Can un-democracy be the foundation for a democratic party that aspires to be different from all other parties in India.
'Human rights violations are there in rural areas and in cities. In rural areas it is crude and in the open. In urban areas it is well hidden.' 'Awareness has grown several fold. India has 160 national and state human rights institutions. No other country in the world has this.' 'Unfortunately the right to association, right to assembly, freedom of expression, right to protest and discuss are all being curtailed systematically one by one.'
Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.
In the book, 'Where Borders Bleed: An Insider's Account of Indo-Pak Relations', Rajiv Dogra says that a judge had told him of this.
Rahul Gandhi has not erred by not engaging with Muslim conservatives. After all, they had misled his father in 1986 to legislate a misogynistic law after the Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano case, which helped the BJP rise at the cost of the Congress, says Mohammad Sajjad.
Abbas seeks India's role in peace process as PM Modi visits Palestine.
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
'Our countrymen should be made aware of the need to be polite and friendly to our African guests.' 'They should know the dictum, athithi devo bhava, whether they are black or white,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who once served as India's high commissioner to Kenya.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United States President Barack Obama will meet in Washington on Thursday to chart a course for "future cooperation" in areas such as civil nuclear technology, trade, investment, defence and counter-terrorism, amid perceptions that bilateral strategic ties have plateaued.
Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding father and first prime minister, died on Monday at the age of 91 of severe pneumonia.
Vice President Hamid Ansari on Monday embarked on a five-day visit to Morocco and Tunisia as part of efforts to build on diplomatic gains from the India-Africa Summit and lay platform for a future partnership.
'Oommen Chandy may well prove to be the Teflon chief minister whose reputation cannot be tarnished,' predicts Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'If Rao had, in fact, given a word to President Clinton in 1994 that India would not test, he would not have encouraged Vajpayee to test. The note, said to have been handed over to Vajpayee by Rao with the words, 'Now is the time to accomplish my unfinished task' may not have been a reference to nuclear tests at all,' says T P Sreenivasan.
Seeking a peaceful and secure neighbourhood amidst threat of terrorism and extremism, India and Kyrgyzstan on Sunday signed four agreements including one on bolstering defence cooperation and holding annual joint military exercises.
'At the very end of his speech, he dealt with the 'small problems' of Indian workers. But these measures did not seem to satisfy those who had expected the prime minister to find solutions for their problems. That the prime minister generally focused on broad policy issues and not on matters of detail left them bewildered,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
Days after the PM announced a financial inclusion package, a look at how banks and insurance firms are going about it and what lies ahead.
'Munna Michael was not planned at all.' 'On the last day of the shooting for Heropanti, I gave Tiger a small narration.' 'He loved it.' 'Last year, Tiger reminded me of that narration, and asked, "Why don't you make it?"' 'Because of his excitement, this film has happened.'
Lieutenant General J F R Jacob, Chief of Staff, Eastern Army Command during the 1971 war, revealed how, armed with only a draft surrender document and an aide, he made the Pakistani army led by Lieutenant General A A K Niazi surrender.
Lieutenant General J F R Jacob, Chief of Staff, Eastern Army Command during the 1971 war, revealed how, armed with only a draft surrender document and an aide, he made the Pakistani army led by Lieutenant General A A K Niazi surrender.
Lieutenant General J F R Jacob, Chief of Staff, Eastern Army Command during the 1971 war, revealed how, armed with only a draft surrender document and an aide, he made the Pakistani army led by Lieutenant General A A K Niazi surrender.
Lieutenant General J F R Jacob, Chief of Staff, Eastern Army Command during the 1971 war, revealed how, armed with only a draft surrender document and an aide, he made the Pakistani army led by Lieutenant General A A K Niazi surrender.
Lieutenant General J F R Jacob, Chief of Staff, Eastern Army Command during the 1971 war, reveals how, armed with only a draft surrender document and an aide, he made the Pakistani army led by Lieutenant General A A K Niazi surrender.
'Rahul is only making a pathetic public spectacle of his lack of judgment and good sense by hallucinating that somehow, the Congress, or whatever political combine is cobbled together, will displace the BJP at the coming Lok Sabha election by constantly harping on the Rafale deal,' argues retired civil servant B S Raghavan.
India's Kailash Satyarthi received the Nobel Peace Prize for 2014 on Wednesday, sharing it with Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai, the youngest ever Nobel laureate, for their work on promoting child rights in the troubled sub-continent, where millions are deprived of their childhood and education.
When the bench asked Sibal 'shouldn't we hear the matter', he replied, 'Yes. You shouldn't.'
'This has been an ongoing process,' says Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former consul general in San Francisco, 'but I believe a Modi visit to the West Coast can be a force-multiplier.'
'If the Nairs split between Shashi Tharoor and the BJP candidate, O Rajagopal and the Nadars combine with the Leftists and the Christians to vote for the CPI candidate, Bennet Abraham, what would happen to Tharoor. It is presumed that the voters do not cast their votes, they vote their castes,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan
When Rani Hong was just seven, she was taken from her family and sold into slavery. At an age when she should have been enjoying her childhood, she was subjected to treatment that left her close to death.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
'There is no danger of the suggestion being accepted in a hurry, as we are still discussing the design of an IFS tie and trainee officers are still taught how to handle forks and knives.'
Son of a Madurai farmer, Dr Vijayaragavan Vishwanathan has built a unique device for agriculture that can save water as well as electricity. Ironically, Vijay got support for his project from different international bodies but is still looking to get support from Indian government organisations when the product was specifically made for India.
What happens if a movie ends differently? Reality checks in, of course.
'An isolationist US and a disintegrating European Union will create a power vacuum that only China is in a position to fill -- a conclusion that is uncomfortable but unavoidable,' says Nitin Desai.
We bring you some of the memorable quotes from the speech as he called for united action against violent extremism:
India and China on Friday agreed to seek a "political" solution to the border dispute at the earliest as Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked Beijing to "reconsider its approach on some issues" and announced CBMs like e-visa for Chinese tourists and operationalisation of hotline between two militaries.
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
The President said Indian economy grew at 5.7 per cent during the first quarter of 2014-15.
Dr Jashu Patel, who led the delegation, told Rediff.com he did not discuss the protest when he met Modi, "but he was aware of who we were and we had communicated with him three days ago". "I am concerned about what is happening in Gujarat," said Dr Patel, "So we submitted a memorandum to him."
