'Critics say the political leadership abandoned the army chief or did not back him. I disagree. 'Military leaders are trained to take decisions when given a free hand.' 'This was a clear go-ahead from the prime minister to the army chief.'
'If a common man wants to buy an air purifier for Rs 10,000, then he will have to shell out Rs 11,800 with 18 percent GST.' 'If he is charged GST at 5 percent the same air purifier will cost Rs 10,500.' 'This saves a one time amount of Rs 1,300 -- and that too just to breathe clean air.'
Salakaar is full of heart, and emotionally satisfying, applauds Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf's excitement knew no bounds when he laid his hands on the 'poor man's iPad'. But the supposedly 'revolutionary' and 'game-changing' piece of technology that sells at Rs 2,500 a piece went kaput in 30 minutes flat. Yes, we are talking about the Aakash Tablet PC. Firdaus pours his heart out.
SEBI alleges Jane Street placed bets on the stock market falling and then acted in a way to make the market actually fall so it could win its bet.
'Women in crime can turn on and off emotions like a tap.' 'Something that comes in the way of their goals can be eliminated without a second thought.'
You are hooked on The Hunt: The Rajiv Gandhi Assassination Case from the first episode, applauds Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
If the Thackerays don't save a Marathi school in their backyard, who will, wonders Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'The worst part is that after the attack on December 9, the Dehradun police refused to register an FIR for the murder.'
'The real leader is not the one who builds flyovers and bridges. The real leader gets into the space of the human hearts which are at war and brings them together.' 'Gandhi did that. There cannot be a nation which is vibrant and strong where there is hatred which is tearing you apart,' filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com
'MGNREGA was about a guaranteed right to work.' 'The new law does not guarantee employment at all.' 'It removes everything that made MGNREGA a legal guarantee.'
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement are glaring with lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12-hour long power cuts making life miserable. And most of the people are hopeful that Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya. Syed Firdaus Ashraf speaks to some Ayodhya residents to get a hang of their real issues.
'All these farmers and tribals were told to bring their own wood and ration to cook food during the march.'
'The BJP's top leadership realised that their cadres are not happy with them, so they changed the ministers and got in new faces.'
'He is a man of action and goes to the ground and solves the problem.' 'Be it the Air India crash of Ahmedabad, Morbi bridge collapse, Deesa blast or Gambhira bridge collapse, he is on the spot.'
As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
The realities at the nerve centre of the Ram Janambhoomi movement are lack of development, rampant unemployment and 12 hour-long power cuts. Most residents hope Narendra Modi will change the situation in Ayodhya.
'He is the same man who has won honours for the country across the world.'
'If you can come with some arrangement with the Pakistanis that Pakistan ceases to stop creating trouble in Kashmir in return for the Indians not arming Afghanistan, everyone wins.' William Dalrymple discusses his new book Return of a King, Afghanistan, the Mughals and, of course, India with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Narendra Modi can never be Vajpayee because the poet-prime minister had a heart. Modi doesn't. He only understands the language of business, of profit and loss. It is beyond his capacity to understand a complex country like India, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Jaswant Singh's biography of M A Jinnah has cost him his place in the BJP. Syed Firdaus Ashraf looks at Jinnah and his controversial place in India's history.
Deepika Padukone talks about her upcoming film, Karthik Calling Karthik, and Ranbir Kapoor.
'Punjab floods are a calamity.' 'Right from Firozpur to Amritsar nearly 1 lakh homes have been completely damaged due to floods.'concern about the state of affairs.
'No Musharraf or Vajpayee can solve this problem till the people of Kashmir are involved,' JKLF leader Yasin Malik tells Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Many people have this perception that Biharis are abnormal people,' says director Prakash Jha.
'And be confident that we will do a successful operation... Don't ask for a deadline. It is very difficult to say in such cases,' says Major General R K Hooda.
The movie has everything going for it. A total paisa vasool film!
'The liberalisation of the Indian economy has triggered a growing belief in education, because they believe they can be a part of the economic bandwagon and benefit from it.'
'I like to tell stories that are real. When you say something true, it becomes controversial. It's not that I desire controversy; it's just that I want to tell the truth.' Director Rahul Dholakia talks about his new film Lamhaa and the Kashmir issue.
The filmmaker, whose latest film, Black & White hits the marquee on Friday was in a philosophical mood as he recounted the debacle of Kisna, and why Bollywood needs writers more than ever.
'There is no substantive basis for Bangladesh-Pakistan relations. The only real link they can have is mischief, with Pakistan's intelligence agency using Bangladesh to create trouble along our eastern borders.'
Zarine Khan hopes to have her own footprint in Bollywood, with her film Veer.
Journalist turned filmmaker Mahesh Nair speaks to Syed Firdaus Ashraf about his struggle to make it in Bollywood.
Akshaye Khanna talks about his latest, Hulchul.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf offers a ready reckoner on Javed Akhtar's great great grandfather Fazl e Haq Khairabadi who fought the British empire during the 1857 Mutiny and was imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.
Nagpur police commissioner SPS Yadav says Marlon Samuels' conversation with an alleged bookmaker was no crime, but it certainly violated the ICC Code of Conduct.
'The Pakistan establishment keeps him well protected.'
Bollywood's comic sensation recommends his all-time favourites.
'As a defence lawyer I won't know if a policeman under cross questioning is being prompted to answer by someone behind his computer screen.'
