News for 'educational freedom'

US varsity returns $3 million grant; claims donors were 'Hindu right-wingers'

US varsity returns $3 million grant; claims donors were 'Hindu right-wingers'

Rediff.com23 Feb 2016

A top US university is "walking away" from the $3 million grants it received to establish endowed chairs in India studies after alleged that the donors had "extreme right-wing notions".

A school where teachers don't 'teach'!

A school where teachers don't 'teach'!

Rediff.com3 Oct 2017

Some 230 kilometres from Kolkata, in West Bengal's Birbhum district, 500 children stand out because of their 'unconventional' education, says Anjuli Bhargava.

'The past has a knack of exploding in our faces'

'The past has a knack of exploding in our faces'

Rediff.com19 Sep 2018

'People beat their chests when the Babri Masjid was brought down, not realising that it was just one event in a chain going back centuries; to look at the last link or two in isolation is absurd.'

When the South rose against Hindi

When the South rose against Hindi

Rediff.com14 Jun 2019

'In the hands of a majoritarian government, with utter contempt for the cultural plurality and diversity of our great nation, the pipe dream of making Hindi the sole official language takes on nightmarish proportions.'

Pics: Miss World beauty queens are talking about periods in India

Pics: Miss World beauty queens are talking about periods in India

Rediff.com9 Feb 2018

Miss World winners are touring India to talk about periods.

'Human rights are being curtailed systematically'

'Human rights are being curtailed systematically'

Rediff.com13 Apr 2016

'Human rights violations are there in rural areas and in cities. In rural areas it is crude and in the open. In urban areas it is well hidden.' 'Awareness has grown several fold. India has 160 national and state human rights institutions. No other country in the world has this.' 'Unfortunately the right to association, right to assembly, freedom of expression, right to protest and discuss are all being curtailed systematically one by one.'

Why the BJP 'worships' Congressman Patel

Why the BJP 'worships' Congressman Patel

Rediff.com5 Nov 2018

'This is basically aimed at vilifying Nehruvian ideals.' 'Why?' 'Because, Nehruvian leadership is seen by Hindutva forces as the one which did not let them have their Hindu Raj.' 'The Hindutva proponents have always assumed that had Sardar become the first prime minister, India could never have become a secular State,' says Mohammad Sajjad.

Om Birla unanimously elected as new Lok Sabha Speaker

Om Birla unanimously elected as new Lok Sabha Speaker

Rediff.com19 Jun 2019

A total of 13 motions were moved in support of Birla.

'India has a vital stake in the digital renaissance'

'India has a vital stake in the digital renaissance'

Rediff.com5 Jun 2015

'Everywhere our younger computer professionals are in the forefront, defending our national interest in every forum and keeping our flag flying high.'

How to kickstart your career after a break

How to kickstart your career after a break

Rediff.com17 Dec 2015

Ugrade your skills. Tap on to your network. Choose the right company for you.

'Yeddyurappa's swearing-in is a farce'

'Yeddyurappa's swearing-in is a farce'

Rediff.com17 May 2018

'This minority government will be for only 15 days.' 'By that time, its motion of confidence will be defeated, and it will have to resign.' 'Therefore, the swearing-in is a waste of money, energy and time.'

'Mandela practised Yoga to deal with prison brutalities'

'Mandela practised Yoga to deal with prison brutalities'

Rediff.com10 Jun 2016

One of the last surviving freedom fighters from that era, Isu Laloo Chiba, shared this in a message to support the Indian missions' plan to celebrate the second United Nations-sanctioned International Day of Yoga on 21 June in South Africa.

I'm glad that an Indian & Pakistani can be united in peace: Malala

I'm glad that an Indian & Pakistani can be united in peace: Malala

Rediff.com10 Dec 2014

At 17, Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai became the youngest Nobel laureate. She was conferred the joint Peace Prize along with India's Kailash Satyarthi at Oslo on Wednesday. Here is the full transcript of her speech.

Why Mayawati is wary of 'Ravan'

Why Mayawati is wary of 'Ravan'

Rediff.com4 Oct 2018

Mayawati has accused 'Ravan' of being a BJP agent who is dividing the scheduled castes.

