Bureaucrats, police officers and the security clan spend public funds as lavishly as ministers do.
'Look at the impropriety of the Anti-Corruption Bureau giving Ajit Pawar a clean chit!'
Sheela Bhatt deconstructs the murky goings-on in the Indian Premier League.
Sheela Bhatt says the Congress cannot have a celebratory party until it addresses the national issues demanding attention.
The recommendations of the people's tribunal on the problems of the tribals and the Maoist insurgency offers a comprehensive plan to tackle the situation and looks into the root causes of the issues at stake.
Nandkumar says it is too early to say to quantify the deficit in food grain production but, a 6-million hectare deficit in paddy cultivation has been noted in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. Nandkumar, whose office has a top view of the farming sector in India says that Indian farmers could somehow make up by growing maize or jowar instaed of paddy.
'Their Maoism is a facade only to become leaders in society,' argues former IPS officer Mahendra Kumawat, who has extensively dealt with Naxalites.
On the night of November 25, at around 10.30 pm, Rakesh Maria hand-delivered a long letter to Chandra Iyengar, the state additional home secretary. He took three hours to draft his letter because he has attached a detailed rebuttal with his letter expressing a desire to resign if he is not defended.
Senior Police Inspector Ramesh Mahale tells Sheela Bhatt that the Headley-Rana angle will not affect his case.
Rediff readers tell us what their mothers mean to them.
The Union home ministry believes the newly-formed National Investigation Agency will have to reinvestigate the 26/11 case if the David Headley-Tahawwur Rana probe produces unexpected links with the Mumbai terror attacks. This will be a serious matter and hit the Mumbai police's credibility.
'This is a great myth that there was never mediation over Kashmir. There was always private mediation. The talk of China mediating is just propaganda from both sides. It is irrelevant,' says British journalist Adrian Levy in Part-II of an interview with rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
"They argue that talking is a sign of weakness by India in view of what happened in Mumbai. I would argue that talking at this point is significant not for its goals but for the process itself, which needs to be started again," says noted British journalist Adrian Levy.
Sheela Bhatt explores and explains the Rahul Gandhi phenomenon and what it means for the Congress party and the nation's politics.
The Congress is searching high and low for a suitable candidate to take on Narendra Modi in the holy city. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com
'The theme of death seems to be a theme about which many of us, raised in Western societies, have almost completely removed from consciousness; it represents a theme that is suddenly and forcefully resurging now.' 'And for some, this is scary and destabilising.'
Experts differ on whether the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh could escalate tensions between India and China and even lead to war.
"Instead of talking about war, we must increase trade many fold, we should have common goals for space, energy and food security. India and China should protect the supply chain. Like securing Malacca Straits from pirates on the high seas. Both countries should jointly find ways to use high technology for poverty reduction. And evolve a consensus on environment and terrorism-related issues."
Sheela Bhatt was present in Mumbai special court that pronounced Ajmal Kasab guilty in the 26/11 terror attacks case. She sums up a dramatic day of courtroom action.
'We know the reason behind it. We also know who is behind the curtain (in prompting Kasab to withdraw his confessional statement), says Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam.
His arrest has created a sensation, given his affluent origins in Mumbai and his elite Doon School -- where he was Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi's classmate -- and London education. Ghandy is an intellectual supporting the Maoists in various ways, and has no criminal record whatsoever.
Intelligence officers have been recruited and are being trained at a state-of-the-art intelligence academy, reveals Mumbai Police Commissioner D Sivanandan in an exclusive interview to Sheela Bhatt.
'He also presented a facsimile of the scroll that was given to Gandhiji in Johannesburg in 1908 by the Chinese community there. I think that was quite a thoughtful gift,' Sabarmati Ashram Director Tridip Suhrud tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Sheela Bhatt on whay India's main Opposition party expelled one of its founding members.
Nearly a decade after Kutch faced its worst-ever earthquake, rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt travelled to Anjaar town to assess the public sentiment today about the tragedy that robbed the lives of 183 children.
New Delhi's Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan hospital is the ground zero of COVID-19 treatment in India. It's an exclusive Covid-dedicated hospital with 2,000 beds. Nowhere in India are so many coronavirus patients being treated under one roof.
Dr Singh's services are not going to be asked for in the electoral battle of 2009 as it wasn't used in the last five years. His presence in the Congress scheme of things was more of symbolic value than political. But, all said and done, he was a stable symbol that has now been shaken due to his absence from office.
Sheela Kochouseph Chittilapally is one of the most successful woman entrepreneurs in Kerala with a Rs 75 crore business.
Interlinking of rivers, retrieval of Katchatheevu island and inclusion of fishermen in the Scheduled Tribes list are also listed in the memorandum.
'In our country, there is a lot of checks and balances, the figures cannot go wrong.' 'Because they are being checked by not only the governments, but by doctors themselves.'
Sukhois alongside Chenchus. Sheela Bhatt argues that the search for YSR brought India face to face with Bharat.
Sheela Bhatt reveals how Sonia Gandhi has decided to take an active role in governance with the resurrection of the powerful National Advisory Council. A rediff exclusive!
'I am not minimising either the seriousness or the complex nature of the current situation.' 'Naturally, we have to do what it takes to secure our borders.' 'We are talking to the Chinese, both through military channels and diplomatic ones.'
'In fact, they work in tandem.' 'When it comes to finding a solution, this must be predicated on honouring all agreements and understandings.' 'And not attempting to alter the status quo unilaterally.'
'Kejriwal took political steps and micro level care at every level not to allow the consolidation of Hindu votes behind the BJP,' observes Sheela Bhatt, the distinguished political commentator.
The global heath body had earlier suspended the hydroxychloroquine arm of the clinical trials of experimental COVID-19 drugs over safety concerns.
Reader Sherry Kizhukandayil sends us a photograph.
'It has been a phenomenal effort at all levels of the government.' 'People were working 15-16 hour shifts in the central government, in the state governments, in the districts....'
In the first part of her analysis of the results of Election 2009, Sheela Bhatt wrote about how the Congress party was recasting itself for a new India. In the second and concluding part of her column, she writes about Rahul Gandhi's drive to return the party to its democratic roots and what he means for the Congress's future.
In an interview to Sheela Bhatt, the yoga guru said, "Austerity should be a way of life. It is possible to do away with luxuries if you understand that public money is not for oneself, but for the poor people."
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances