Will Nandan Nilekani actually fight the elections? While the I-T czar says the question is speculative, here's our list of 10 eminent business leaders who should get on the stump.
Nina Davuluri's choice as Miss America shows how hollow Indians' concept of beauty is and how our beauty pageants don't reflect the country's diversity, says Amberish K Diwanji
Infosys Ltd co-founder Nandan Nilekani has joined the Congress party and will contest Lok Sabha polls from Bangalore South.
The fear is that we in India are really not ready for a society where the social order is disrupted, says Amberish K Diwanji.
Let not our current anger against gang rapes undermine centuries of wisdom. Because, in doing so, we may just be putting our women at greater risk, says Amberish K Diwanji
It is time to reform the RBI and the ministry of finance, says Dr Ajay Shah of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi.
'The problem is even after we know that India is an active quake region, we have done so little to prepare for earthquakes,' says Dr V Ramani.
Malvinder Singh, President (Pharmaceuticals) and Executive Director, Ranbaxy, says the company aims to touch $5 billion in revenues by 2012, with growth coming from American and European markets.
'It had to be a surgical operation, one that caused the minimum damage but it had to be as quick as possible because once word got around...' General K S Brar looks back at Operation Bluestar.
'What Nehru valued most of all was the attempted construction of a plural, open, and democratic polity working for change in the lives of all citizens,' says biographer Judith Brown.
'It had to be a surgical operation, one that caused the minimum damage but it had to be as quick as possible because once word got around...' General K S Brar looks back at Operation Bluestar.
'Even if organised retail takes 10 percent of the market, it is around Rs 50,000 crores!' says RPG Retail CEO Raghu Pillai.
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
Should NOTA ever get the maximum number of votes (which makes it the 'winner'), then a re-election should be held and all the candidates should be disqualified.'
'Reviving the nuclear deal was crucial before the Obama visit... It was time for the BJP to admit that it was wrong, and redo the civil nuclear liability laws.'
'So complete is Modi's takeover of the foreign ministry, that Swaraj today is less important than a minister of state for secularism in Modi's government!'
A sadhu's dream, and India's bizarre response, reveals the country's true nature, says Amberish K Diwanji.
It is Gujarat that is preventing Modi from becoming a pan-India leader. Gujarat wants Modi to be an all-India leader only on its term: As a strong votary of Hindutva. But that very position is a recipe for disaster on the national stage, feels Amberish K Diwanji.
'If we can award Madan Mohan Malaviya who died in 1946, then why not the Mahatma who died in 1948?' 'Why not go a little further back in time and give the award to Rabindranath Tagore who died in 1941?' 'And should we mark Lokmanya Tilak's 100th death anniversary in 2020 by giving him a Bharat Ratna,' asks Amberish K Diwanji.
To remember Jawaharlal Nehru only for his mistakes on Kashmir or China is unfair. A democratic and secular India is in no small measure the awesome legacy of India's first prime minister, says Amberish K Diwanji
If Narendra Modi wants to become prime minister, he needs to do better, argues Amberish K Diwanji.
Kiran Bedi tells Amberish K Diwanji reasons for her optimism about change in the political sysatem.
Amberish K Diwanji on Indian prime ministers and the seven-year itch.
The Congress has ruled India for 54 of the last 67 years; that it took the party over six decades to come up with bills that provide citizens their basic needs is a shame, not a moment of triumph, says Amberish K Diwanji.
By speaking out against Manmohan Singh, by constantly bashing the UPA/Congress, Modi by 2014 will be like a television show in replay mode. In winning the intra-BJP battle, he runs losing the war with the UPA, feels Amberish K Diwanji.
'Banning conversion would harm Hinduism by taking away the need for reform.'
Tragically, the Congress party is perhaps the only party with the credentials to resolve the Kashmir question. It could have done so in the decade it was in office, and when India was in a position of strength. Now, India seems to be headed for a period of political instability along with an economic downturn. New Delhi's clout is weakening, says Amberish K Diwanji.
There is something deeply disturbing about wanting to build such a large temple in what is arguably India's poorest state, a state that like many other states of India, particularly in north India, is crying for more schools, more hospitals and primary health centres, and, dare I say it, more toilets for everyone, says Amberish K Diwanji
There is no doubt: Manmohan Singh must resign. Not merely because he has been humiliated, but because the persona of the PM has been sullied beyond measure, says Amberish K Diwanji
What the ordinance overturning the Supreme Court order debarring jailed MPs and MLAs from contesting elections reveals is that Sonia Gandhi is not a leader; rather, she is being led, says Amberish K Diwanji.
In Narendra Modi, every BJP worker sees what he might have been or what he can become, says Amberish K Diwanji
'Pakistan is paying the price for ignoring secularism. In seeking to be ever more Muslim to define its nationhood, it has become a terrorist haven.'
ndia is today in the grip of conservatism. This shows up in the way we treat our women, or murder those who question our beliefs. Or in the way women are getting raped with little fear of the law or society, says Amberish K Diwanji.
Colonel Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest honour for courage, for wresting the first victory of the Kargil War. Leading 40 men, his unit evicted 135 Pakistani troops in a three day battle fought in two feet snow and minus 6 degrees.
There is some irony, and a lot of hypocrisy, when a person like Modi chooses to disdain Nehru's popularity. Does this man, who is considered India's most popular leader as of today, believe that popularity is of little concern when it comes to choosing leaders, asks Amberish K Diwanji.
'In a country like India, it is clear that respecting religions -- in politics or in the kitchen -- is disastrous,' says Amberish K Diwanji.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's decision not to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting at Colombo has once again put the focus on alleged cases of human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
Twenty two years before Kabir Khan's The Forgotten Army streams on Amazon Prime on January 24, 2020, his documentary of the same name was telecast on Doordarshan. On that occasion, Kabir Khan spoke to Amberish K Diwanji/Rediff.com about Netaji's Azad Hind Fauj and its many battles for India's freedom.
Historian Romila Thapar says you can't bring history into faith.