Alkesh Wadhwani is the head, India programs, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks to Shobha Warrier on the Avahan India Project.
'India is so poor that political parties will not be able to wipe out poverty from our country in another 100 years. I am of the opinion that development can come only through corporates.' 'Tomorrow, if Tata or Birla or Reliance takes up another 500 panchayats, it will boost the Indian economy also.' Sabu M Jacob, managing director of the Kitex group whose NGO Twenty20 has just won a panchayat election in Kerala, speaks to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
Raghav tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier how he and his cousin Mukund co-founded Renew IT, which refurbishes discarded computers and makes them affordable for the poor in rural India.
Devulkar had a certain abnormal vagueness about him that was unreal and defied belief. That came across in both his slightly too easy-going, extra-cooperative manner and the ragged nature of his testimony.
65,000 Sri Lankan Tamil refugees still live in Tamil Nadu. Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar discovers the challenges for the refugees to return home.
Shuvajit was confident of making a huge difference in the lives of people in rural India.
Meet the cleanliness warrior from Nagaland who is cleaning up the holy ghats of Varanasi...
'I told the lady I was two months pregnant, but that did not seem to bother her.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visits the infamous cages of Mumbai's oldest red light district, Kamathipura, to find out how human trafficking has given India the awful reputation of the nation with the highest slavery rates in the world.
'I am the undiscovered Julia Roberts of India. They haven't figured it out yet.' Kalki Koechlin gets talking.
Acid attack crusader Laxmi Aggarwal's exceptional rise from an accident is sure to inspire you.
'Just because someone ruined your face doesn't mean you stop being beautiful.' 'Life goes on.'
Single mother Gauri Sawant hopes to change the way people view transgenders in India.
'From the beginning (I have told her) "Whatever it may be -- you are losing or winning -- on the ground you're not going to cry!" She never cried.' '"I don't want you to project that you are a loser. You are a winner".' Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com speaks to Leela Raj about her famous daughter, now in the West Indies for the women's T20 World Cup.
It is absolutely essential to prevent an atmosphere of trial and execution from being created on the larger issue of sexual assault, so that there can be a dispassionate understanding of every case, instead of irresponsible outpourings on television channels run by unaccountable anchors, says Seema Mustafa.
One does not need to be extraordinary to be a hero. Sometimes, cutting your hair can be enough.
At 19, he quit everything to work in a tribal village for free.
'Defaulters like Mallya can't be offloaded, but activists like me are. And that too for raising questions.' 'Today, what is the meaning of development?' 'Take over land, water and forest from the Adivasis and hand it over to corporates.' 'I am surprised how a minister who is supposed to protect the forests and the environment is happy reaching out to investors for more and more clearances.'
India's Kailash Satyarthi received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 on Wednesday, sharing it with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel laureate, for their work on promoting child rights in the troubled sub-continent, where millions are deprived of their childhood and education.
Dr Lakshmi Vijayakumar examines why India's southern states register more suicides than the northern states. Shobha Warrier reports
Damu Nagar -- a shanty colony built around a hillock in Mumbai's northern suburb of Kandivali, abutting the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, was engulfed in an inferno Monday, December 7, that left more than 2,000 homes gutted and thousands homeless. Residents displayed exemplary courage, camaraderie and chutzpah as they grappled with ways and means to overcome their personal catastrophes when Rediff.com visited them.
Prakash Javadekar enjoys being information and broadcasting and parliamentary affairs minister, but heading the green ministry is turning out to be thornier than he had expected.
'Satyajit Ray was somewhat tolerable; you didn't have to hang your head in shame.' 'Sholay is a series of stereotypes and borrowed ideas... And we are still singing praises of that film.' 'What would I make of two grown men behaving in this manner? It's deeply embarrassing.' If you thought Naseeruddin Shah was too frank with his opinions, he'd have to take a back seat to wife Ratna Pathak Shah, who doesn't waste a second, giving you her strong views on matters movies and personal.
Parth Gupta quit a good corporate job to work for the welfare of farmers in rural Madhya Pradesh.
Against all odds, the young and determined Varun Sharma has taken up the responsibility to bring electricity, education and empowerment to a remote tribal village in Odisha, says Manu A B.
'I had been to a village in Haryana. One woman who had four daughters-in-law and three daughters, told me that she had to be awake the whole night to take each of them, one by one to the fields.' 'I am not saying all rapes are because of lack of toilets. 20 to 30 percent of rape cases happen because of the lack of toilets.' Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder, Sulabh International, on how India should go about building toilets for all its people in this exclusive interview with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'On June 15, 1965, Major A K Afridi of the Pakistan army was captured by Papa's 1 Mahar unit near Vigokot, when he accidently walked into Indian territory.' 'While he was being airlifted to Delhi from Kutch, Major Afridi made a request: He wanted to watch Sangam>, the movie starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayantimala. It was a request that the Indian Army fulfilled.' 'Major Afridi was sent with armed escorts to watch the movie in Ahmedabad and then sent to Delhi for further interrogation.'
Filmmaker Prakash Jha opens up about his life.
'I get angry when people throw ink or slap him - but Arvind takes all this in his stride. People nowadays make fun of him and point out his mistakes but they haven't seen his sacrifice. If you understand his commitment towards this country, you will not dare say anything against him," says Dr Bipin Mittal, a longtime friend and family doctor of AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal.
The petite princess is the newest catch of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The glamorous Rajkumari of Jaipur Diya Kumari is the third princess to join the saffron brigade.
Mumbai visarjans take place with military precision. Thousands and thousands of Ganpatis are immersed across 11 days with hardly an incident. And minimum traffic disruption given the scale of the festival. Meet the the folks who ensure visarjans happen smoothly and efficiently.
Rediff.com digs into its archives, tracking down Dr M R Rajagopal's sincere efforts of changing lives and changing the way India looks at palliative care.
'Little about this regime, given its vindictive credo, is a complete surprise. But we were still taken aback by the CBI raid as it was a complete abuse of due process.' 'These are not legal inquiries, but abusive use of State power. They are not legitimate investigations, but a witch-hunt.' 'Ours is a typical, classic case of the State and its organs being used as an outlet for motivated vendetta of the vilest kind.'
'It's very expensive for a girl to become an actress. I remember I was nominated at all the award shows for Tanu Weds Manu, and conscientiously, like a new actress, I attended all of them and I was bankrupt by the end of it! I had to find a costume stylist, a hair stylist, a makeup stylist...!' Ronjita Kulkarni/Rediff.com gets inside Swara Bhaskar's mind.
'It is for the first time the voices of the most deferred, the most neglected, the most ignored, the most abused, the most vulnerable - the children-- has been heard. It is a great moment.' 'I always wanted Pakistan and India to have good relationships because I believe that this is very important for the development of both the countries.' 'If children are taught hatred, if they are taught about sectarianism and prejudice, then we can see that there will be terrorism in society." Nobel Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai were given an ovation after they delivered their rousing speeches in front of a packed audience at a glittering ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday. A day later, they sit down for an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour and share their dreams, their hopes for the future. Read excerpts from the interview.
Over Dosas in Mumbai, Oscar winner Megan Mylan tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel why she chose India and girls empowerment as the subject of her new documentary.
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