Pulitzer prize-winning author Joseph Lelyveld has opposed the ban on his controversial book on Mahatma Gandhi, describing the move as 'shameful'. "In a country (India) that calls itself a democracy, it is shameful to ban a book that no one has read, including the people who are imposing the ban," Lelyveld said. He was reacting to the ban imposed by the Gujarat government on his book, which reportedly talks about the sexual preferences of Mahatma Gandhi.
Nineteen opposition political parties, including the Congress have announced a boycott of the ceremony on May 28, demanding that President Droupadi Murmu and not Prime Minister Narendra Modi do the inauguration.
''I don't revisit any of my work once it's complete because I'm very self-critical.' 'I will probably exclaim, "Oh God, such bad acting!"'
Many films and shows go back in time to bring alive so many fading and forgotten memories.
Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party chief Om Prakash Rajbhar on Wednesday said there would have been no Partition had Mohammed Ali Jinnah been made the first prime minister, adding to the row on a remark by Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav.
Gandhi also assured support of her party to the legislation, which she said would be a "significant" step forward in the empowerment of women.
There has to be a purpose, aim or a goal. The brain should know why it should remember what it is trying to remember.
Joseph Lelyveld, whose book on Mahatma Gandhi has infuriated many, tells Arthur J Pais how the controversy went viral.
Rajiv Gandhi would have turned 72 on August 20. Had he lived. On a humid night 25 years ago, the former prime minister of India was murdered in cold blood by an LTTE suicide bomber. Neena Gopal was an eyewitness to the assassination, and in this exclusive extract from her new book, The Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, she reveals for the first time what she saw in Sriperumbudur that night.
Dutta had accused Indian Youth Congress chief Srinivas B V of causing mental agony to her after she levelled sexual harassment charges against former IYC president Keshav Kumar.
Iqbal wrote songs supporting the 'Muslim League' and the 'Pakistan Movement'. He was the first to raise the idea of the partition of India and the establishment of Pakistan, the VS said.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday said the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was 'putting pressure' on him to 'frame' the then chief minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi in an alleged fake encounter case in Gujarat when he was being questioned by the probe agency during the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three bills to replace the colonial-era criminal laws by voice vote.
Forty years after the declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi, the Sunanda K Datta-Ray recalls life when civil rights were suspended and press censorship was in force
President Pratibha Patil has rejected the clemency petitions of three killers of Rajiv Gandhi whose death sentences were confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2000.
Kangana Ranaut has reacted sharply after release date of her directorial film Emergency clashed with the Tiger Shroff-Amitabh Bachchan starrer Ganapath and Bhushan Kumar's Yaariyan 2.
Megastar Amitabh Bachchan, whose relationship with the Gandhi family have been strained over the years, says in his mind there is no change in feelings about them and that there is "no anger, no angst" from his side.
In a video message from New York on Monday night, the 75-year-old Mumbai-born author who has lived under the shadow of a fatwa since The Satanic Verses was published in the 1980s said it was important to continue to fight for the freedom to express and to publish.
'His assessment is wide off the mark from what is expected to be history's final verdict -- which is that Indira was the most unacceptable of all prime ministers because she was the only one who tried to throttle Indian democracy,' says Amulya Ganguli.
In remarks laced with sarcasm, Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has said that Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is an "innocent child" who reads from the dais whatever is given to him in writing.
Tytler "incited, instigated and provoked the mob assembled at Pul Bangash Gurudwara Azad Market" on November 1, 1984 that resulted in burning down of the gurudwara and killing of three Sikhs -- Thakur Singh, Badal Singh and Gurcharan Singh -- the CBI alleged in its charge sheet filed before a special court in New Delhi.
'We were children and could not distinguish freedom from bondage, but we could understand that a momentous and happy event was imminent.'
India's primary failings have been in its inability to deliver health and education for all.
'Amritpal was just a plant.' 'We have to be careful that such kind of people do not emerge in Punjab.'
Jaitley began his speech by saying that today is the auspicious day of Basant Panjami and that "spring is the season of optimism".
United States President Barack Obama received the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize at a glittering ceremony at Oslo City Hall on December 10.In his speech after receiving the award, Obama justified the use of force against extremists to protect his country. But he added that the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King "must always be the North Star that guides us on our journey."
The letter, being auctioned by Christie's, is estimated to be sold for around 12,000 pounds.
The Congress leader said he has traversed across the country, "but I have not seen violence, hatred anywhere. But I see it on television all the time."
Interacting with civil society members at the Bharat Jodo Yatra Conclave at the Constitution Club in New Delhi, Gandhi said the yatra is like tapasya for him, according to sources.
References to freedom fighter and India's first education minister Maulana Abul Kalam Azad have been removed from the new class 11 political science textbook by the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
The prime minister further alleged that the work of Congress while in power was mere pretentiousness.
'I'm very proud of what family I come from, but I feel it must always be an afterthought... 10 years of my work will get nullified when people say "Yeh toh genes main hai".'
Punjab National Bank claims Vadodara municipal corporation worker Shantilal Solanki owes them Rs 16 crores.
After Rahul's Bharat Jodo Yatra began criss-crossing the Hindi heartland, BJP leaders have revived their attacks on 'dynasty politics' and 'family rule' in the Congress, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Ahead of the launch of its 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' on Wednesday, the Congress said it is a turning point in Indian politics and marks a 'new beginning'.
He, however, said sometimes such people spread wrong news or information about China on purpose.
Some of the witnesses claimed though they did not hear what exactly Tytler told the mob, people gathered there "became violent after that (i.e. after the visit of accused) and began to attack the Gurudwara Pul Bangash and set it on fire."
A never-seen-before Rahul Gandhi exuded toughness and aggression. And it was not only about the words he used to castigate the opposition but his dialogue delivery, facial expressions, overall body language that conveyed a different, more confident Gandhi, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Palshikar and Yadav, who were chief advisors for the original Political Science books for classes 9 to 12, said, "While the modifications have been justified in the name of rationalisation, we fail to see any pedagogic rationale at work here. We find that the text has been mutilated beyond recognition. There are innumerable and irrational cuts and large deletions without any attempts to fill the gaps created.
