'I think if you asked us at the start of the day if we'd take losing the toss and India being 9 for 250 at stumps, I think we'd bite your arm off'
'The Chennai floods in particular clearly show there is a nexus between corruption, disaster, destruction and death.' 'Urban development in India is the source of all corruption.'
The year is coming to an end and overall, it's been one hell of a year! We have had our share of ups and downs and we look forward to a better 2020. While we count down the days to the new year, let's also reflect on those who gave us strength to stand up in what we believe, the courageous who didn't bow down and the ones with gumption who inspired us to be better. We, Rediff.com, have selected 26 personalities, who we think are worthy of the title -- HERO OF THE YEAR -- and we want you, dear readers, to choose your hero!
'This is basically aimed at vilifying Nehruvian ideals.' 'Why?' 'Because, Nehruvian leadership is seen by Hindutva forces as the one which did not let them have their Hindu Raj.' 'The Hindutva proponents have always assumed that had Sardar become the first prime minister, India could never have become a secular State,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'Our only child. A Communist.' 'There was an encounter by the police inside this room, five years ago. He was shot in one arm, but managed to escape.' 'Missing since then. May Jesus keep him alive.' A revealing excerpt from Asim Mukhopadhyay's Half Man: A Novel On The Naxal Movement.
The focus shifts almost immediately from celebrations to the challenges faced by the man who powered his party to 303 seats in the Lok Sabha.
What sets 2018 apart from previous years is the magnitude of the shocks that hit our brand ecosystem, says Bharat Bambawale.
As someone with nostalgia for the good cheer and friendly feelings of Brazilian people, former Ambassador to Brazil B S Prakash can only hope that when they see on their TV screens their President being feted on Rajpath, they will sense India's goodwill for Brazil.
Indian intelligence agencies have often claimed that left-wing extremists are trying to make inroads in the militancy-hit regions of north-east to foment further unrest. But Jaideep Saikia, noted terrorism and conflict analyst, claims, "People who speak of Maoism taking roots in the north-east have not read history".
'There is hope that in the next 48 to 72 hours there will be some kind of movement forward to de-escalate and not heighten the tension.'
The BJP knows the CAA, combined with a fresh nationwide NRC process, is an idea that's dead on arrival. Where it lives on is as a divisive, polarising instrument as its rivals have to take a position against it and thereby be exposed to the charge of 'Muslim appeasement' again, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'The rupee has lost value against all other major Asian currencies, including that of Bangladesh and, of course, China.' 'Why should this be the case when the Indian economy has been growing faster than these economies, other than China?'
India has made a remarkable journey from a top-down system of economic decision-making to one that unleashed our entrepreneurial spirits but the next big jump lies in enhancing the quality of our tale.
'If Modi arrived like a juggernaut, he left like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces were being dismantled bit by bit. It was as if India had seceded quietly from him.' Shiv Viswanathan's social science fiction about what India would be like in 2020.
Officials said Sebi is closely in touch with RBI on the market developments.
'But the world would be much poorer without economics' contribution to understanding how societies function and without economists' suggestions as to how politicians might improve them. 'And economists themselves could do wonders by simply incorporating the country-specific factors in their econometric models rather than just applying them in toto," say Soumya Kanti Ghosh and Samir K Jha.
While Smriti Irani might bristle with faux indignation at the 'malicious' newspaper report, it is very clear that just as Teacher's Day was hijacked by her boss and a day of celebration became an assignment, the first attack on Christmas as a holiday has been made in the war on India's cosmopolitan way of life, says the Mango Indian.
'Breaking down silos and ensuring a more integrated governance process is just as important to performance.' 'It has been a major priority in the last six years, especially in national security,' External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar points out when delivering the Sardar Patel Memorial Lecture-2020: India and the Post-Covid World.
'But to see the effects of that, it will take a week or two more.'
The Modi government has handled inflation far better than any government in the past two decades. Both the stock market and currency indices have begun to show confidence in the economy, despite the mounting global headwinds of trade.
'The separatist resurgence in Balochistan is thwarting Pakistan's plans to build CPEC projects to optimally utilise Balochistan's energy reserves,' points out Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'To consider BRICS anything more than a temporary club with some common interests would be folly. The goal should be to induce others (Japan, ASEAN, South Africa) to align with us -- a non-threatening, democratic nation, rather than with malevolent China or waning America. For us to consider aligning with either China or the US would be absurd. India is just too big to be a sidekick,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'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
'Art Deco was the last of the truly international styles.'
Almost all Indian IT companies would pay between $8,000 and $10,000 per H1B visa from April 1
'I have only one life and that is enough.'
Cricket can be a game of some complexity and nuance but as England showed in their dismantling of Australia in Thursday's World Cup semi-final, it can also be a remarkably straightforward sport.
Having tried quite a few permutations and combinations in the two losses so far, the Indian think-tank seems to have settled for Virat Kohli at the No.4 position to hit the right balance and stay alive in the ongoing tri-series.
Joydeep Ghosh takes stock of personal finances after the life-altering surprises of 2016.
The veteran Kerala Congress leader had been a dominant player in Kerala's coalition politics, serving under six chief ministers.
'The Bihar verdict has shown that the people of Bihar don't desire to go back to the mandir-masjid rhetoric.' 'Jobs, wages and development are the aspiration of the people of Bihar and we hope the next government will keep that in mind.'
Patrick Ward provides a country-wise break of AAP's overseas campaign contributions.
At Rs 28.19 lakh - Rs 32.97 lakh (ex-showroom India) it delivers excellent value for its combination of road presence, gizmos, safety, off-road capability and driveability.
The people who know Tibet will continue to fight the good fight. Long, hard, less than hopeful, but always peaceful.
'Cricket in general is played at a pace below what it needs to be. Cricket needs to be speeded up in all forms of the game. If it puts pressure on captains and bowlers, so be it. We need to ask captains and bowlers to be a little bit surer in their plans'
Why did Kamal Haasan name the leaders he did?
'It's hard to call whether the Indian markets will go through a time or price correction.' 'There could be a swift 5 to 10 per cent fall in the market in the next two months or there could be a gradual fall and six months sideway movement.' 'Eventually, I think there will be a bit of both.'
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
'It is not about trusting the governor but the ground situation not matching with what he has said,' Jammu and Kashmir People's Movement chief Shah Faesal, who was one of the leaders to meet the governor tells Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
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