'Few practitioners of yoga doing the Surya Namaskar, including lakhs of Americans and Europeans, see it as a form of worshipping the sun. They do it because it is good exercise.' 'In my view Muslim groups need to be more flexible on such things and not present their problem in terms that are confrontational.' 'Having said that, are they over-reacting? The history and the background of the government and its ministers would lead us to believe otherwise,' says Aakar Patel.
If confirmed by the US Senate, Haley, 44, would be the first Indian-American to serve in a Cabinet-level position in any presidential administration.
'The issue of the larger homeland of Nagalim, the dream of the Nagas to hold sway over swathes of Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, is just that, a dream.' 'The NSCN has been told categorically that the government is not going to concede on this issue.'
As education loans are given on a floating-rate basis (and not fixed), one needs to account for probable spikes in the EMI while choosing the loan tenure. Loans are available for up to 15 years, which could lower your EMI and ease your repayment burden, advises Mohan Jayaraman.
'Indian politics has had three-and-a-half master narratives -- secular nationalism, Hindu nationalism, justice for lower castes and regionalism. The AAP seeks to go beyond that. Therein lies its promise and its challenge,' says Ashutosh Varshney, Brown University professor and author of book Battles Half Won, India's Improbable Democracy.
Major Gogoi thought like Chanakya when he tied a Kashmiri man on an army jeep to keep the stone pelters at bay, argues Rajeev Sharma.
'Four weeks have passed after the scam was exposed, yet no big guy has been arrested.' 'This gives the impression that he wants to be soft on the biggies.'
Action against auditors, last of the 276 recommendations of a JPC probing Ketan Parekh scam, is still pending.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claims that ISI got hold of bin Laden in 2006 after paying bribes to some of the tribal leaders
'When those who took oath in the name of the Indian Constitution are not acceptable, where do the other Kashmiris stand?'
'A robust electoral democracy provides the institutional basis for the generation and regeneration of political hope.'
September 12 marked the 122th anniversary of one of the most incredible battles in Indian history.
'After Rajan is back in India, our resident dons are almost down. I won't say that they are out. So, now the obvious question is about Dawood, and the present government, I think, is more than willing to address that issue.' 'I think the political system made this kind of people; the corporate world made this kind of people. I have mentioned in my book that even the banks were using these outlaws to get their money back.'
People are not just splurging on clothes, mobiles and household goods through the online route, they are also looking at cars and even houses.
Unless the judges factor in the ungovernability of technologies and their beneficial owners, present and future Presidents, prime ministers, judges, legislators and officials handling sensitive assignments may become redundant with reference to their age-old roles for securing 'national resources and assets', warns Dr Gopal Krishna.
'Oddly enough, everything Raazi cannot explain or put a finger on, it glosses over in the name of patriotism or watan-love; glorifying thereby the very sentiment it had set out to mock.' 'This is the unique tragedy of the film: it becomes less of a counterpoint to pseudo-patriotism and more of a companion piece,' says Sreehari Nair.
'For a man who had just received news of his daughter's kidnapping, he showed no sign of anxiety or agitation.' 'Here is a cool customer, I thought to myself.' 'The only thing he said was, 'I would not have been so anxious had they kidnapped my son'.' 'He told me that his daughter Rubaiya, who was a medical intern, was returning home from the hospital in a minibus when it was stopped close to the Mufti's house.' 'She was taken by four armed militants.' A gripping excerpt from Moosa Raza's Kashmir: Land Of Regrets.
While China is bigger and feels mightier at the moment, Beijing's rulers would be well advised not to be tempted to provoke India, for that would only trigger a chain reaction around the world that would not serve anyone's interests, says Sanjaya Baru.
'The defence minister should concentrate on acquiring a bigger stick, rather than brag of using terrorists as State policy.'
'Nehru had multiple chances to make compromises, that would have preserved a united India, and he chose not to,' Nisid Hajari tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
'His past as a cricketer makes it difficult for the BJP to question his nationalism.' 'He gets away by ridiculing Modi while something similar from most Congress leaders does not resonate as much.'
The plan of UID/Aadhaar-based surveillance does not end with the collection of fingerprints and iris scan, it goes quite beyond it and poses a lethal threat to the idea of India, says Gopal Krishna.
'Despite the BJP's successes at the state-level, replicating their 282-seat majority in 2019 is going to be an uphill climb.'
'Elections don't offer easy or ideal choices. Voters may find there is no candidate whom they can fully trust. But here is a litmus test for choosing between competing imperfection: Reject any candidate or party that asks you to put growth above secularism,' says Rajni Bakshi.
Does India's first majoritarian government that is hard-focused on economic development have it in it to provide the Muslim community the healing touch? On evidence available so far, I am not hopeful at all. Yet, like the besieged community, I too find it impossible to abandon hope in the land's millennia-old syncretic traditions, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
His rags-to-riches story would make a film. Meet Musthafa P C, the man behind ready-to-use breakfast foods that countless Indians trust.
'Modi's campaign has been strikingly devoid of anti-Muslim rhetoric. After the kutta pilla incident, it has been several months since he said something horrible about the Muslims of India. It is the result of democratic constraints. He has to make compromises... He's trying to reinvent himself. He will politically hurt himself if 2002 becomes the definition of Mr Modi again', says political scientist Ashutosh Varshney.
For teams that work on projects to make art, culture and travel accessible to the differently-abled, the experience of seeing faces light up is reward in itself.
The terror strike on Mumbai, carried out by ten suicidal terrorists and planned by the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, had cost less than Rs 25 lakh.
The processor is just 5 per cent of the overall cost of a computing device.
Just like with millions of Indian Muslims, even the vice president of India has been forced to undergo the covert loyalty test: 'you are presumed to be pro-Pakistan until you demonstrably prove you are a nationalist', says Shehzad Poonawalla.
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.
From AK47s in Kashmir to becoming an entrepreneur in Germany, Upasna Kakroo has seen it all
'Unlike Dr Manmohan Singh, who quailed and turned away because the darkness was too frightening, Modi has taken a leap to the other side. He deserves applause for this fearlessness,' says Aditi Phadnis.
'Today we see the worrisome phenomenon where honest officers who run afoul of the government being chased, hunted down and dirt being dug up on them.'
Just in case the NDA is unable to reach 272 seats and is in the low range of 220 seats, then some novel ideas may spring up. Like a 'national government'. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports on the various scenarios that are being considered by the political parties, and by the President of India.
'ISRO provides a very positive atmosphere. What matters here is your talent, not your gender,' says Ritu Karidhal, Deputy Operations Director, India's Mars orbital mission, Mangalyaan. A fascinating excerpt from Minnie Vaid's Those Magnificent Women And Their Flying Machines, Isro's Mission To Mars.
'Narendra Modi could be too old to change his personality. On the other hand, his attachment to the RSS could be mostly sentimental. So one must hope that if he becomes prime minister, he is able to detach himself from the RSS view of the world as completely as Narasimha Rao detached himself from the Congress's First Family.' 'India cannot be governed by the autocratic methods by which he has governed Gujarat. If he becomes prime minister he will have to learn to speak in a more civil language about his political opponents,' historian Ramachandra Guha tells Arthur J Pais/Rediff.com
Soon after the BJP lost the 2004 election, the stockmarkets went into unprecedented free fall. Then SEBI Chairman G N Bajpai reveals how his firm handling of the situation restored confidence and soon the markets were back to doing what they do best -- make money. A revealing excerpt from his book, A Game Changer's Memoir.
'We have been found seriously wanting in addressing our undersea warfare capability and China's emergence is a cause for concern.'
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