He also said that although India got independence much before Goa became free, people of the country could not enjoy at that time as they felt uneasy thinking that one part was the country was still under foreign rule.
So should airlines play the keening, trance-like Siddi folk music from the Kutch peninsula? The Sufiana Kalam of Kashmir? Carnatic music? Rabindra Sangeet? Bihu melodies? Classical music from the Hindustani gharanas? Ghazals? Bhajans? Bollywood hits?... asks Kanika Datta.
Later, President Pranab Mukherjee hosted an 'At Home' at the Rashtrapati Bhavan where French President Francois Hollande was the chief guest.
Nitin Singh, tourist guide, spent 75 minutes with Donald and Melania Trump at the Taj Mahal. 'They were very down to earth and listening to me intently as I told them the story of the Taj and the Mughals.'
Hindu festivals are now becoming occasions when anti-Muslim hatred is expressed freely through slogans and songs that are full of abuse against Muslims or calls to either kill them or humiliate them, observes Apoorvanand.
'The Taj Mahal inspires awe, a timeless testament to the rich and diverse beauty of Indian Culture! Thank You, India,' the US President wrote in the visitors' book and jointly signed it with the First Lady.
The newly-inaugurated Kashi Vishwanath Corridor in Varanasi is being largely hailed as a symbol of resurrection of India's spiritual consciousness but a section of people here claims that the mega project is being showcased so that the ruling party gets a "political edge" in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
The fashion designer's grand finale saw a parade of ridiculously stylish and extravagant outfits.
'The politics of Goa is moving around a sole entity, which is land.'
'In his first speech in Parliament, Modi spoke about the slavery of 1,400 years, and though he didn't say in so many words, the meaning was that he had come to re-establish a Hindu Rashtra.'
A day after farmers' tractor rally turned violent in Delhi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday took stock of the security situation and measures taken to ensure peace in the city, officials said.
'If you don't have children, that's also a problem.' 'There's no right way to live because everybody has an opinion about your personal life, and how you should live.' 'You have to listen to them, unless you can pick a fight with everyone.'
Citing that many Muslims fought in Mewar king Maharana Pratap's army against Mughal emperor Akbar, Bhagwat suggested that in India's history people from all faiths stood together whenever there was an attack on the country's culture.
Independence Day speeches of his predecessor, Manmohan Singh, during his 10 years as prime minister were all less than 60 minutes.
From playing to the Sikh vote bank because Punjab elections are round the corner, to ensuring that a discordant 'us versus them' note was struck, whatever could be done to exploit every last drop of communal appeal, was done, observes Jyoti Punwani.
A gold-encrusted dagger once carried by the builder of the Taj Mahal is expected to fetch some 500,000 Euros at an auction this week, says a report from the World Gold Council web site. The artefact, which was once held by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan, is being auctioned at Bonhams on Thursday. The gold-encrusted dagger is part of the collection of Indian and Islamic art & artefacts owned by Jacques Desenfans, who spent more than 50yrs collecting historical & cultural items.
Ataturk and Nehru, two liberal secular modernisers, are in peril of being disowned by their successors, says Sunanda K-Datta Ray.
Over 14,000 policemen were deployed across the city for the security of Adityanath.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday condoled the death of Indian cinema icon Dilip Kumar, saying he can never forget his generosity in helping to raise funds for a trust to set up cancer hospitals in his mother's memory.
This burst of flavours is as much a delight to eat as for the chefs to dish out a perfect pot of biryani.
By clinging to the past misdeeds of some Islamic rulers, present day Muslims are making reconciliation of communities an impossibility, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Although India has a lot more to offer in terms of tourism other than the Taj, yet there is nothing compared to the Taj Mahal.'
'If you can come with some arrangement with the Pakistanis that Pakistan ceases to stop creating trouble in Kashmir in return for the Indians not arming Afghanistan, everyone wins.' William Dalrymple discusses his new book Return of a King, Afghanistan, the Mughals and, of course, India with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Today, the two countries, ruthlessly divided by the Radcliffe line that pierced their very heart, grapple with the political challenges of the present. Yet, when friendships develop there are no borders, observes Payal Singh Mohanka.
'Why can I not access all these things -- Bhut Jolokia, Dalle, Kaachu, Bhakri, Ghari and everything else -- more easily?' asks Aakar Patel.
'India's reputation is not and cannot be dependent on the whimsical opinions of some obscure foreign advisory committee packed with Hindu-phobic acolytes,' declares Vivek Gumaste.
When Correa was hailed as India's greatest architect in 2013, he said, 'Greatest is so...so definite. Most innovative might have been better'
Sukanya Verma celebrates The Legend's 25 distinctly different moods.
Haley said her India visit aimed at solidifying partnership.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
As we celebrate his 92nd birthday today, we asked members of the film fraternity to list their personal favourites.
Remembering an incomparable actor by re-visiting his finest films.
Dilip Kumar 'got annoyed and was about to leave the stage before things were brought under control'.
'... their love was jinxed.' 'His celluloid path to his partner's heart was seldom smooth; it had to contend with greedy relatives and indecisive sweethearts, who were more ready to sacrifice than woo and wed.'
'It is a diamond which has a very long competitive history.'
Rajesh Karkera journeys through verdant countryside to the little-explored pristine Lonar lake in eastern Maharashtra.
Some senior Congress leaders including Kapil Sibal have called for introspection after the party's dismal performance in the recently held Bihar assembly polls, after which the ruling National Democratic Alliance returned to power in the state despite the main member of the grand opposition alliance, Rashtriya Janata Dal, putting up a strong show and emerging as the single largest party.
Coolie No 1 is a cheap comedy for silly people, asserts Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Indian apathy towards our historical heritage is indeed amazing,' says military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Unlike the Germans, Britons began to face the hard truths about their colonial empire only recently.
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