit everybody into that, but I don't really abide by it.' Richa Chadha, in a candid chat.
'There are so many dimensions to history that we need to attend to: We need more space for local and regional histories; we need to delve into the histories of particular communities; we need to emphasise gender history and environmental history.' 'We need to think about India's history beyond India's current borders.'
'I was very wary about stepping into the limelight and the populist role like Sherlock Holmes, but the minute I saw who was involved and read the script and the quality of it I thought: I've got to do this.' Benedict Cumberbatch tells CNN International why he nearly turned down the chance to play Sherlock Homes.
'We are going to see relatively soon an executive order that deals with H-1B and other temporary visas.' 'We are also going to see an executive order on undocumented people.' 'Undocumented Indians comprise the largest population growth of all undocumented people in this country.' 'Just because India is not named in this executive order doesn't mean it won't be in the future.'
'In the final analysis, all Budgets everywhere are like the schemes hatched by A A Milne's lovable Winnie-the-Pooh.' 'They may be well-intended, but often go awry.' 'Although Pooh and his friends agree that he 'has very little brain', he is occasionally acknowledged to have a clever idea, usually driven by common sense.' 'This Budget at a first glance does not appear to belong to that latter category,' says economist Shreekant Sambrani.
'The response to terror is not always reciprocal terror, nor is launching a conventional response the best response.' 'The best response is to make the sponsor pay a price he cannot afford,' says former RA&W chief Vikram Sood.
'Any new technology, either before or soon after its release, will face severe criticism by one or the other segment of society. It is only after seeing the benefits of new technology for themselves that our farmers accept it.' 'The arable land in India is not increasing and currently hovers at around 140, 145 million hectares.' 'Today, Indian agriculture has to work towards achieving nutritional security.'
Do the students who chanted pro-separatist slogans and their teachers/supporters want the army to withdraw from Kashmir or not fight the terrorists?
Iraq is on the verge of collapsing and foreign military intervention is inevitable. But for those who follow the developments in Iraq and the Middle-East will understand the current situation is nothing but a culmination of US and western policies toward the region, says Dr Waiel Awwad
'What we need is right skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling.'
While Prime Minister Modi may pursue the laudable aim of building a cooperative relationship with Pakistan, he and his advisers should never think that concessions (and dialogue is a concession in itself) will change the Pakistan army's approach to India, says Vivek Katju.