'We are very close to become a theocratic State where Hinduism is the official religion of the government.'
The famous Pushkar fair, which attracts lakhs of people including foreign tourists, has begun in Ajmer, Rajasthan, with a number of cultural programmes, group dance and camel race attracting lakhs of visitors.
Only double vaccinated adults and children above the age of 15 who have taken at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine will be allowed to enter, they said, adding children below 15 years will not be permitted to attend the event.
Finance Ministers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, including P Chidambaram, are likely to prepare a report for consideration of their leaders on Wednesday in which they are expected to say that launching a BRICS bank is 'feasible and workable'.
RediffGURUS Ashwini Dasgupta, Anu Krishna, Dr Karthiyayini Mahadevan and Jinal Mehta answer queries from Rediff readers.
'Baseball/softball, cricket (T20), flag football, lacrosse (sixes) and squash will be in the programme at LA28.'
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday accused NIA officials of attacking villagers in Purba Medinipur district, the BJP hit back at her saying that the attack on the NIA officials is Sandeshkhalli 2.0 orchestrated by the state.
'In India, I'm able to work with the biggest stars on creating a scene, creating that emotion, without being too hung up on their persona.'
The e-commerce marketplace is like an information intermediary these days.
An ensemble of musicians, some of whom played sursingar, mohan veena, dilruba and other rare instruments, regaled G20 world leaders during the ceremonial dinner hosted for them by President Droupadi Murmu.
Janata Dal - United Member of Legislative Assembly Shyambahadur Singh landed in a fresh controversy after TV channels on Friday aired footage which purportedly showed him dancing with girls at a marriage ceremony. The MLA from Badharia in Siwan district is seen dancing in the TV footage at a cultural programme on the night of February 8. Singh had gone to the house of one Ajay Singh at Jafra in Gopalganj district, from where they proceeded to Katalpur village.
After inaugurating development projects worth nearly Rs 5,000 crore for boosting the agri-economy in the Union territory, Modi said he was "elated to be among the wonderful people of Srinagar".
"This 'trishul' is like Lord Shiva's third eye which will reduce to ashes those who work against the common man," he added.
Unfurling of the national tricolour, cultural programmes and festivities marked the 60th Republic Day celebrations by the Indian community all over the world with patriotic fervour and enthusiasm.
Ghulam Ali's concert in Mumbai was cancelled on Wednesday after the Sena threatened to disrupt it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched 'Azadi Ka Amrut Mahotsav', the government's initiative to mark 75 years of India's Independence.
About 1,500 school children will take part in this year's Republic Day Parade.
Yale University has issued a statement saying that Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani attended a weeklong programme and received a certificate from the university last year, along with several other lawmakers from India. George Joseph/Rediff.com reports from New York
In its response, the Ministry of Defence issued a statement saying tableaux proposals from states and Union territories and central ministries or departments are evaluated by an 'expert committee' comprising eminent persons in the fields of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture and choreography among others.
To fly 10 start-ups to San Francisco HQ of the company
From leading the team that arrested Uma Bharti to exposing V K Sasikala's privileges in prison, the 42-year-old IPS officer is not scared of anything.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday released its manifesto for the November 17 Madhya Pradesh elections promising MSP for wheat at Rs 2,700 per quintal and paddy at Rs 3,100 and houses for beneficiaries of the state's flagship scheme 'Ladli Bahna'.
Telugu cinema celebrated its 75 year anniversary in grand fashion, complete with glitz, glamour and some glitches too.
During the day-long debate, the lines between science and religion often got blurred with many invoking religious texts and the contribution of 'rishi munis' to highlight India's tryst with the extra-terrestrial world.
'There is something in our desh ki mitti that has held us together.'
'So many conquerors, colonisers, cultures came and went, but we withstood them and rose up again.'
Reader Kaushik Bhattacharya sends us pictures.
Are you worried about your relationship with your partner or friends or colleagues? Ask Dr Ashish Sehgal for advice.
Ravichandran, lovingly called Crazy Star by his fans, has been roped in to direct the three-day cultural programme marking the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Kannada film industry.
He recalled PM Modi's message at the United Nations and hailed India's mission "to save the planet from conflict and violence" through the principles of Buddhism.
Four Indian films have made it to the official selection at Cannes Film Festival.
Byju's is set to go the way of Housing.com and Zilingo. It is only a matter of time. Indeed, the coup attempted by investors will ensure that, says Debashis Basu.
As the world celebrated International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PwD) on December 3, corporate India has kept up with efforts to make workplaces more inclusive and accessible. Organisations across sectors are taking initiatives such as equipping offices with practical work tools like Braille-friendly and voice-enabled lifts and screen readers. While inclusion has gained pace, only 11.3 per cent (or 3.4 million out of 30 million) Indians with disabilities have jobs.
The party would consider aligning with any party after assessing the post-poll situation, she said.
The university's academic council in a meeting on Friday had passed a motion for the removal of the chapter titled Modern Indian Political Thought.
Munde alleged "sensationalisation" of news, with her party colleague and state minister Sudhir Mungantiwar saying that her statement was taken out of context.
Google unveiled on Wednesday a slate of artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies for Indian developers at its first I/O Connect event for India, being held in Bengaluru. The company made accessible for Indian developers its faster, more accurate large language AI model accessible through PaLM API, Makersuite, as well as features on Google Cloud's Vertex AI. Google Cloud officially launched a new initiative in collaboration with Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, to help sellers build and scale commerce platforms across the country.
In the coming days, unless Modi tones down the communal spiel, it will be clear that anxiety continues to drive his mind and clouds his judgment, observes Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
'If majority of the country's population is sentimental about a certain species, why are we so ashamed to say that we want to give it statutory protection?'
