Donald Trump is believed to be the first US President or President-elect to have spoken to a Taiwanese leader since 1979, when the US severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan after its recognition of the People's Republic of China, points out former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
In the city to lead India's 70th Independence Day celebrations, M J Akbar called terrorism a major threat to human rights.
Full text of Kevin Pieterse's Pataudi Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
The cutback on export credit refinance facility is another step towards a shift away from sector-specific liquidity allocations.
We won't see a bigger decline in mining going forward, but it might remain flat in July-August 2014.
Phee Teik Yeoh says that the worst is behind them.
Some initial reactions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes with effect from midnight.
The EU is likely to intensify sanctions if the situation remains tense.
There is enough scope for India and China to cooperate on nuclear energy issues despite the lingering issues which not only includes the Sino-Pakistan nexus, but also the Sino-India border dispute over the LAC, says Debalina Ghoshal.
'An America at war with itself, groaning under a mounting debt, with woolly-headed economic policies of a neophyte president who is more feared and suspected among the comity of nations does not augur well for the world.' 'It would be well justified in asking,' says Shreekant Sambrani, '"Is this how you expect to make America great again, Mr President?"'
'The directors of these movies to me are less like artists and more like red-pen remarkists, whose idea of a script is basically checking off the broadest of issues in the broadest possible ways: Sexism, Check. Misogyny, Check. Loving yourself, Check,' says Sreehari Nair.
The sharp fall in oil price is positive for oil marketers as subsidy concerns reduce further.
Natwar Singh, former Congress leader, on Friday said that the strong reaction from Sonia Gandhi to his new book, proves that it has touched a "raw nerve" and something has "upset" her so much that she came out.
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The ball is now in the Reserve Bank of India's court to lift up demand, says Ajay S Shriram.
The Bharatiya Janata Party can hold elections any time in Delhi but it is afraid to do so, says Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal
The life of a chef in the kitchen, as late Anthony Bourdain saw it, had a glory to it. The kitchen gently moves forward in the culinary world, tightly packed, yes, but with leaders un-despotic.
'We cannot be the country that created the Kamasutra and then we show flowers kiss and a child is born.'
'The younger generation may be hip, modern and Westernised outside, but there is something very Indian and traditional in them.' 'It's debatable just how good the concept of marriage is, but this is the only system that has survived over centuries.'
At the same time, however, officials at the central bank lowered their projections for the long-run target interest rate, evidence of slightly diminished expectations for a nation climbing out of a severe crisis and struggling with demographic headwinds like declining labor force participation.
Snapdeal's new customer acquisition has doubled.
Food and fuel are two perennial areas of concern.
Sreehari Nair is *not* impressed by this lot of films at all.
Budget will get a welcome reception from the international biz.
'The execution has been 100 per cent faulty.' 'The scheme is also a stupid one, a real Tuglaq Darbar scheme.' 'This way of attacking black money is the most ineffective one.'
'I will say all this happened because of ignorance coupled with arrogance,' says G Madhavan Nair.
Masaan co-writer Varun Grover talks about the film.
After a 25-year stint at ICICI Bank, Mor suddenly quit as he wanted to add more value in the bigger areas of health care and financial inclusion.
'One lesson to emerge out of the Modi-Putin summit is that India can be more self-confident that it possesses inherent strengths to leverage its interlocutors to influence Pakistani policies,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Instead of condemning all businessmen, the PM may like to listen to some of them.
The ED has received documents from almost all banks that lent money to KFA.
Leading brokerages Nomura and Barclays on said current account deficit, which unexpectedly improved to 4.8 per cent in 2012-13, but still at a historic high, could moderate further this fiscal on slowing gold imports and cheaper commodities.
The top posts on social media from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
MG Parameswaran is concerned if we have over-reacted to the issue.
'The public has appreciated Badlapur and a black marketeer was trying to sell me a ticket the other day!' Director Sriram Raghavan tells Patcy N/ Rediff.com
'Manmohan Singh was blamed for administrative paralysis, but if you speak to any senior bureaucrat today, they are very bitter and say that files do not move. I am told that more than a thousand files are awaiting clearance.'
'In a country like ours, people talk about wanting to be like Singapore, but when it comes to paying taxes, they start criticising.' 'The medicine is bitter, but the long term effect is good,' Senthil Natarajan, who runs Kovai Pazamudhir Nilayam, a one of its kind fruit and vegetable chain in Tamil Nadu, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
The industry's reactions to the Budget have been mixed.
Irrfan Khan talks Piku and his next Hollywood film, the Tom Hanks starer Inferno.
Saif Ali Khan takes stock of his recent hits and misses with a fresh perspective.
