The defence minister has 20 months to learn the military's ethos, culture and to publicly bat for an organisation that feels increasingly marginalised and underappreciated.
'We have got our permutations and combinations in place.' 'We are also trying to garner support from some NDA allies.' 'Every section of society has suffered during the four years of Modi rule.'
'I had seen Waqt, starring Balraj Sahniji, and I can never forget it. There is a happy family and an earthquake later, everything is gone. That movie got stuck in my head. How one man loses his entire family and becomes a pauper. The same thing happens in Airlift.' Akshay Kumar, and his lovely leading lady Nimrat Kaur discuss their latest film.
'Never before in Bengal had a single party been re-elected with two-thirds of the assembly,' notes Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien.
'Gujarat should have been a breeze. But the Patidar agitation and economic uncertainty queered the pitch.' 'Yes, the BJP won and its rank-and-file will take great comfort in the assembly victory. But the leadership is taking stock for a very tricky set of elections coming up in 2018.'
On the eve of the final phase of the Uttar Pradesh elections, Rediff.com's Aslam Hunani reviews the political landscape in the epicentre and beyond.
'He totally gets the Gandhis...' 'If anything, he pays too much attention to the Gandhis.' 'I feel that in places like UP, where the Congress doesn't matter, he often spends time blasting the Gandhis.'
'...a dazzling flash, and then, fizzle,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
'His prosecutors have no doubt turned a student union leader into a national figure - howsoever briefly - with their miscalculations and misdeeds, and have done Kanhaiya a huge favour.' 'But he will soon realise that it is a double-edged sword that he has been handed,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Union minister Jairam Ramesh is back to doing what he does best: working out the logistics for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The RJD chief said, "Bihar mandate is a big slap on the Narendra Modi government. PM Modi wanted to fool people of Bihar but they understood his nefarious designs."
Will Narendra Modi bring to his appointment the vision and stature that the PM's job requires? Will he prove the worst fears of his detractors wrong, wonders Malavika Sangghvi
'On June 15, 1965, Major A K Afridi of the Pakistan army was captured by Papa's 1 Mahar unit near Vigokot, when he accidently walked into Indian territory.' 'While he was being airlifted to Delhi from Kutch, Major Afridi made a request: He wanted to watch Sangam>, the movie starring Raj Kapoor and Vyjayantimala. It was a request that the Indian Army fulfilled.' 'Major Afridi was sent with armed escorts to watch the movie in Ahmedabad and then sent to Delhi for further interrogation.'
The fact remains that in the present-day Tamil Nadu, GenX and GenY voters, born and/or growing up after the end of 'Kamaraj rule' in the '60s and 'MGR rule', respectively, constitute an absolute majority of the electorate. If they still vote for a Rajini or Kamal, in preference to the established 'Dravidian voters', it is despite the MGR imagery, not because of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sunita Iyer, lists the10 lesser known facts about the golden girl of Indian tennis.
'There are retaliatory incursions, ambushes, captures and killings by Indian forces along the 700 km border; alleged spies are caught on both sides, then mutually traded as pawns; envoys are summoned in both capitals to be routinely given dressing downs.' 'And there is always a handy courier pigeon, like Sajjan Jindal, sent over to test the troubled waters,' says Sunil Sethi.
The BJP's embarrassing rout in Delhi may affect Modi in many ways.
Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad tells Rediff.com that the government have decided to repeal 36 obsolete laws immediately, but many more will be added to this list in the coming months. The minister also informs that this exercise was undertaken on the instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had flagged the issue soon after he took charge. Rediff.com contributor Anita Katyal reports.
The BJP will be the obvious gainer while the DMK will lose a major chunk of its vote bank.
Nationalism, Hindutva, and war on corruption, not growth, will define Modi's politics until 2019.
A Ganesh Nadar's tales from the campaign trail.
Modi and Shah can't afford to lose any of the 24 per cent Dalit vote of 2014, says Shekhar Gupta.
Earning woes drag markets lower; TCS, HUL lead fall.
Former minister Milind Deora who in his free time more than strums a guitar and belts out a few songs, pays tribute to Prince.
Enormous debt isn't the only thing afflicting Air India. Its work culture is an equal culprit in its downfall.
The 52-year-old former cricketer and commentator who is also a popular television personality, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April.
'When the first Islamic State flags appeared, it was called an aberration.' 'When videos appeared, they were termed exceptions!' 'It is high time we accepted that the global jihad is here.'
Subramanian Swamy stole the BJP thunder in Tamil Nadu by meeting DMDK's Vijaykanth in Chennai, and his efforts seem to have paid off, at least in the interim, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The inquiry will bring under a scanner Arun Shourie, the then disinvestment minister, and Bharat Hotels Chairperson Jyotsna Suri.
'I am quite optimistic that sooner or later, my wishful thinking would turn into a reality.' The only hitch is that the INC president's own career ambitions may be hurt if the Congress merges with the BJP,' says Sudhir Bisht.
According to the report, the generation projects envisaged for completion by 2018-19 need to be given priority in fuel linkage.
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, IT expert Nandan Nilekani and cricketer Mohd Kaif are among 194 candidates as Congress tonight released the first list of its nominees for Lok Sabha polls that contains several new and young faces.
Why is an NRI banker with an MBA from MIT canvassing votes in Madurai?
Even after three decades, Mandi proves its lasting relevance and powerful impact on cinephile memory by inviting comparisons to Vidya Balan's Begum Jaan.
United Progressive Alliance's abysmal performance and the Bharatiya Janata Party's claims of good governance are two factors that could change how India votes this year, says Shreekant Sambrani
At a time when the Congress is perhaps facing its toughest electoral challenge and senior leaders are opting out of the race one by one, the party has at least succeeded in fielding tough candidates in two Lok Sabha constituencies in Punjab. Anita Katyal reports.
In one of his longest speeches, All India Congress Committee vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday tore into the Bharatiya Janata Party's poll manifesto. The BJP's manifesto was released on April 7 when the first phase polling of Lok Sabha 2014 had already begun. Shahnawaz Akhtar reports
The rally from Raj Ghat to Jantar Mantar saw marchers fervently waving the tricolour and raising slogans like 'Vande Mataram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai' with some of them saying that nothing is above 'nationalism'.
'Is Ansari flagging a genuine concern? Is a rectification called for?' 'And finally: Do minorities matter?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
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