'Trump had done a deal with the current regime minus Maduro. The current regime is giving Trump entry into Venezuelan oil. They are obeying him and doing whatever he says.' 'They are happy because they have saved their heads by sacrificing only two, Maduro and his wife. Thousands of Venezuelan military leaders would have been jailed or killed in American action had Maduro stayed in power.'
'The worst part is that after the attack on December 9, the Dehradun police refused to register an FIR for the murder.'
'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.'
'Salman is a very hard-working actor whose diligence I have to commend despite the fact that during the shoot, my heart was in my mouth.'
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.
Avatar: Fire And Ash is visually stunning and emotionally engaging, offering strong performances and thrilling action, notes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'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.'
Pakistan fast bowler Naseem Shah will stay with the squad for the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka in Rawalpindi despite an attack on his residence in Lower Dir in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
Dhurandhar's most dangerous idea is that Director Aditya Dhar envisions an Indian state run by a deep state -- an intelligence machinery not accountable to Parliament, courts, or voters. A future political system where unelected officials decide when Indian democracy is 'fit' to function, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'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.'
Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon 2 may be a comedy filled with chaos, but in its indirect way, it speaks about a time when the Constitution mattered more than one's religion and when the idea of India was larger than personal hate, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'We are not AI. We are allowed to break, and rebuild.'
Gustaakh Ishq feels like a cinematic revival of everything we once loved about Urdu story-telling, observes Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut says he is undergoing treatment for serious health issues and has been advised to avoid public interaction.
'IndiGo is fooling the country and the government has succumbed to it.'
'The natural barrier that is Aravalli, you are demolishing it, then who will stop the desert?' 'In future, I predict that people will roam around with oxygen cylinders in Delhi because they won't be able to breathe.'
'Even today illegal foreign immigrants live in Assam and their names might be on the voters list. This we can get rid of only by doing SIR.'
Maulvi Ishtiyaq told his interrogators a shockingly different story, claiming that Ganaie and Umar approached him earlier this year, asking him to store what they called "fertilisers" at his home and allegedly agreed upon a monthly storage fee of Rs 2,500, according to officials.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday took custody of three doctors and a preacher who were arrested in connection with the November 10 car blast outside the Red Fort in which 15 people were killed.
One FIR alleges that the institution lured students into admissions by falsely claiming a UGC 12B certificate on its official website, while the second FIR pertains to the university accepting admissions despite its National Assessment and Accreditation Council accreditation having expired in 2018.
Preliminary investigations into the accidental explosion that ripped through the Nowgam police station late Friday night, killing nine people, suggest that the use of excessive lighting by the forensic team may have triggered the massive blast, officials said Sunday.
'The implementation of the judgment has largely been left to the discretion of the very executive authorities it sought to restrain.'
Former captain Babar Azam and pacer Naseem Shah have been recalled to Pakistan's T20 squad for the upcoming home assignment against South Africa and a tri-Series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe next month.
'Jan Suraaj Party was the BJP's 'B' team. It is proven now.' 'You have seen their performance and it proves that they only worked to dent Opposition votes by working for the BJP.'
Youths with no past criminal record or separatist affiliation are now preferred for recruitment by terror handlers in Jammu and Kashmir to stay under the radar of security forces, officials in the know say.
The sophisticated 'white-collar' terror module, spearheaded by a group of doctors recently busted by Jammu and Kashmir Police, had been actively scouting for a suicide bomber since last year, with key planner Dr Umar Nabi pushing the agenda, officials said on Sunday.
Amir Rashid Ali, a key accused in the Red Fort area car bomb blast case, has been remanded in 10 days' NIA custody. The agency seeks to unravel the conspiracy behind the inter-state "white collar" terror module.
The material, part of the 360 kilograms of explosives recovered from the rented residence of arrested doctor Muzammil Ganaie, was being sampled as part of the ongoing investigation, the officials said.
'Even as the Supreme Court's anti-punitive demolition judgment nears its first anniversary, no formal contempt proceedings have been initiated either by the Supreme Court or any high court against officers or demolition squads who have acted in violation of it.'
Darul Uloom Deoband refutes claims of barring women journalists from covering Afghan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi's visit, following controversy over their absence at a press conference in Delhi.
Officials reveal details of a foiled Jaish-e-Mohammed terror plot involving a doctor who planned a bomb blast near the Red Fort, timed around the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary. Arrests and investigations uncovered the interstate network.
Ten days after the devastating car explosion near the Red Fort, in which 13 people lost their lives and several others were injured, investigators say the incident is part of a broader terror conspiracy involving a professional network of radicalised individuals based in Faridabad, Saharanpur and Kashmir.
Radical Islamist networks are deliberately targeting Muslim youths embedded within the country's professional and academic ecosystems, leveraging their skills, mobility, and digital reach to quietly strengthen operational capabilities. This trend highlights a dangerous evolution in terror recruitment -- one that exploits ideological faultlines, online echo chambers and transnational radical Islamist influences to attract individuals who outwardly embody India's modern and aspirational narrative, points out Dr Kanchan Lakshman.
According to police, the group of seven used "encrypted channels for indoctrination, coordination, movement, and logistics."
'It makes law-making on the part of the state governments much more difficult and throws up bottlenecks as governors are not acting on bills.'
If the Thackerays don't save a Marathi school in their backyard, who will, wonders Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'Amrishji had a fascination for the colour red and wanted it in every movie costume of his.'
Indian authorities have uncovered a Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terror plot involving doctors from south Kashmir, a Faridabad university, the recovery of 2,900 kg of explosives, and a car bomb near the Red Fort. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the plot.
'When you compare Bihar's poverty from its earlier times, then there is a huge difference. Things have improved a lot. And migration has played an important role in reducing poverty.'
The Jammu and Kashmir Police has unearthed an interstate and transnational terror module of Jaish-e-Mohamamd and Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind outfits by arresting seven persons, including two doctors, and recovering arms and ammunition, officials said in Srinagar on Monday.
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