'Modi's victory is his own victory. Now what he has done thereafter, it seems to me, leads us to believe that he was a bit too prolific with his promises.' 'One achievement of Modi's I will praise is that he has put the fear of God among his ministers and officials.' 'Indira Gandhi's sentiment of controlling everything, centralising power in to her hands is the quality that persists in Modi' Veteran journalist Inder Malhotra casts his experienced gaze on one year of the Modi Sarkar.
Narendra Modi's engagement at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Brazil will be keenly watched as the prime minister will interact with some of the world's most powerful leaders. The summit to be held in Fortaleza will also see the launch of the significant BRICS bank whose idea was mooted by India. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt gives a lowdown on Modi's first major international rendezvous.
Arthur J Pais charmed her and exasperated her. But, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel as she bids him goodbye, it is the 'irrevocability' of death that 'stingingly puts into focus what you never realised you would miss terribly.'
'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.'
If the radical Islamic movement had been largely peaceful, Headley would have probably found another way to ensure real life excitement.' 'But I really do believe that his relationship with radical Islam is real. Very real.' 'It was a match for his desires.'
Mustafa Kamal, who resigned on Wednesday as the International Cricket Council president, launched an extraordinary attack on the world cricket body's Chairman N Srinivasan after returning to the country.
Kainchi, near Nainital, attracts devotees from near and far, 42 years after the death of its spiritual leader, Neem Karoli Baba.
Though the list of superstitious beliefs is long, often dissolving distinctions of class, caste, religion and education, Karnataka's anti-superstition bill is seen as a big step ahead.
The Sri Lankan cartoon faux pas has revived the slackening pan-Tamil mood in Tamil Nadu, says N Sathiya Moorthy
'She was either overconfident that nothing will happen to her or she underestimated the gravity of the allegations.'
Orissa learnt its lessons from previous cyclones, particularly the 1999 super cyclone, whereas Uttarakhand has failed to do so from any of the previous natural calamities that hit the state, says Dinesh C Sharma.
To be at Kakkathuruthu when the sun sets, according to National Geographic, is a surreal experience. Ambassador T P Sreenivasan tells us how the tiny island gradually charmed him.
The government may claim planted trees compensate for forests lost, but that does not mean complex flora and fauna destroyed have been restored, points out Himadri Ghosh.
Scores of Congress party-affiliated National Students Union of India workers on Friday held a protest outside Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani's official residence in New Delhi over IIT-Madras de-recognising a students' body for reportedly criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
'Laxman will be remembered for years to come as the person whom everybody turned to the first thing in the morning and drew a smile, however depressing the situation. It will be impossible to replace him...'
The collapse of an under-construction 11-storey building in Chennai which claimed 11 lives should serve as a wake-up call for the housing sector to have a regulatory mechanism for the construction industry, says N Sathiya Moorthy
Nehru decided to build The Ashok in New Delhi to host a UNESCO conference. For a prime minister focussed on India building with projects like the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, IITs and factories, "the hotel spoke of the gumption of the country at that time." Manavi Kapur traces the eventful journey of the hotel, which has now completed 60 years.
"There are no two opinions between the five witnesses about the fact that Bose's end came on the night of 18 August 1945," www.bosefiles.info said in a statement.
'The money is safe with the payment services solutions provider'.
'Even if we ate our chappatis with pickle, we ensured proper food for Sumit.'
'If they succeed in silencing this great university, it will be a tragic day for the nation.'
There are unprecedented political implications of identification based on 'biological attributes of an individual', such as employed by Aadhaar, warns Gopal Krishna.
Laughter was a component of Parmeshar Godrej's large-hearted Punjabi spirit, recalls Sunil Sethi.
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.
Rajdeep Sardesai's 2014: The Election That Changed India, will make him a ton of money, says Shreekant Sambrani, but admits he is more interested in knowing whether the book lives up to its title.
An upcoming film on Mohammad Azharuddin promises to be a potboiler, though not a true biopic.
Beautiful glimpses into Dilip Kumar's life with Saira Banu.
'In her insecurity, she destroyed the institutions of democracy.' 'She packed Parliament with her supporters with loyalty being more important than ability; she superseded judges; she corrupted the civil service.' 'She knew how to use people against each other and was quite a master of that.' 'She would do this with calculated skill and in the bargain cause enmity between brothers, split up families.'
Aam Aadmi Party spokespersons, Ashutosh, Ashish Khetan and Raghav Chadha, are adept at turning issues on their head and putting up a good offence in their defence.
'The question now is how long the exercise in perfection he created will last once his influence isn't there any longer,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Many of the industrialists profiled in the book are no longer riding the wave of success.
As Uddhav Thackeray consolidates his hold over the Shiv Sena, conflict within the ranks seems inevitable, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
The Ganga agitation and the question of preserving the Himalayan ecology has become a deadly cocktail of politics and religion. Behind the scene, of course, at play are powerful business interests. What is needed is an independent scientific assessment of the problem and preparation of a blueprint for preservation of the Himalayan rivers and associated ecology, says Dinesh C Sharma.
From odd to heartwarming, the best of Twitter conversations in 2014.
Several former colleagues say Kejriwal is undemocratic. But his loyalists stand stoutly behind him
'Today if you look at the way India is growing many people are saying the sleeping elephant has finally woken up, is dancing!' 'I have travelled extensively, in about 60 countries. In all these the moment you say India, the first thing they mention is either an actor's name. Or they start humming a song.' 'I wanted to be in Bollywood. It is the most powerful medium we have in this country. That's soft power.' Listening in on Shobhaa De, Kabir Khan, Vikas Swarop and Saffron Art CEO Hugo Weihe speak on India's Soft Power, Hard Influence.
The perception about JNU being 'radical' is one that is as old as JNU itself. But the university is more than just that. At its heart, its campus is a mosaic of ideologies that allow its students to breathe politically.
How can 'first food' meet the challenge posed by factory-made 'fast foods' which are backed by marketing money and often come with 'traditional taste' tags attached to them? The first step would be to preserve knowledge about first foods, says Dinesh C Sharma.
Pablo Bartholomew, the legendary Indian photojournalist whose searing images from the Bhopal gas tragedy stunned a nation's conscience 30 years ago, speaks to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
Anshu Gupta, the founder of Goonj, has transformed the culture of giving in the country. He has for 15 years now, worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between the haves and the have-nots, by making discarded materials a resource for the poor. His weapon, he says, is 'cloth as a tool of social change.'
