"Sushma Swaraj is a great asset to the nation. There is a no allegation at all. Still they want her to resign," he said.
What your favourite celebrities are saying on social media.
'Ashok the Great did not slaughter foreigners or Muslims when he conquered Kalinga. It was Oriya- speaking Hindus whom he butchered by the tens of thousands. But Ashok is called Great, and his lion emblem is the official symbol of the Republic of India.' 'Why do we honour Ashoka and not Tipu, when both men are accused of the same crime?' asks Aakar Patel.
The BJP president demanded that Rahul apologise for his stand on the JNU issue, saying support to anti-national forces in the name of the Left's progressive ideology is not acceptable.
The Imitation Game is an unsubtle film that delivers exactly what you expect in the most predictable way, laments Raja Sen.
'Modi's brilliance seems to be in combining Indira Gandhi's 'feel' for the Indian pulse and Narasimha Rao's cynicism.' 'By the time the Opposition leaders caught up with Modi over the 'surgical strikes', he had already moved on,' says M K Bhadrakumar.
For the past, blame the Congress. For the present, blame the Congress. For everything, blame the Congress. But for your future, vote BJP.
The controversial Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill was passed by the Gujarat assembly on Tuesday, which allows police to intercept and record telephonic conversations and submit them in court as evidence.
Rediff.com takes a look at some personalities who are likely to win the prize this year.
'There is no remorse over the Dadri lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq or of Pehlu Khan by cow vigilante groups.' 'But should you not have remorse for those who came to kill them?' 'They were Hindus. Do you accept that?' 'That to kill one Pehlu, 20 Hindus have become murderers.' Rajdeep Sardesai in conversation with Ravish Kumar.
The journalist, identified as Anwar of news channel CNN IBN, said despite heavy police deployment, clashes erupted in the court complex and the cops' presence did not deter the lawyers from shouting slogans and fighting with journalists and students.
'There were 10-15 JNU guys who came in fake lawyer dress and instigated the violence. They want to give us a bad name.' 'When someone holds my brother lawyer's neck must I wait for permission from the media and the police to beat the attacker?' 'These JNU guys are raising anti-India slogans and I am saying Hindustan Zindabad and you say I have created problems.' Lawyer Yashpal Singh tries to explain the violence outside a Delhi court.
'If they succeed in silencing this great university, it will be a tragic day for the nation.'
'If 25 black men had been executed illegally in the US in one day, the government would have fallen and the population would have rallied to the victims. In India, those of us who did not applaud the police only yawned,' says Aakar Patel.
On that day, Sheikh Abdullah, political anchor of J&K's accession with the Indian Union, was unceremoniously removed from power and put behind bars; causing a tectonic emotional breach and setting off disastrous fault lines between Srinagar and New Delhi and its effects continue to this day, says Mohammad Sayeed Malik.
Not many Indians know how RAW functions, or what life in India's external intelligence agency is like. This is what former Research and Analysis Wing officer Amar Bhushan told Rediff.com in 2012.
'In this resurgent India, class is the new caste. We are shaken up only occasionally, and briefly, when a battered, tribal teenager from Jharkhand looks us in the eye from our closet,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The speaker said she was ready to start the debate right away if the House agreed. The debate has been listed in Monday's list of business under Rule 193.
With faction bosses not seeming to control anyone any more, can the BJP count on the AIADMK for the presidential polls any more, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
With the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party all set to form the next government in Delhi, Congress cadres are furious with former Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit for forcing the party to prop up the new dispensation. Anita Katyal reports.
BJP leader Ram Madhav's rant about Vice President Hamid Ansari's absence at the International Yoga Day celebrations goes deeper, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf, deep into their brain.
'Tying somebody to the jeep is not the military way, but the officer was able to come out of the situation without any bloodshed.' 'I am not supporting him, but I am also not criticising him.' 'He had to use some mechanism to save the uniformed personnel, many of whom were Kashmiri boys of the J&K police,' points out Lieutenant General D B Shekatkar (retd), who was instrumental in the surrender of a record 1,267 terrorists in Kashmir.
'Pink a movie that's assembled especially for that section of prejudice-free Indians who are all on this side of the screen.' 'Look...there's virtuosity staring at you, 24 Frames per Second.' 'Soak it in; more power to the revolution, more wax to the candlelight vigils,' says Sreehari Nair.
There is no war against Islam, but there is definitely one against Islamic radicalism, says Claude Smadja.
All those of us who care about books should welcome the appointment, as head of the Indian Council of Historical Research, of Yellapragada Sudarshan Rao. This is not because Rao has so far distinguished himself as a writer about "history and tourism management", which is the department of Kakatiya University in Warangal he headed before retiring to head an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-backed project to "write history from a nationalist perspective and popularise Sanskrit", two aims which naturally go together for the RSS.
'Tagore repeatedly denounced the "My country, right or wrong" attitude.' 'We often use the phrase "unity in diversity" like a cliche and often make diversity secondary, giving precedence to unity.' 'You do not have to shout from the rooftops that we are very tolerant.'
'For Nitish Kumar the message is to be democratic. With the support of the BJP, he had suppressed criticism in Bihar. He would also need to change his highly authoritarian way of governance.' 'The Grand Alliance, given the decisive mandate in its favour, cannot afford to fail the people. They have a duty to make it a model for the rest of India,' says Apoorvanand.
'The blood that runs in the veins of our family can never be anti-national.' 'They called Kanhaiya a traitor for questioning the Indian Army. Do they know that our cousin was killed by militants in Manipur while serving with the CRPF?' Archana Masih/Rediff.com travelled to the land of Lal Salam, Lal Sitara and comrades to find out what moulded India's most talked about student leader, Kanhaiya Kunar.
Roopa Pai's book, The Gita For Children, is a marvellous read that retells the epic conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, that will long stay with you after you have turned the last page.
'Why can't we make it mandatory for all IAS and IPS officers to serve in the armed forces for a year before joining service? What stops us from making it compulsory for every Member of Parliament to spend three months, immediately after taking oath, in military barracks/maybe a few nights in the bunkers on the borders, to learn and understand the life of a fauji?' wonders Tarun Vijay, MP.
'The speech shone a spotlight on both the promise and the challenges of the Narendra Modi era,' says Ram Kelkar. 'The single-minded focus which Mr Modi displayed on issues of good governance and empowering the private sector and individual enterprise.'
Despite major setbacks, the Maoists' ability to inflict damage on the State and maintain its position as the saviour of the tribals will keep them relevant, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
'... for two reasons: the poor quality of education, and the low rate of female participation in the labour force.' 'Unless something is done quickly to remedy these problems, India will just have a large population of low-skill, low-wage, males trying and failing to feed their families adequately.'
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The eternal question remains unanswered, what price security and what cost liberty, says Vikram Sood.
There are indications that the BJP may not be as enthusiastic as it was on the Telangana issue now that the Congress has cleared the decks for the creation of the new state.
'What if Modi becomes the fascist the leftists paints him as? What if he does suspend the Constitution and declares himself the ruler, with support from the army? What exactly will you do, Mr Leftie?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
'My confidence in the Indian judiciary is absolute after I saw justice being delivered in Gujarat even when a BJP government was ruling the state. The Muslims of Gujarat believed that they will never get justice in a BJP-ruled state, but the facts are before all of us to make a judgment.'
'B Raman knew that Yakub Memon should not be given the capital punishment but at the same time he harboured too much anger against Dawood Ibrahim and 'Tiger' Memon, and wanted to see that they do not stand to gain in the legal process in any manner whatsoever.'
Don't forget to make your pick for the newsmaker of 2015.
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