It is time the current leaders who swear by 'cultural nationalism', that is religion neutral, assert that Bharatiyata is at the core of our nationalism and India was never a 'Hindu Rashtra', argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'With the media and social media pulling them down every second day, there are no heroes left.' 'What we have are actors and we want to see them play characters which are real, human and identifiable.'
The PM's visit comes at a time when West Bengal has been witnessing widespread protests against the contentious Citizenship Act.
The concept of 'fairness by rulers' is deeply ingrained in Indians and any weakening of this dents the legitimacy of the ruler, warns military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Winning an election may be a breeze for the BJP but the aftermath of victory isn't always painless.
Yuvraj Mehta remembers the time he, a first year college student, called on Soumitra Chatterjee at the legendary actor's home.
These 51 cases were detected from over 45,000 samples sequenced so far in the country.
'It is time again for Durga Puja.' 'Time again to be struck by India's astonishing cultural irony, one where the female form is worshipped as divinity while millions of real women are forced to lead restricted lives,' notes Shuma Raha.
The new bride looked lovely at a reception hosted by the Ambanis for the larger Reliance family.
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
Xi and Modi are scheduled to hold informal summit talks on Friday evening and on Saturday.
'They know everyone and have everyone's horoscope. If they feel Himanta Biswa Sarma is the right man for Assam, they will give it to me, if they feel Sarbananda Sonowal is the right man, they will give it to him, or if they feel both of them are not good, let's bring another person'
While lashing out at Mamata Banerjee, the prime minister said he was going for a rally in Dum Dum later in the day but was not sure if the West Bengal Chief Minister will allow his helicopter to land.
'... And give him the confidence and freedom to express himself.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held deliberations with Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP president J P Nadda amid speculation about a reshuffle in the Union cabinet, an exercise Modi has not undertaken since forming the government for a second time in May 2019.
Leaders hope the Ayodhya temple ceremony would pave way for harmony.
She faced off against former disciple-turned-defector Suvendu Adhikari in a very different contest. It's not land acquisition, but an ego clash that has acquired, tragically, communal overtones, explains Kanika Datta.
'She is associated with our growing up years.' 'When I first met her, it was a little awkward for a couple of days as she is a really popular actor of the '90s.'
The 55-year-old actor-turned-politician admitted that due to the hectic schedule of the shooting, she "did not get to watch the series" on television.
According to sources at CAB, the security clearance did not come a day ahead of the historic match between India and Bangladesh in Kolkata.
Few people know Ratan Tata as well as R K Krishna Kumar does. Widely perceived to be among the managers closest to Tata, Krishna Kumar assesses Ratan Tata, the man and business leader, in this exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
The place, a melting pot of people from the world of art and culture for decades, had downed its shutters on March 20 this year after the West Bengal government imposed a lockdown.
Where did the rasgulla originate from? Is the dish originally from Odisha or West Bengal?
'I think my performance in Ray's Devi still ranks as my best,' says Sharmila Tagore.
'Between now and 2021, Bengal's politics could change irrevocably,' predicts Kanchan Gupta, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation.
Dilip Kumar 'got annoyed and was about to leave the stage before things were brought under control'.
The PM, who is the 'acharya' or chancellor of the central university, inaugurated Bangladesh Bhavan with Hasina on this occasion.
A senior TMC MLA said Banerjee told her party leaders during the closed-door meeting that they should shun "VIP culture".
'During the Emergency, it boiled down to two people: Mrs Gandhi and her younger son.' 'But today, the cancer is spreading all over.'
PM Modi's assurance came against the backdrop of violent protests against the CAB.
'In enacting the citizenship law, the BJP's focus has been so much on consolidating its Hindu vote bank all over the country to divert attention from the economic downturn that the party forgot that there are Hindus and Hindus and that one group of Hindus may not always be warmly embraced by another,' notes Amulya Ganguli.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefed the BJP MPs on the government's plans to celebrate 75 years of the nation's Independence during the parliamentary party meeting.
The prime minister says he will bring real change to Bengal. Perhaps he will. The interesting thing is that his party has never defined what this change is, observes Aakar Patel.
'Cultural nationalism or the victim card that you play is okay when people are well fed.' 'But if you are not well fed, then it puts a question mark (on your leadership).'
Other strong men have stopped Modi and his hordes in states before, but none of them with a footprint or battle cry to shake up New Delhi, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'Second-class citizenship would have been meaningless to a Hindu in the Mughal empire.'
The sari is woven faced down, with a mirror placed on the ground to keep track of the progress and accuracy of design
'They take each and every election with seriousness.' 'No other political party has that kind of cadre who is strongly aligned with the reason, motto and ideology of their party.'
Designer Archana Jaju's brand is focused on bringing India's fine craftmanship into everyday clothing.
