India's primary failings have been in its inability to deliver health and education for all.
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In the last 10 years, when the people looked at New Delhi, they saw two centres of power and not one decisive leader between them. There was nobody who could speak in a language people wanted to hear. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reveals the true reason why the UPA appears rudderless on the eve of Election 2014.
Hackers have begun to emerge from the shadows of suspicion.
'People are losing their freedom to eat, speak, write and practise their religion.' 'All that is said in the Constitution has been taken away.' 'Does every Muslim or Christian or Hindu have to say I am a patriot every morning and repeat it in the afternoon and at night?'
'Our defence system starts with our first four and that's why we have a solid defence. People look to Brazil and always try to find players who score or dribble but we have many other qualities. With our goalkeeper and defenders, we have a solid defence' 'It's pretty exciting for us and we are looking to do something great here'
India needs to come up with new ideas to make the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas more appealing to overseas Indians. The Diasporas talents should be used for the country's development, says Thomas Abraham, founder of the Global Organisation of People of Indian Origin
'Today, in response to the rape of a foreigner in the city, AAP leaders are saying the Delhi police is not under them -- when I had said the same, nobody wanted to hear it. They themselves are facing the same situation. I would say, it is a learning process for the AAP,' says former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who was vanquished by the AAP's Arvind Kejriwal in the recent assembly elections.
'I came to know that there was a big racket going on in the selling of onions. Private players were hoarding onions and these things cannot happen unless they have political patronage.'
'Being authoritative is one thing -- Nehru was that -- but being authoritarian is quite another -- the current prime minister is clearly one.'
'Tell me, what is more important to Modi -- his position as prime minister or as an RSS pracharak?' 'We feel he gives priority to his position as an RSS pracharak. Otherwise, why did he not agree to go to Parliament as the prime minister of the country and air his opinion on ghar wapsi as demanded by the Opposition?'
'The Naga Hills region, Nagaland and Manipur, have had the most uncaring and corrupt state governments with little to show on the ground despite the nation's highest per capita development expenditure,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
A divided party -- not the quashing of the Adarsh report -- will spell doom for the Congress in Maharashtra, argues Neeta Kolhatkar.
In anticipation of a verdict to be delivered by the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday, China has orchestrated a worldwide campaign to defuse its findings.
'The prime ministership needs a statesman, not a politician, and 18 months into the job Modi is yet to learn the difference between the two,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The Congress can't return to power unless it reins in prices, lowers interest rates, taxes the rich,' says Praful Bidwai. 'If this means sacking those most responsible for the UPA's pro-big business policies including Finance Minister Chidambaram, so be it!'
'How does one get to weaken all those pillars on which the Deep State of Pakistan and the Separatists rely to prevent the situation reaching that point; how must this stage of the proxy war be countered? In many ways the strategy being followed by the adversaries is a smart one, acting within threshold and avoiding overpitch,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations, including NGOs, in social and political decision-making and development planning. Instead, our paranoid government bullies and terrorises them, says Praful Bidwai.
A chemical engineer, Anirudh gave up his high-paying job to work for welfare of farmers in Tamil Nadu.
Our generation got independence too easy, we take our freedom too lightly, we treat our country and environment like toilet paper and take the easy way out because we have no sense of pride or self worth except when it is an India-Pakistan match. We need to be broken more so that we may rise, says film director Suparn Verma.
'The partnership of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi has made their biggest mistake. They have been very successful for their party in the last two years, but this batting pair has made the biggest political mistake of their life so far, which is calling Kejriwal a chor. It will backfire on them.'
'This has to be seen in the context not only of the legacy we inherited, but also of global economic weakness.'
'If after inheriting the very bad situation we have reached this level despite consecutive years of drought and no growth in the world economy, it is no accident.' 'It is a result of the sound macro economic policies followed by this government.' 'We have eschewed populism and stuck to a path of fiscal prudence.'
'We need uranium to fuel our reactors. Our scientists and engineers have been handling uranium safely since 1967. They must not feel disheartened by the activities of well motivated local or foreign agencies.'
Former Watson Fellow and social entrepreneur Srikar Gullapalli talks about the issues affecting India's growth and tells us why he wants more people to actively participate in building a bright future and put India on the global map.
Sunday's results may be a bitter pill that the Congress has to swallow -- that its future cannot be hitched to Rahul unless he can resonate with the people, feels Saroj Nagi.
In his penultimate State of the Union address, Barack Obama said that the economy is improving.
"At my core I think we're going to be OK," Obama said.
Bengaluru dominates Karnataka's economy and its infrastructure mess compounds the problems, with policies lagging need and expectations.
White House said Trump strongly believed that protecting environment and 'promoting our economy are not mutually exclusive goals'.
'Promise less, exceed expectations' should be the lesson for the Modi government
TRAI said that Internet service providers would not be allowed to discriminate on pricing of data access for different web services.
US congressional leaders on trade and finance wrote to the US International Trade Commission calling for a second investigation into India's 'unfair' trade practices, detailing any changes under Modi.
In his massive election rallies, Prime Minister Narendra Modi often caught voters fancy promising that each individual would get Rs 15-20 lakh in his bank account if he came to power.
The second and final part of advocate Prashant Bhushan's interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com. Bhushan is one of the petitioners in the black money case in the Supreme Court
The second and final part of advocate Prashant Bhushan's interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com. Bhushan is one of the petitioners in the black money case in the Supreme Court
Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services says that the government often forgets that its prime duty is to serve the people and not some sick public sector units.
The biggest winner was Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan who ran her ship with self-confidence and aplomb.
Even in a country where Cricket and Bollywood have always been a potent mix, Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma's fairytale romance is special.
Amethi's member of Parliament failed to use his first formal television interview to reach out to the people in general and the electorate in particular ahead of the crucial elections in which the Congress has already been written off by opinion polls and surveys. He did little to change that impression by failing to exploit the platform provided to him.
Today, it is modish to be part of a yoga class, to post stories on Instagram while striking an impressively complex asana in a bralette and crop-top paired with neon yoga pants, to bond over green tea and yoga bars after a strenuous session at the studio and have subscriptions to yoga studios, not ashrams, says Manavi Kapur.
Protesting against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Abdul Qadeer Baloch, 72, has led a small group that has covered more than 2,000 kilometres on foot, breaking the 84-year-old record set by Mahatma Gandhi during his Dandi march. Hamid Mir reports from Islamabad.
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