What I want for Bihar

What I want for Bihar

Rediff.com10 Sep 2015

'What I want is not for the elected to tell me what they did in the 1990s or for the past 5 years,' says A Bihari Abroad. 'I would rather know what they plan to do in the next 6 months and give the people a report on the progress of these initiatives. Perhaps, a presentation on their performance and their future plans, to the electoral public, who they represent and are actually answerable to.'

'BJP has no principle, thinks through only one person'

'BJP has no principle, thinks through only one person'

Rediff.com29 Mar 2014

Hitting the campaign trail in Assam for the first time this election, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Saturday lambasted the Bharatiya Janata Party as a "party that divides the people and thinks through only one person."

55 years later, a beloved classic gets a sequel!

55 years later, a beloved classic gets a sequel!

Rediff.com4 Feb 2015

Harper Lee to publish sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird more than five decades after it was first published.

Rajya Sabha passes citizenship bill with 125-105 votes

Rajya Sabha passes citizenship bill with 125-105 votes

Rediff.com12 Dec 2019

After a 6.5-hour debate, the upper house clears the bill. Amit Shah said the bill is not anti-Muslim and Indian minorities have nothing to fear from its passage.

Writers step up protest, 1 quits Sahitya Akademi, 3 more return award

Writers step up protest, 1 quits Sahitya Akademi, 3 more return award

Rediff.com11 Oct 2015

Three eminent writers from Punjab announced that they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, while Kannada writer Aravind Malagatti resigned from the body's general council, joining the growing protest by litterateurs over "rising intolerance" and "communal" atmosphere.

Consumers, Wake Up!

Consumers, Wake Up!

Rediff.com14 Aug 2016

Harshala Chandorkar, chief operating officer, CIBIL, explains your rights and duties as a responsible consumer

'For Tagore, human beings were far more important than the concept of a nation'

'For Tagore, human beings were far more important than the concept of a nation'

Rediff.com8 Mar 2016

'Tagore repeatedly denounced the "My country, right or wrong" attitude.' 'We often use the phrase "unity in diversity" like a cliche and often make diversity secondary, giving precedence to unity.' 'You do not have to shout from the rooftops that we are very tolerant.'

Tolerance as a duty is a pre-requisite to making India

Tolerance as a duty is a pre-requisite to making India

Rediff.com12 Jan 2015

If democracy is to survive and thrive, duties have to be as important as rights and tolerance must be the foundation of public and private life.

'Only a nation that respects its women can become a global power'

'Only a nation that respects its women can become a global power'

Rediff.com25 Jan 2015

'Where have we failed, as parents, teachers and leaders, that our children have forgotten all tenets of decent behaviour and respect for women?' President Pranab Mukherjee asks the nation on the eve of Republic Day.

US Sikhs launch app to report racial profiling at airports

US Sikhs launch app to report racial profiling at airports

Rediff.com4 Dec 2013

The Sikh Coalition released an updated version of FlyRights, an app intended to report racial profiling at airports to the relevant authorities, November 26.

FULL TEXT of PM Modi's I-Day address

FULL TEXT of PM Modi's I-Day address

Rediff.com15 Aug 2019

Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.

Bleeding hearts! Don't bleed the nation!

Bleeding hearts! Don't bleed the nation!

Rediff.com25 Feb 2016

'All their idealism, intensity of emotions, acute sense of right and wrong, and burning passion for public causes can never serve as justifiable grounds to be touted by students of any country, let alone of India, with all its fragility and vulnerability, to question its unity in the name of freedom of expression,' says B S Raghavan.

'Pinning all the blame on Rahul is simplistic, unfair'

'Pinning all the blame on Rahul is simplistic, unfair'

Rediff.com10 Jun 2019

'I would personally like to see Rahul Gandhi continue as party president.' 'I genuinely believe he has far more to offer to the party still, particularly in leading us in these challenging times that we find ourselves in.'

