Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to vote in large numbers. "Today, there are bypolls taking place in various places across India. I urge those voting in these seats to vote in large numbers and strengthen the festival of democracy," he said in a tweet.
'There is a need for a younger person at the top, but the old guard wants to grab the post themselves,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
'Deep down, it betrays a transactional view of politics. That, to get, the voter must give,' argues Krishna Prasad.
Each 'adarsh village' should have piped drinking water, connectivity to the main road, electricity supply to all households, library, telecom and broadband connectivity including CCTVs in public areas. Emphasis will also be on e-governance, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
'The Pakistan government, we were told, has a plan to renovate several Hindu temples and Buddhist sites, which over the years have fallen into disrepair. The aim is to create a pilgrimage circuit to attract visitors from all over the subcontinent.'
The 2 countries signed 15 agreements including one on defence cooperation after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held 'productive discussions' with President Joko Widodo.
There are several other famous temples across India that disallow non-Hindus to enter their place of worship, Rediff.com lists some of them.
Geetanjali Krishna approached her trip to Greece -- the cradle of democracy where the notions of equality, free speech and civic liberty first took shape -- as much as pilgrimage as a holiday.
'Why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty?' 'At one level, it is pure politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Right in the midst of bustling Kolkata lies what might be the most prominent population of Britons in India.
The statements made by the opposition parties after the preemptive air strike on terror camps have made only people of Pakistan happy, he claimed.
Man loses Rs 1.5 lakh from under his pillow. Geetanjali Krishna reveals what happens next.
Jil Jung Juk does have its share of laughs but it lacks the chaos, excitement and crazy fun that would have made the film more enjoyable, writes S Saraswathi.
'India is a strange place.' 'On the one hand we have the most advanced science working on our origins and our ancestry.' 'On the other we are at war with ourselves over a temple to a god whom our first ancestors knew nothing of,' says Aakar Patel.
Bajirao Mastani has the potential to do for Maratha 'history' what Mughal-e-Azam did for Mughal 'history', says Mohammad Asim Siddiqui.
Glimpses of the Dashavatar, a popular art form from Maharashtra's Sindhudurg district.
'Much of the Socialism that we attribute to him actually came during Indira Gandhi's time,' says M J Akbar who believes that Nehru's convictions helped shape modern India.
'it looks like India wants to follow Pakistan on the slippery slope of stupidity masquerading as religion.'
'I rejoice in the fact that Justice Iyer has left a legacy, after all, legacies no not reside in brick and mortar, but in living humans and there are many of us who have followed in his footsteps and continue to do so.' Former additional solicitor general Indira Jaising salutes the legendary Justice V R Krishna Iyer who passed into the ages last week, the judge who restored her faith in the Supreme Court of India.
'Anyone who heard her sing was left with a lump in the throat.'
Pandit Ravi Shankar was George Harrison's link into the Vedic world.
Specially abled Sai Kaustuv Dasgupta talks about how he wants to make his life a message to all the 'wheelchair warriors'.
Amid protests outside the Delhi University, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Subramanian Swamy went ahead with a seminar on the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya where he asserted that nothing will be done forcibly or against the law.
Does Abhijit Banerjee's Nobel Prize help India reduce extreme poverty, asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
We mourn the passing of Admiral J G Nadkarni, who passed into the ages on Monday. The admiral -- one of the finest officers to head the Indian Navy and a most remarkable human being -- was one of Rediff.com's earliest columnists. His assessment of why India won the 1971 War is a classic and we republish the column today to celebrate his brilliant mind and salute an office and gentleman, the likes of who we will not see again.
'We haven't touched child prodigies. This will be the first film to do so. What if there is a special talent like him, do we have the infrastructure to deal with it? That is the larger question the film is trying to ask.' Budhia Singh: Born To Run director Soumendra Padhi discusses his new film.
Sheela Bhatt meets Bharti Patel, a truly exceptional mother of our times whose son Dr Vikram Patel was recently ranked among Time magazine's 100 most influential people of 2015, to find out her recipe for a remarkable upbringing.
'I sat down and asked them what they would want in their new school. One student said a football field, another one asked for computers. One little girl came and sat next to me and said, "A separate toilet for the girls." I think these small things make a huge difference in the future of education in India,' Nita Ambani tells Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
AAP wins 67 of the 70 seats in the Delhi assembly.
'How better can we depict the Mughal heritage?'
From twisting ears to poking into strange claymen from China, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proven time and again that he is an awkward-moment magnet. The camera loves him, and he responds in kind, always.
'The mandals and politicians are trying to project that this is against somebody. We are not against anybody. We do not want the celebrations to stop. It has to happen, but do it in a civilized way.'
Government employees in 13 districts of coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema launched an indefinite strike on Tuesday protesting the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
Historian Stanley Wolpert, author of several books on India, passed into the ages recently. We remember Professor Wolpert with Rajeev Srinivasan's March 1997 interview published on the occasion of his controversial book on Jawaharlal Nehru.
'Bateshwar is a rare temple where Shiva is depicted in his human form (and not his symbol, the Lingam).'
'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.'
Here's a look at the shows coming up!
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
'If policy-makers hold the lives of animals to be more significant than the welfare of a human populace, I can't believe that they're likely to do anything progressive for India.'
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