There are many firsts in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha speech which constitute the cardinal elements of a strategy which has all the potential to serve as the mainspring of the polity for the rest of the century, says B S Raghavan.
'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.
'For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror.'
Amberish K Diwanji on Indian prime ministers and the seven-year itch.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on range of issues -- from Rafale deal to Ram temple and triple talaq.
Upbeat after convincingly winning the One-Day International series 4-0, Australia's Twenty20 captain Aaron Finch is confident that the hosts can handle the more experienced Indian reinforcements in Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina who have joined the visitors for the three-match rubber starting in Adelaide, on Tuesday.
Dinesh Raheja salutes the legend's versatility in her heyday.
In this exclusive conversation with Rediff.com contributor Rajeev Sharma, exiled opposition leader Ahmed Naseem explains why the world should care about democracy in Maldives.
In our special series re-visiting great Hindi film classics, Sukanya Verma looks back at Raj Kapoor's Boot Polish (1954), starring Baby Naaz and Ratan Kumar.
'Probably only Sonia-ji knows the extent of what he is doing.'
'I'm a rascal, I'm going to play a paramahansa?!'
2014 will be a watershed election. Much is at stake and much needs to be changed. Women need their voice to be heard and they need representation with real power, says Sunanda Vashist.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'Modi's campaign has been strikingly devoid of anti-Muslim rhetoric. After the kutta pilla incident, it has been several months since he said something horrible about the Muslims of India. It is the result of democratic constraints. He has to make compromises... He's trying to reinvent himself. He will politically hurt himself if 2002 becomes the definition of Mr Modi again', says political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
'The CPM is not in a mood to introspect, and their total failure on all fronts is being covered up by crimes such as maiming and killing political opponents,' alleges Bharatiya Janata Party's Kerala president V Muraleedharan on the eve of his rally to protest the murder of his party activists in Kannur.
'He is a man whose utterances have been so virulent and communalistic.' 'That's why many people did not look at him as the party's choice for chief minister.' 'UP is the state that reports the largest number of communal incidents every year.' 'Modi may not be using the Hindutva card, but he never condemns the incidents too.'
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.
Anjali Lama will walk for the very first time at the coming Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort Week 2017.
Hamid Anasari's was not talking of reservation for the whole religious community to which he too happens to belong. Yet, sections of media chose to put words into his mouth and then subject him to the criticism he never deserved. This does not augur well for our media or democracy, says Mohammad Sajjad.
'The irresistible Cuban cigars, which acquire their unique flavour as they are rolled on the thighs of Cuban women, have always been the ultimate temptation for cigar connoisseurs in the US.'
After the Bihar setback, these are the issues the PM must address to maintain the people's faith in him.
'Everything is the same; that I have been made the captain is the only change, but my mindset hasn't changed at all' 'Now knowing that I am willing to take up more responsibility, he (Dhoni) can be more expressive'
'We are passing through a very historical moment. The UP election next year and the Lok Sabha election of 2019 will decide the course of India.' 'Maybe the unlettered will save India again because they have inherited a different India and a different idea of India,' says eminent social scientist Achyut Yagnik.
'Indira Gandhi, it appears, did not to consult her Cabinet colleagues, or diplomats, or civil servants when she decided to sign the agreement in Shimla.' 'We ruefully recall Bhutto's perfidy and the Indian prime minister's gullibility,' says Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd).
The Hindu right-wing body in its mouthpiece taunts "liberals" protesting the Dadri lynching incident, asking what exactly is their idea of India.
Known for his witty one-liners, Naidu said "after all, the culture of India is agriculture."
'From the beginning (I have told her) "Whatever it may be -- you are losing or winning -- on the ground you're not going to cry!" She never cried.' '"I don't want you to project that you are a loser. You are a winner".' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com speaks to Leela Raj about her famous daughter, now in the West Indies for the women's T20 World Cup.
Once again an Indian prime minister has realised that with Pakistan and China, things will not move as he wishes.
No prime minister of India ever had greater experience of running a state than Narendra Modi.
The prime minister has followed a dual strategy. He is invoking Gandhi to project himself as a statesman and yet, because he is essentially a politician, he has to take the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh along as well
Rediff.com takes a look at some personalities who are likely to win the prize this year.
'The monumental first Modi wrought in 2014, followed by the miracle in Uttar Pradesh, is not a matter for celebration, but an ominous warning of the perils ahead.' 'There are 5 areas which Modi has to address immediately and relentlessly if he has to live up to all that the people are taking him for,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Nikita Puri introduces the Indian teenager who has joined the league of innovators with celestial bodies named after them.