Indian Americans are not just shining in the fields of technology, education and management. You can now spot them every where... in politics, in research, in the movies and even on YouTube, says Ignatius Chithelen.Indian Americans are not just shining in the fields of technology, education and management. You can now spot them every where... in politics, in research, in the movies and even on YouTube, says Ignatius Chithelen.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud "bang" from inside the venue.
Mahatma Gandhi's 'charkha' which he used in Yerwada Jail during the 'Quit India Movement' was sold at an auction in the UK for a whopping 110,000 pounds, nearly double the expected price.
'Talvar belongs to Irrfan Khan, who plays the chief investigating officer. With each new film, this very fine actor continues to surprise us and delight us.'
"In India, we derive our strength from tolerance, and respect our pluralism. We celebrate our diversity," he said.
'We used to say two things are found everywhere: A potato and a Sikh. I think you can substitute Gujarati for the Sikh because Gujaratis are everywhere.'
'Nobody is killing you in Kerala because you are Hindu unlike in North India where Muslims have been killed only because they are Muslims and were carrying some meat.'
A left-leaning centralised socialist model has created a shortage/entitlement economy. In fact one of the reasons for India's limited progress is that post-independent India is at odds with its true nature. It is something that educated right of centre Hindus are trying to correct, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
'There is a remarkable link between the eating of beef (or at the very least, tolerating the eating of beef) and India being a superpower.' 'In India, whenever an empire was strong, religion took a back seat.' 'Alternatively, whenever religion asserted itself, the main empire of India crumbled...'
'For so long as the rulers of Pakistan remain committed to confronting and vanquishing India, they will sustain delusions, breed terrorists, and export them.'
'If Modi is talking to every Tom, Dick and Harry, why is he afraid of talking to ex-servicemen?'
'He deserved to be field marshal because he carried the air force and navy with him in '71. Remember we were fighting on two fronts -- east and west. He stood out.'
'At no time since Independence this issue of whether we are a secular country or whether we are a Hindu Rashtra has come up in this manner.' 'This is the most important issue which is going to decide whether we remain together as one country or not.'
'The obsession of the Pakistan army with India leads to several destabilising things. Support for the Taliban in Afghanistan. Support for groups like the Lashkar-e-Tayiba, that have attacked India. Every time you get an attack like that there is a possibility of a war. And then the build up of the their nuclear arsenals. Chances of a nuclear weapon landing in the hands of a terrorist group, or a nuclear war breaking out, are tiny. But they are higher here than anywhere else in the world.'
There would have been no controversy if the convicted rapists were by now punished according to law and sent to meet their maker, in short hanged! But our criminal justice system remains dysfunctional. Ultimately besides the genuine social reform and gender equality it is the lack of effective laws that are at the root of women's insecurity, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd).
Mekhail delivered the most deliberate heart-tugging line of the day: "If a son asks his mother for money is wrong, then tell me." At the back Indrani gave one of her most beaming smiles that was meant to convey the exact opposite. This was no mother happy that her son had said he turned to her when he needed money because she was his mother.
Vaihayasi Pande Daniel reports from the Sheena Bora murder trial.
Rediff.com gives you a look at films in the past that have captured the lives of sporting icons, and their rise to glory, on the silver screen.
Here are some of the most stunning moments of the week that was.
'The target for all our counter-terror operations ought to be Pakistani Punjab's population,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'For some South Asians, it may be tempting to think "I'm not Muslim, this doesn't really affect me".' 'But please know, it affects all of us,' says Arun Venugopal, a reporter at WNYC in New York.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's success at courting Indians abroad have been as much a result of his old contacts as efforts by a dedicated arm of the BJP abroad. Archis Mohan reports
"The RSS is trying to change the nature of India. Other parties haven't tried to capture India's institutions," he said.
'Islamist terror groups have never been challenged ideologically. As long as their ideology survives, like cancer, these groups will sprout somewhere else, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The Indian Army served with honour and distinction in France and Flanders, East Africa, Gallipoli, Aden, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine, Transcaspia, Persia and even China.' 'The sacrifice of India's soldiers was consigned to the dustbin of history in the post-colonial world.'
A mother-daughter duo is working tirelessly to revive the art and empower rural artisans too.
Sarao was described as a fun guy, outgoing and talkative by other members of the tight knit South Asian community.
'The biggest advantage for India was its seasoned and experienced political leadership who had spent decades struggling against the Raj and had spent years behind bars.' 'Not a single prominent leader of the Muslim League spent one day in jail.' 'Gandhiji, Nehru and Sardar Patel were intelligent, shrewd men with their hands on the popular pulse.'
'India today has to fight many a battle, all of which cry out for innovation. This is where the experience of the Diaspora could be the most productive well-spring.'
It is always wonderful to discover a gem of film at an international film festival. It is even more exciting when that film is from India.
'We have made no effort in recent years to build a national opinion on Kashmir amongst political parties.' 'At least we should speak as one country.' 'It has been a failure of our foreign policy that we have not been able to convince world opinion that something needs to be done about Pakistan.'
As the political battle for the future of Maharashtra's political quinquennial future nears its electoral conclusion, Shreekant Sambrani looks at the intertwining nature of national and regional interests and the place for and value of inclusiveness in electoral politics.
'His Promised Land was India.' Shekhar Gupta salutes General J F R Jacob, the incredible soldier who passed into the ages this week.
Most of the opposition parties blamed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliates for the cow vigilantism.
'This has absolutely nothing to do with Kalburgi or anybody else, it only has to do with two words: Bihar elections. It's electioneering by other means, let's save the fig leaf of morality,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'The forces of good are on the run.' 'But dark times also challenge people to fight.' 'I believe Indians will rise against these dark times.'
'The BJP politics of appropriating icons from its ideological adversaries could only be a desperate attempt to extend the Jat-Muslim divide in Uttar Pradesh. Why this desperation when it can comfortably get votes on the plank of economic development?'
In the absence of a conducive environment, India should not show any "hurry" to hold talks with Pakistan when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits New York later this month, BJP president Rajnath Singh said.
The average Indian soldier remains as hardy as before but he is certainly confused with the pace of change occurring all around him. It is here that the leaders -- the officers -- will have to adapt themselves to the new reality, says Nikhil Gokhale
Forty years after the declaration of Emergency by Indira Gandhi, the Sunanda K Datta-Ray recalls life when civil rights were suspended and press censorship was in force
