'Since Modi is walking a tightrope between two worlds -- one of the saffron brotherhood and the other of the proposed smart cities and bullet trains -- it is understandable why he is averse to scrutiny lest he loses his balance by tilting too heavily on one side or the other. But, why has Sonia Gandhi acquired the reputation of a sphinx,' asks Amulya Ganguli.
Want to add to Sukanya Verma's list? Hit the message board.
Opposition parties ask the government to listen to the concern of the intellectuals returning awards.
In the beginning was Salman Khan and the word was Dabangg. Ever since Sallu bhaiyya outdid every other star's box-office record with his brother's film, by playing the buffoon and dumbing down to hitherto unimagined levels , every other actor worth his namak has had his Dabangg moment: Shah Rukh Khan with Chennai Express, Ranbir Kapoor with Besharam and Shahid Kapur with Phata Poster Nikla Hero.
A major slugfest erupted on Thursday over Bharatiya Janata Party MP Chandan Mitra's demand for stripping Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of the Bharat Ratna award and the economist offering to return it if Atal Bihari Vajpayee asks him to do so.
Back in the thick of action, former Indian Premier League boss Lalit Modi will be in his element now
'We cannot capture the mind space of today's youth by evoking past sacrifices. Politics is about hope; hope for the future. The Congress hankers about the past too much.'
'We have not seen even during Vajpayee's time what Modi and the BJP has adopted now.'
Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharati recently reiterated her commitment towards making the Yamuna Shuddikaran Abhiyan a success but said little else. It is obvious that in comparison to the Ganga about which she waxes eloquent at the drop of a hat, her treatment towards Yamuna can at best be described as step-motherly. Rashme Sehgal reports on efforts to save the river.
Salim-Javed's speciality was conjuring the kind of violence that played on your mind rather than the sort that played out only in front of your eyes.
Sushma Swaraj does not follow anybody, Gadkari is happy to track only two, while Parrikar has only 117 tweets.
'Modi didn't face such belligerence in his home state. Moreover, as the prime minister, he can no longer resort to his earlier ploy of describing every attack on himself as an attack on Gujarat. Instead, he has to rebut the charges with calm logic,' says Amulya Ganguli.
'No one needs to lose sleep if a person with better operational credentials supersedes lesser endowed peers,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
Indians took to social media to pay their respects.
The leadership styles of the two Gandhis being different, the party appears to be pulling in different ways. While Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving Congress president, seems more predisposed to holding the government accountable on issues of probity, the younger Gandhi is more keen on taking up battles that ensure immediate victories.
'If the Congress is to challenge the NDA government, Rahul Gandhi will have to shed his indifference to Parliament, become more visible and vocal and, essentially, lead from the front,' says Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal.
Director Anil Sharma gives us an insight into the Deol men, and other Bollywood Greats.
The Supreme Court needs to step in and order an independent inquiry into the whole IPL scandal, conflicts of interest between office-holders of the BCCI, team-owners of the IPL and even members and captain of the Indian team, says KC Singh
The city is becoming more democratic as the past embraces the future says Rahul Jacob.
A majority of India's billionaires gained wealth in the last one year in spite of the stock market decline.
Saeed Jaffrey lives on through his versatile body of work.
Old songs, retro fashion, 1980s pop culture, childhood icons and sharing space with Kundan Shah on paper, the theme of Sukanya Verma's super-filmi week was consistently nostalgic.
Several high profile companies are burdened with losses, mounting debt and have a huge load of operational costs.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday began a stock-taking exercise following the party's debacle in assembly polls in Haryana and Maharashtra even as a clamour for "course correction" grew within its ranks in the wake of the dip in electoral fortunes.
'Even if the anti-Modi 'Mahagatbandhan' gets a majority there is simply no way that Nitish Kumar can ensure even a stable government, leave alone a good -- clean, development-oriented -- government,' argues T V R Shenoy.
'Instead of camping in the cities and leading the party, leaders have to go to the interiors of the country.' 'The Congress is losing touch with the common man.'
Giving up cricket isn't easy for a cricketer especially when you are the son of a cricket legend.
Veteran actress, television personality and anchor, Tabassum, who has completed 67 years in the industry, shares her insights about the stars of the past.
'The reason why Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have attended the President's iftar was not merely to break a fast with the faithful, but more importantly to broker an understanding with India's second largest set of citizens,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
'Given that 95 per cent of rapes are committed by adults and only 5 per cent by juveniles, these 95 per cent of rapes will continue to take place, so what women's safety are we talking about?'
Pilot says that the Congress is demanding that the Rajasthan CM be booked for criminal culpability.
Armed with data and statistics, Congress leaders refute every point made by Narendra Modi as part of its new strategy to take on the firebrand Gujarat chief minister. Renu Mittal reports
The success story of Adani's Mundra Port in Gujarat, in terms of efficiency, technology and management, should be replicated at Vizhinjam to ensure that this ambitious project does not fail, say Shehzad Poonawalla and Riya Sinha.
Rajeev Srinivasan on whom the Congress might put forth as its leader in 2014.
'In May 2014, India got its Donald Trump equivalent as prime minister in the form of Narendra Modi. Come 2016, we will know if America too gets its own version of Modi by electing Trump,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
The Queen has retired, the bosses have left, long live the prince as king, says Shiv Visvanathan.
'Madhubala told me that of all the addictions, the biggest addiction is make-up; once you put it on, you can never leave the limelight even if you want to,' Tabassum tells Patcy N.
'Shakti Samanta was a very honest man. I have done four films with him. He was very sick before he died; nobody was allowed to see him in the hospital. I went but I could not bear to see him like that. Iftekar and I would go to see Ashok Kumar often. He would ask me to bring some kheema, as he loved my wife's preparation. I would have attended kavi sammelans with Jan Nisar Akhtar (Javed Akhtar's father), Sahir Ludhianvi and Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan was a child then, and would often accompany his father.' Veteran actor Chandrashekhar Vaidya goes back in time.
'Both nations have a common problem: A rampaging, jingoistic and hostile China which is making substantial territorial claims. In the long run, Japan and India are going to be the victims of Chinese aggression -- so they might as well hang together to contain China,' argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
Deven Verma passed away into the ages on December 2. We re-publish an interview done with the veteran actor.
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