She recited a Kashmiri verse, which was part of a poem by Sahitya Akademi award winner Pandit Dinanath Koul. She rendered the verse in both Kashmiri and Hindi. Besides, the minister quoted woman Tamil poet Avvaiyar, Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, a verse from Raghuvamsa by Kalidasa, as well as late finance minister Arun Jaitley while talking about the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
By filing his nomination as Congress president on Friday, Shashi Tharoor has shown he is no 'quockerwodger' -- a word he introduced into our lexicon which means someone acting on the instructions of an influential third party.
'Himanta Biswa Sarma has put a lot of effort in demonising Muslims this time.'
The official said the organisation, composed of people drawn from Hindu right groups, had around 60 members spread across at least five states but had no name.
A group of academics and scholars on Friday expressed their outrage and anger against the "assault on academic and constitutional freedom", joining the recent protests by writers, artistes, filmmakers, historians and scientists over "rising intolerance".
Girish Karnad lived several lives not only on the stage but also as a scholar, theatre personality, an actor and director in a career spanning over five decades.
The historians expressed concern over the silence of the prime minister on the issue. "And when it is hoped that the head of government will make a statement about improving the prevailing conditions, he chooses to speak only about general poverty; and it takes the Head of the State to make the required reassuring statement, not once but twice."
President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders condoled the death of Veerendra Kumar.
Jnanpith awardee and eminent Malayalam poet, lyricist and environmentalist O N V Kurup passed away at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday following cardiac arrest. He was 84.
Over 200 noted authors, including Salman Rushdie and Neel Mukherjee, have asked British Prime Minister David Cameron to raise the issue of "rising climate of fear" and "growing intolerance" in India during his talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi.
A total of 3,006 session sites across all states and union territories will be virtually connected during the launch at 10.30 am by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinated at each session site.
Exquisitely shot, with shadows and light capturing the hypnotic mood of the film, Jalsaghar is a viewing treat you owe yourself.
'The government is doing away with crucial laws such as the Forest Conservation Act and the Environment Protection Act which had helped safeguard our forests.' 'The President has to show that she will stand in favour of tribal rights.'
Another 24 filmmakers including Kundan Shah of "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro" fame and Saeed Mirza and writer Arundhati Roy today returned their National Awards over "growing intolerance", voicing fears that the country's robust democracy might be "coming apart" in the current atmosphere.
Hitting out at the intellectuals attacking the Centre over "the climate of intolerance", they said a section of nation's intelligentsia was dismayed by Narendra Modi's victory in the Lok Sabha polls and "failure in the elections is now sought to be avenged by other means".
'No other leader in our history, or that of our neighbours, has been able to produce anything of the quality that Nehru did,' says Aakar Patel.
'People like Mahaswetadi can never die. They live in our hearts and minds,' says writer Nabaneeta Dev Sen.
The article also says that madrasas and the Muslim leadership in the country teach Muslims to disregard and hate Indian culture.
Some BJP and Congress leaders believe the assembly building is filled with 'negative energy'.
'It seems we will get an NRC which will include the names of illegal foreigners and exclude genuine Indian citizens'
The Karnataka government decided to hand over to the Central Bureau of Investigation the probe into the murder of noted Kannada progressive thinker and scholar M M Kalburgi, even as his body was laid to rest with full state honours.
Lovers of good cinema should not miss this opportunity to watch one of the best Indian films of 2016, raves Aseem Chhabra.
'The valiant upholder of national honour is strangely silent when African envoys are complaining about the insecurity of blacks in 'tolerant' and 'incredible' India,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'If the Sanatan Sanstha is a threat to peaceful co-existence and Goa's culture, then I must stand up against such threats.'
After years of disrepair, R K Narayan's house is inching towards becoming a memorial.
MUST READ: The speech Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to give.
Will Indian democracy benefit from the potential that Shashi Tharoor stores in his mind, spirit and intellect? Or will it be the saga of another leader who promised much but delivered too little, asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
'Gujaratis, among all Indians, are supposed to be born businessmen, but if more than 80% of them do not have the ability to do basic arithmetic, the future is grim.' 'The big issues are in society and they cannot be changed by an HRD minister no matter how brilliant she may be or think of herself as being,' says Aakar Patel.
The banyan tree and the green chilli; the crow and the beetle; the rose and the mango; the informality and good humour of its people... Beloved author Ruskin Bond continues Rediff.com's special series on India's treasures, and tells Archana Masih that India's wealth lies in its simple splendours.
R K Narayan's house has been preserved as a simple museum with his memorabilia, thanks to the imagination of a commissioner of Mysore, who stopped its sale by RKN's successors to a property developer and purchased it for the government.
'What will be achieved by the prime minister's condemnation of each and every unfortunate incident? Will just the PM's condemnation bring about closure to these cases,' asks Sudhir Bisht.
The Hindu right-wing body in its mouthpiece taunts "liberals" protesting the Dadri lynching incident, asking what exactly is their idea of India.
'She never desisted from calling a spade a spade and that's what made her such a unique character.'
'This may seem like a lyrical lamenting of a writer, but it is the sad reality in and outside the industry. In films, nine out of 10 times the writer's name is not mentioned in posters, publicity or even reviews.' Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali and actress-writer Preeti Mamgain hope to make way for Bollywood's writers.
'What we see today is bargaining.' 'The man's family sets a price for him and then they start bargaining.' 'He is sold to the family that offers the highest price.' 'In this market, a woman is just a commodity to be sold because if she remained at home, it is a humiliation for the family.'
'In today's India very few would, of course, stand Basavanna's test. This led Professor Kalburgi to not only take on casteist and conservative forces in general, but also some powerful conservatives among Lingayats.' 'Conservatives found him polarising and some researchers disagreed with his speculations while admiring his scholarship, but he posited that culture studies and historians have to perforce join the dots, speculate, interpret, interpolate, extrapolate and take leaps to make progress even if some of them later turn out to be wrong.' Shivanand Kanavi salutes Professor M M Kalburgi, the scholar who was assassinated in Dharwad on Sunday, August 30.
A total of 3,30,27,661 people had applied to be included in the NRC. Of them, 3,11,21,004 have been included in the document and 19,06,657 excluded.
Bhilar, a strawberry farming hub in Maharashtra, has been transformed into India's first 'books village'.
As Shah Rukh Khan turned guide in Jab Harry Met Sejal, Sukanya Verma looks back at Bollywood's original Guide.
Anupam Kher on why he thinks the prime minister is a genuine person.
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