'If Smriti Irani succeeds, it will be a great achievement'

'If Smriti Irani succeeds, it will be a great achievement'

Rediff.com4 Jun 2014

'Once you've made up your mind that you don't like Smriti Irani because she has got where she has far too quickly or far too easily, you find reasons to dislike her and to justify your view,' says Pritish Nandy.

'Sab bhagwan ke haath mein hai'

'Sab bhagwan ke haath mein hai'

Rediff.com2 Jun 2020

'Our Lockdown Life has a sort of schizophrenic, Dr-Jekyll-and-Mr-Hyde personality about it,' says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.

Readers Speak: 'I support breastfeeding but..'

Readers Speak: 'I support breastfeeding but..'

Rediff.com5 Mar 2018

Why Rediff readers support breastfeeding.

Amitabh, Prince Aga Khan receive Padma Vibhushan

Amitabh, Prince Aga Khan receive Padma Vibhushan

Rediff.com8 Apr 2015

Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and Prince Karim Aga Khan were among the eminent personalities awarded the Padma Vibhushan, country's second highest civilian honour, by President Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on Wednesday.

President voices concern over attacks on Africans

President voices concern over attacks on Africans

Rediff.com30 May 2016

President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday expressed concern over a string of alleged attacks on Africans in the country, saying it would be most unfortunate if the people of India were to "dilute our long tradition of friendship with the people of Africa".

'Kashmiris have lost the sense of fear'

'Kashmiris have lost the sense of fear'

Rediff.com30 Aug 2019

'It's not only what's been done politically. It's also the way it's been done. It's the suffocating atmosphere.'

'I will not win unless Hindus vote for me'

'I will not win unless Hindus vote for me'

Rediff.com9 May 2016

'People are losing their freedom to eat, speak, write and practise their religion.' 'All that is said in the Constitution has been taken away.' 'Does every Muslim or Christian or Hindu have to say I am a patriot every morning and repeat it in the afternoon and at night?'

Why the Congress shuns Muslims

Why the Congress shuns Muslims

Rediff.com4 Jan 2018

'Is Rahul turning the Congress' covert soft-Hindutva support into overt support now?' 'And if so, following in the BJP's footsteps, is the Congress going to abandon Indian Muslims and Muslim causes altogether?' asks Dr Najid Hussain whose father-in-law former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the Gujarat riots.

US media hail Iyengar as among greatest yoga gurus

US media hail Iyengar as among greatest yoga gurus

Rediff.com22 Aug 2014

Mainstream American media and yoga experts have mourned the loss of B K S Iyengar, calling him as one of the greatest yoga gurus who was instrumental in bringing the physical and spritual exercise to West.

'Do you think we are fighting for the wrong reason?'

'Do you think we are fighting for the wrong reason?'

Rediff.com5 Nov 2018

Kashmir was indeed in need of a messiah that summer; 70 per cent of its population aged below 31 were up in arms against the Indian State. Every nook and corner of the land brought forth stories of youngsters with crushed bodies and an unfaltering spirit.

'Islam is not exclusively for men; it's for men and women'

'Islam is not exclusively for men; it's for men and women'

Rediff.com26 Aug 2016

On Friday, the Bombay high court reversing the ban imposed on women entering the inner sanctum of the Haji Ali Dargah in Mumbai said, "The ban is contrary to articles 14, 15, 19 and 25 of the Constitution of India. Women should be permitted to enter the dargah on par with men." The news brought much cheer and joy to petitioner Zakia Soman who is also the founder of the Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan. Zakia spoke to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf on what made this verdict historic and how it will bring about a change in the future.

Once upon a time in India Inc...

Once upon a time in India Inc...

Rediff.com20 Feb 2017

The list of corporations publishing biographies has lengthened steadily as companies have realised the effectiveness of story telling as a brand building tool. Kanika Datta investigates the rising trend.

Did you know Kabir Bedi's mother was a monk?

Did you know Kabir Bedi's mother was a monk?

Rediff.com20 Feb 2020

She lived for two-thirds of her life in India, adopted its national cause and customs, and took an Indian passport. She served a prison sentence in Lahore as part of Gandhi's protests against an Imperial power which happened to be her motherland. Freda Bedi delighted in confounding accepted definitions of identity.