The Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee, an NGO in the heart of Kolkata's red light district, has decided to celebrate Durga Puja, reports Indrani Roy/Rediff.com.Speaking to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com, the sex workers say that they want to get rid of ostracisation and be allowed to celebrate Durga Puja just as others do.
More than two dozen Indian-Americans are in electoral fray for the crucial US elections, but all eyes would be on three young leaders -- South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Congressmen Ami Bera and Ro Khanna, who have made a mark in the country's politics.
Bihar's progress in the last 10 years under Nitish Kumar has been acknowledged by Biharis -- but whom will the astute Bihari choose this time, A Bihari Abroad asks as the first round of polls in the state begins on Monday.
The BJP's panicky return to basic-instinct majoritarianism in Bihar has pushed Muslims back into the 'secular' basement, says Shekhar Gupta.
Will N Chandrababu Naidu's son Lokesh be able to manage the old guard the way his father did?
After getting Indian Oil Corporation, the nation's largest oil firm, to drop four independent directors and Engineers India Ltd to boot out two, it is now seeking to sack former Power Secretary P Uma Shankar, chartered accountant S Ravi and former BPCL Chairman R K Singh from the board of ONGC.
'It's a great victory for Constitutionalism and the rule of law.'
The 47-year-old scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family will face the daunting task of restoring lost glory to the party whose fortunes have been dwindling in the recent past.
In a major boost to Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, three All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Members of Parliament, state School Education Minister K Pandiarajan and veteran AIADMK leader and spokesman C Ponnaiyan on Saturday joined his dissident camp.
This after high drama in the House over what opposition charged was "intimidation" by the treasury benches to get the motion for sending the amendment to the RTI Act to the select committee rejected.
Narendra Modi can pick up a tip from the Samajwadi Party ramlila. If he doesn't want L K Advani as President, he might anoint him Bharatiya Bhishma Pitamah, suggests Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'Who's providing all this money to the BJP? And who's providing all this money to the Congress?' 'Where did all this money come from?' 'Who is enabling all these MLAs to be bought for Rs 50, 60 crores?' 'There's one MLA on whose behalf somebody claimed that the BJP invited him for Rs 60 crores. Whose money is this?'
Anti-CAB protests intensify in Guwahati even as the PM appealed for calm, assuring the people of the state that the govt will protect their interests.
'The conception of Make-in-India, Skill India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Beti Bachao, Beti Padao and so on show a visionary breadth of mind, and Modi is almost the first political leader in India to put them into effect with single-minded zeal,' notes B S Raghavan, the former civil servant.
The prime minister also said if there is a 'kabaristaan' (graveyard), there should be a 'shamshaan' (cremation ground) too.
Nearly 30 per cent work on casting of the monumental bronze statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, billed as the world's tallest sculptural work, has been completed, says noted artist Ram Sutar.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who inducted 19 new ministers into his Cabinet on Tuesday has carried out major changes in the portfolios of his top ministers.
Bhatnagar is expected to take charge of the CRPF later this week as he is on an official assignment in Indonesia in the capacity of NCB DG.
There are several other famous temples across India that disallow non-Hindus to enter their place of worship, Rediff.com lists some of them.
'My heart weeps for Vajpayee, the prince among poets, the king among politicians and the emperor among statesmen,' says Sudhir Bisht.
'Their candidates are simple people who will be there in hours of need.'
Nifty 50 firms' net profit estimated to grow by a modest 3.1% in Q2, reports Krishna Kant.
Investors turn their attention to export-driven sectors.
On the second day of his trip to Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi picked up a spade and took part in a Swachh Bharat drive at Assi Ghat on the banks of river Ganga.
'The most valuable personal sensitive information of present and future citizens has been made available to foreign data firms and governments and non-State actors for all time to come,' says Gopal Krishna.
The case pertains to alleged irregularities.
Thirty-five per cent of the 64,41,634 voters exercised their franchise till noon on Monday in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Assam where four persons clashed with CRPF personnel demanding that they be allowed to cast their vote first in Kaliabor constituency.
With the images of Rajendra Babu, Radhakrishnan, K R Narayanan, V V Giri and Kalam in my mind, the image of my beloved hero dancing ungainly to 'Merey angney main tumharra kya kaam hai', doesn't make a smooth transition, says Sudhir Bisht.
The National Democratic Alliance government is weeding out independent directors on the boards of public-sector undertakings (PSUs).
There is mounting evidence that the Information Revolution may mean the end of large-scale vertically integrated businesses whose guiding principle, "economies of scale", was the defining miracle of the Industrial Age.
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' stock market queries. Ajit will offer his unbiased views on a weekly basis
'A fierce crusader against communalism, George joined hands with majoritarian forces, never to revisit or re-assess his saffron association.' 'He was a Union minister in 1998-2004, a time when people like Graham Staines were lynched in Orissa.' 'On the Gujarat pogrom of 2002, George went on to kind of justify the slashing of pregnant women, by saying in the Lok Sabha that this was nothing new for India.' 'Thus, he was in sharp contrast to what he had himself stood for in the heyday of his political career in the 1970s and 1980s, says Mohammad Sajjad.
But this project is changing that -- one public artwork at a time.
Writers from across the country gathered at Shri Ram Centre near Mandi House and marched towards Sahitya Akademi in the capital, wearing black ribbons on their heads as a sign of protest.
Reason behind for the change in his stance: gas price increase.
Exactly 50 years ago, the first Indian team, led by Manmohan Singh Kohli, reached the summit of Mount Everest. As Kohli and his team are felicitated to mark the anniversary, he reminisces on the event that continues to inspire generations of Indian mountaineers. Payal Mohanka reports
Crores of new currency notes continue to tumble out of lockers and hidden locations as authorities conduct raids and searches across the country.
Ramesh says that since the attitude of the Narendra Modi government is deliberately provocative and confrontational, it should not expect cooperation from the Congress.
Why are far right Hindu organisations growing in strength? Why is there a rising subscription to Neo-Wahabism, the Saudi Arabian version of contemporary Islam?
Kainchi, near Nainital, attracts devotees from near and far, 42 years after the death of its spiritual leader, Neem Karoli Baba.
