'I love the fire in Indian entrepreneurs's eyes. I just hate how Indian society does not believe that entrepreneurship is a means to earn a living or create change. That limits us from doing or thinking beyond the ordinary.' A winner of the prestigious ITU Young Innovators Award, Varun Arora tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore how he plans to change the way the world gets its education.
'It's unfortunate that the prime minister prioritises his own image over the humanitarian situation that is unfolding in Manipur, prioritising his ego over the atrocities that women and tribals have had to suffer in Manipur.'
'Definitely, crowd management will be a challenge, but we will ensure we have enough forces at hand to take care of any situation.'
A day after Maoists gunned down the founder of anti-Maoist militia Salwa Judum, Mahendra Karma, Prasanna D Zore spoke with Rahul Pandita, author of 'Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement', for his insights into what he terms as the ageing Maoist leadership's "one final push to their war against the State in their lifetime."
Three years ago Kevin Rebello made a promise to his parents and sister-in-law. That he will bring his younger brother Russel home, alive -- and, as hopes faded with each passing day -- or dead. That promise was fulfilled February 22, 2015, when sailor Russel's mortal remains were buried in a cemetery, close to a place where the two brothers spent their childhood. Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com reports how a family faced its worst moments.
The film makes a brave but half-hearted effort to depict the dark cruelty that surrounds ordinary lives of three women. It fails miserably as sleaze -- of language as well as skin -- overtakes the proceedings.
While BJP workers gleefully celebrated the victory of the party and its leader Narendra Modi for a third time, Congress workers could barely hide their feeling of dejection. Sonil Dedhia and Prasanna D Zore were present at the BJP and Congress headquarters to witness the celebrations as well as the disappointment.
On the final day of the Gujarat election, Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore takes a day-long tour of Juhapura in Vejalpur (dominated by India's biggest minority), Naroda Patiya in Naroda (with an explosive mix of the majority and minority communities) and Maninagar (dominated by the majority community) in Ahmedabad. This is what he discovered.
Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer Anita Karwal tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore about the amazing ways state electoral officers boosted voter sentiment, and the likely reasons behind the high turnout in the first phase of the assembly election. An exclusive interview!
Santokben Jadeja's son Kandhal, contesting from Kutiyana assembly segment in Saurashtra, is all set to carry forward his family's legacy with no fear of his opponents or shame about his criminal record, reports Prasanna D Zore
'There is one negative thing which has happened very quietly. The position of the election commissioner has been downgraded.'
'If they are not, then the Modi government should order a JPC immediately.'
'Gratitude can help you keep fit and look great,' Tulip Joshi, who is making waves with her 'Pocket mein TV' ad for Tata Sky Mobile, tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
Has Mumbai moved on? Have Mumbaikars buried the memories of the ghastly terror attacks by 10 Pakistani terrorists that killed 156 of their fellow citizens and injured several hundred others? Prasanna D Zore visits two of the 26/11 sites to find out.
Right to Information activist Anjali Damania tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore that she is confident that if a judicial probe is ordered into the irrigation scam, NCP leader Ajit Pawar would surely be implicated.
'Not many know that Ratan Tata became chairman of Tata Sons because of Cyrus's father Pallonji Mistry. But he (Cyrus) never used it or leveraged it to his benefit.'
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
Vikas Khemani, President & Head-Institutional Equities, Edelweiss Securities, feels Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee could really make Union Budget 2012-13 an important one.
'This was long expected because Mahendra Karma was on the Maoists's hit list... I don't think the Maoists cared as much about the consequences as they cared about the fact that they had to get rid of Mahendra Karma. Whatever else they do or don't do now, they can say they have revenged Salwa Judum.' Sociologist Nandini Sundar on the Maoist massacre and its aftermath.
"What would be your advice for investors?" 'Keep it simple. Don't panic.'
'Only if the Budget springs some surprises we may see a halt in the selling.'
'The government will carefully regulate and monitor the Digital Rupee, and because the currency is supposed to be tied to INR or supported by reserves, we should expect little fluctuation in pricing.'
Real time monitoring of all the 23,000 booths where polling will take place on Monday will ensure a free and fair election, Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer Anita Karwal tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
For the last four days Mumbai has been seized of a whodunnit of another kind. After a speeding Aston Martin owned by Reliance Ports mowed into two cars on the posh Peddar Road on Sunday night the identity of the driver remains unclear, and the police is treading carefully in the matter, reports Prasanna Zore.
Can Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi ever wash away the taint of the 2002 anti-Muslim riots? Prasanna D Zore spent five days in Ahmedabad meeting several Muslims across the socio-economic-caste divide, to find out what the community feels about Modi.
'The district administration failed and it was a very costly failure.'
While a massive crowd gathered of 25,000 thronged Congress President Sonia Gandhi's rally in Keshod, only 3,000 showed up when the Gujarat chief minister campaigned in the Junagadh town. Prasanna D Zore reports
In a move that shows the urgency and seriousness with which the UPA 2 is planning the execution of first phase of direct cash transfer scheme before the January 1, 2013, deadline it has set for itself, the Union government has notified formation of two core committees -- called Mission Mode Committees -- tasked with rollout of the scheme. Prasanna D Zore reports from New Delhi.
Thousands of people from all walks of life have kept a vigil outside Matoshree -- the residence on ailing Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray -- hoping for some good news about their beloved leader's fragile health.
'Nobody wants him to gain power.' 'But saying that all these players together conspired against Imran Khan and had him arrested would be in the realm of conjecture but possibilities cannot be ruled out.'
Though Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary and spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad labelled it as a 'non-issue', the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi-baiter Sanjay Joshi from the national executive and BJP president Nitin Gadkari's announcement on Thursday morning that Modi will attend the two-day meet hogged all the limelight, even as Prasad spent three-fourths of the press conference convincing the media that there was no infighting in the party
Congress vice president has promised to raise the Maharashtra beef ban issue in Parliament, claims beef trader who met him.
Vishwaroopam is flawed and a big disappointment from Kamal Haasan, writes Prasanna D Zore.
'After joining, I realised the TMC in no way could bring a 'new dawn' in Goa.'
Meena Menon's Riots and After in Mumbai: Chronicles of Truth and Reconciliation records the plight of the survivors and victims of the 1992-93 communal carnage and the struggles that haunt riot victims. 'Nowhere in the world can riots continue for 15 consecutive days and that too in two consecutive months,' former Supreme Court Justice Srikrishna remarked about the spiral of bloodshed in Mumbai.
'Ensure to respect that whatever is within the Constitutional boundaries (of the two states) is not to be encroached upon brazenly by anyone.'
Fresh from the hat-trick in the assembly polls, which pitch-forked him in the BJP's prime ministerial candidates' race, Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said if he had committed any mistake, he seeks forgiveness from the people.
'That is why he is able to deliver. That is what makes Narendra Modi, Narendra Modi,' Gujarat Minister Jay Narayan Vyas tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
After completing a hectic day of campaigning among the voters of Maninagar, Shweta Bhatt answers Prasanna D Zore's posers with the ease of a master politician. Read on to know why she decided to take on Narendra Modi, how campaigning has changed her and how she copes with all the stress that comes with fighting against a chief minister as powerful as Narendra Modi.
Ashrafbhai Pathan of Sanand, Gujarat, is an ardent Narendra Modi fan. "Ask any Gujarati today what Narendra Modi means to them and the future of the next generation and hear them articulate about Modi's achievements and vision," he tells anyone who cares to listen. Prasanna D Zore and Reuben NV report
