He was merely responding to the changing currents in the region, which, unfortunately, are not favourable to the Palestinians, says P R Kumaraswamy.
Jammu and Kashmir MLA Ramesh Arora wants momos banned, but are they really unhygienic and harmful?
If the impact of the Greece crisis spreads across Europe and parts of the world which are more interconnected than ever before, India cannot hope to be insulated, says Paranjoy Guha Thakurta.
The Question hour in the Lok Sabha was also washed out for the second consecutive day as an aggressive opposition stalled the proceedings over the same controversy.
2016 saw the worst unrest in the Kashmir valley in 26 years.
'Castro told us: "Give me a thousand Gurkhas and I shall keep my neighbour under control!"' 'We pretended that we did not know which neighbour he meant.'
Images of the events that shaped the world last week.
Raag Desh is one of the best films of the year, Sreehari Nair raves.
'Tis the season for hope and for forecasts. So here we look at the things we want and hope will be granted in 2015.
It's hard to believe Calendar Girls has been made by someone who makes films, fumes Raja Sen.
Mobile Internet, of course, helped Burhan Wani to spread his message. And some rumour-mongers at the inception of the current unrest spread falsehoods at least on two occasions, but why ban all mobile communication including cellular network and cable TV when deep-seated alienation among youth has shaped their ideology which is now playing out in the form of massive protests, asks Athar Parvaiz.
'The people of the state can be won over by love, and not by swords.'
'The irresistible charm of Indian politics is it can always throw up surprises -- even when it looks as predictable as in Tamil Nadu,' discovers Shekhar Gupta.
Don't forget to make your pick for the newsmaker of 2015.
The escalating situation in the Kashmir valley is the vanguard actions of global jihad, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd). And in this battle, he believes, perception management operations will be just important as operations to neutralise the terrorists.
For starters, Mad Max: Fury Road is gloriously nuts, says Raja Sen.
'We are blessed, that in this age of crass, commercial filmmaking, there is a special corner reserved for Wes Anderson to inhabit this wonderful, magical life. And we thank him from the bottom of our hearts for letting us experience his dreams in full colour and grandeur,' says Aseem Chhabra after watching The Grand Budapest Hotel.
'Britain always had a very special relationship with the EU -- it always was an on/off relationship. It retained its own currency and visa.' 'Britain always had what you call in EU lingo 'opt out clauses', which other countries don't have.'
'No other terror organisation has valued popular consensus as the Islamic State does -- instead of repressing people, IS wants to gain their support. This is a major innovation in terrorism,' says terrorism expert and author Dr Loretta Napoleoni in an interview to Archana Masih and Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com.
Flipkart and Snapdeal take a cue from Amazon even as they differ on who is ahead in the race
Here's a list of the favourites of the billionaires.
'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.' 'The prime minister speaks about Make in India. Let's remind ourselves also of Made in India. What made India great. What are the great things of the past which will help us make India even greater.' 'India stands on the broad shoulders of an extraordinary civilisation. In some ways it is quite surprising that it hasn't fully embraced the power of that.'
They broke free yet failed to evade the clutches of law.
'If some Europeans do not allow Muslims to assimilate into European national cultures, some Muslims also refuse to try and adopt and assimilate.'
Dr Raghuram Rajan's departure holds lessons for all, be it sections of the media, politicians or the people themselves. We need to learn how to value and retain talent. At the same time the talented must realise that talent alone does not ensure the top job, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Under threat from the Maoists, and jailed by the police, AAP's Soni Sori plunges into the election for all she holds dear. Aman Sethi reports
There was hope in some quarters that the interim Budget would boost sentiment and lay the groundwork for kick-starting the investment cycle, while staying on a path of fiscal consolidation.
'In Vishal Bhardwaj's now fully set world of manufactured poetry, characters wear their emotions at their most prescribed anatomical positions -- courage on their chins, pride over their chests, and innocence in their faces,' observes Sreehari Nair.
While the Congress leadership will undertake the mandatory introspection exercise to pinpoint the reasons for the debacle, Anita Katyal offers five factors which led to the humiliating rout.
'Burhan Wani's killing served as a spark for the anti-establishment fire that has been raging in the minds of Kashmiris ever since the Centre stopped engaging them for their political future,' says Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak in an interview with Rediff.com
'It was a mission undertaken in darkness in every sense -- literally, because Afghanistan had no electricity at that time; and, metaphorically because Delhi historically dealt only with the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and the foreign ministry's vast archives had nothing to offer on the culture and politics of the northern tribes in the Hindu Kush.'
'Shakti Samanta was a very honest man. I have done four films with him. He was very sick before he died; nobody was allowed to see him in the hospital. I went but I could not bear to see him like that. Iftekar and I would go to see Ashok Kumar often. He would ask me to bring some kheema, as he loved my wife's preparation. I would have attended kavi sammelans with Jan Nisar Akhtar (Javed Akhtar's father), Sahir Ludhianvi and Harivansh Rai Bachchan. Amitabh Bachchan was a child then, and would often accompany his father.' Veteran actor Chandrashekhar Vaidya goes back in time.
Ananth Mahadevan takes on the audience.
How many of these have aged well?
Salman Khan, star of this year's Eid release Bajrangi Bhaijaan, talks about his journey from supporting actor to superstar.
India'sstartups have a good beginning but will they survive competition is a big questions which needs immediate attention.
Atal Bihari Vajpayee would seek to placate the hawks in the RSS by stating that the writing of history should not be one-sided. At the same time, he would project a moderate 'Nehruvian' image of himself as the archetypal liberal politician who would strive to attain a balance between conflicting viewpoints. A fascinating profile of the former prime minister and Bharat Ratna by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Shankar Raghuraman.
Rediff.com reproduces the 1997 feature about Laxman, his passion for crows, and of course, his genius.
