'I don't know where the viciousness in the reviews is coming from.' 'To me, it feels more of a personal attack.'
'The unfolding events indicate a dangerous internal security situation in Manipur and the region. It can have external ramifications also.'
Kerala's election discourse operates surreptitiously. Its explicit face focuses on important national and local issues. At the same time, it seeks to secure apt communal equations to ensure votes, notes Shyam G Menon.
Draped in rainbow colours, hundreds of people on Sunday marched in the heart of the national capital for the 9th Queer Pride Parade to show solidarity with the LGBTQ community in making a united call for equality of gender and sexuality and seeking "a life without fear".
"The very fact that Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru believed that democracy has made revolution superfluous after independence and how it meant the complete opposite of a bloodless change," it said.
'... A youth movement which could really transform our politics in a way that the existing elites don't understand.' 'The more you suppress free expression, the more people will value it.' 'The State can't suppress a young society like India where there are so many interesting new ideas emerging,' says Sunil Khilnani, whose latest book Incarnations looks at Indian history through 50 lives.
'There was outside intervention which is what led to the initial violence.' 'Once the violence started, there was a brutal lathi-charge by the police.'
The wave of enthusiasm for digital technology had faded as we'd grown more and more worried about what smartphones and social media were doing to society and to us as individuals. Now that switchback ride between hopes for the technology and fear of it seemed to have taken us on another upward path, as the virus made us fall back in love with it. Read on for an intriguing excerpt from Rory Cellan-Jones's Always On: Hope And Fear In The Social Smartphone Era.
'For years, a whispering campaign against the non-Nagas -- and occasional violence -- has dominated the local discourse, but Farid Khan's lynching was unprecedented in its ferocity.'
'Only when they are in a group or in mobs, then they attack.'
Thirty one outstanding teachers were invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan for a first-ever in-residence programme.
'The government needs to think if a draconian, outdated and colonial law is needed in a democratic, multi religious, diverse country governed by a democratic government.'
'Those leading the current political dispensation, whether at the central or the state level, must recognise the enormous risks that their divisive policies are creating for the national security and wellbeing of the country,' cautions former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
If the Opposition has any chance at the prime minister's job, it can happen only if they all stop dropping names and work at the grassroots-level, state-wise, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The fabric of democracy is fraying,' says T V R Shenoy. 'It is being attacked not just by terrorists in Kashmir or by zealots in the North-East, but is being ripped apart even in Allahabad, in the Hindi heartland.'
Representatives of several northeastern organisations on Monday rejected the committee formed by the Centre to suggest remedial measures to address their concerns.
'Wherever in the world there is political instability, those countries are beset with severe crises today. But India is in a much better position than the rest of the world due to the decisions taken by my government in the national interest,' President Droupadi Murmu said in her address to both Houses of Parliament.
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
What the ceasefire does is to show the supporters of violence in the Kashmir valley an alternative to militancy, argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'If the RSS should be saluted for choosing such a scholarly statesman to address its highly trained cadre, one must also praise Pranab Da's sagacity for having gracefully accepting the invitation, thus disapproving any ideological apartheid,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
2.3 million people are opioid-dependent. 860,000 people are opioid users. 123,000 people are heroin-dependent.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
'Urbanisation results in heavy rainfall events.'
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar journeys through villages and towns, districts and cities for a reality check.
Nine young men killed in police firing last August have become symbols of oppression of the tribals of Manipur.
Here's the full text of President Ram Nath Kovind's customary address to the joining sitting of Parliament on the first day of the budget session.
Aseem Chhabra lists his favourite films, most of them shown at international film festivals held virtually (Berlinale and Rotterdam), hybrid (Toronto) or physical (Cannes and Venice).
'In the first meeting of this new year, we took a joint new year resolution that we will complete it this year. At the time things were not very clear, but the mood was clear that yes, we must resolve it.' 'Yes, details have to come out, but there are some sensitivities, there are some stake-holders not yet on board, especially other Naga undergrounds etc, we would like them to come on board... So at a proper time it has to be revealed to the country, and to the legislature. Perhaps, we may have to wait for some more time.' 'With better understanding of the Indian system, many of them have learnt, realised, appreciated that Naga nationalist aspirations can be accommodated in the Indian system. The Indian system is pretty comprehensive and flexible.' 'A Naga has as much stake, claim over India as any other Indian. There is no distinction. This, Nagas have realised, that yes, Naga nationalist aspirations and Indian nationalism are not mutually exclusive.' Ravindra Narayan Ravi, the Government of India's Special Interlocutor for the Naga talks, explains how the Naga Peace Accord was reached in an exclusive interview to Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com
'Our religion had some important philosophies regarding trans people that cannot be ignored.' 'Contemporary India is refusing and ignoring transgender people.'
Six Kashmiri Muslim students belonging to Sarhad, an organisation which brings semi-orphans from strife-torn regions to live and study at their school and college in Pune, share their hopes for their state and their experiences outside it. Jyoti Punwani reports.
Here is your weekly digest of the odd moments from around the world
'Besides electoral opportunism, a sustained vilification of AMU on one or the other pretext helps them sustain their 'everyday communalism', the new strategy of the BJP of the Narendra Damodardas Modi-Amit Anilchandra Shah era,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
Kejriwal, who had joined International Yoga Day participants last year along with Lt Governor Anil Baijal and the then Union minister and now Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, was found having high blood sugar following his nine-day, arduous sit-in at the Lieutenant Governor's office.
'Our Lockdown Life has a sort of schizophrenic, Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde personality about it,' says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'My parents have taught me that there is nothing more valuable than humanity.' 'I have seen poor and deserving people striving to get ahead in life and how reservation helps them.' 'At the same time I have seen rich kids with well to do parents still taking advantage of reservation.' 'I cannot be an opportunist. I cannot be a hypocrite.' 'I cannot say I believe in humanity and equality and do exactly the opposite.'
Heavy rains lashing Mumbai since Sunday have thrown rail, air and road traffic out of gear, with several trains and flights being cancelled. With IMD forecast of heavy rains for Tuesday, the authorities declared a holiday in the city and adjoining regions, asking people to avoid stepping out of their houses.
Infosys has been in the eye of the storm on alleged violation of H-1B and business visa norms on several occasions in the US
Was Wang Yi'S visit intended to remind India of 1962, asks Claude Arpi?
Annabel Mehta, Sachin Tendulkar's mother-in-law, has dedicated her life to working with the Beautiful People of the other half of Mumbai without whom the city would neither exist nor thrive. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel met the amazing lady who was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire for her service to underprivileged communities.
Asked if the relationship has achieved its full potential, the President replied, "Absolutely not."
