'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.'
Tamil Nadu's voters wanted tough leaders at the helm, to the point of being autocratic. It was what Karunanidhi, MGR and Jayalalithaa ended up becoming, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Gowri Ramnarayan explores the world of Kalki Krishnamurthy whose magnificent novel Ponniyin Selvan has inspired Mani Ratnam's latest film PS I.
The AMU defended the portrait, saying that Jinnah was a founder of the university and granted life membership of the student union.
One priority for Delhi (for the new foreign secretary in particular) is to have an in-depth discussion with Dharamsala as soon as possible, suggests Claude Arpi.
'There is no senior bureaucracy functioning now; these people only obey.' 'This is only a command and control kind of governance.'
C Rajagopalachari sometimes referred to as the conscience-keeper of the Mahatma himself, once famously remarked that 'a government by the majority without an effective Opposition is like driving a donkey on whose back you put the whole load in one bundle.'
'These naval sailors should have been given due respect as freedom fighters.' 'February 18, 1946 should be as important as January 26 because that date changed everything.'
South Indian filmmaker, Singeetam Srinivasa Rao's latest animation titled Ghatotkach-Master of Magic will be screened at the Cannes Film festival on May 17 in the Palais C section.
Educationist Madan Mohan Malviya and former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee are the 44th and 45th distinguished personalities who have been conferred with the country's highest civilian award Bharat Ratna.
Reacting to the criticism, the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam said the government could not initially allot space at the Marina beach for burying the DMK leader due to pending cases against construction of memorials on the famous sands.
The colour has been rendered to activities that would have astonished Swami Vivekananda, says Sunanda K Datta Ray.
After the Chauri Chaura incident, Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
His comment came after the Shiv Sena attacked him for petitioning the president to save Mumbai blast convict Yakub Memon from the gallows.
'Should the Congress take Jyotiraditya's departure as good riddance?', asks Mohammad Sajjad.
'Jinnah developed a belief that Gandhi had stolen the tag of the leader of the Indian people from him and that he later used religion to reduce Gandhi's idea of a united India to naught was his revenge.'
'In our democracy, it is not one Rama who will deliver the ideal State (or Ramrajya) but many Vibhishanas, who speak up and question when things start going wrong,' says S S Venkateswaran.
Almost a century before the current Sabarimala movement -- to facililate the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the Kerala shrine -- there was the Vaikom temple movement, to throw open temples in Kerala to all castes, a movement led by among others a man whose 71st death anniversary we mark today. A fascinating excerpt from Rajmohan Gandhi's new book, Modern South India: A History From The 17th Century To Our Times.
Facing the opposition benches, it is the 11th portrait to adorn the House.
'After people died when banners fell on them, I decided to file a case to make it a law to prevent people from doing this.' 'Till today, I have filed 150 cases against this menace.'
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Monday referred to another book to support his claim that there were differences between Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel over sending the Indian army to Hyderabad when the Nizam was trying to join Pakistan at the time of partition.
Taking a swipe at DMK president's statement that the party would take steps to implement prohibition if voted to power in the next elections, AIADMK said it was done with an eye on polls.
To look for lessons from Nehru's life to find a way out of the Congress' quagmire is probably futile, says Rahul Jacob
Tamil Nadu chief secretary said that the request could not be sanctioned, owing to the legal issues at Marina Beach.
The infighting in the AIADMK has made it weak on par with the DMK and other parties, says R Rajagopalan.
'Rightly or wrongly, 1962 got ascribed to Krishna Menon and him alone. That's unfair.' 'Certainly, he was one of the guilty men, but he was not the only guilty man. Mistakes were made all around.'
In the shock after Nathuram Godse murdered Mahatma Gandhi that January evening 72 years ago today, a young American diplomat rushed to capture the assassin. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel traces the memorable life of Herbert Reiner, who History has sadly relegated to a footnote.
Former prime minister and BJP veteran leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malaviya will be conferred with the country's highest civilian award the "Bharat Ratna" after President Pranab Mukherjee gave his consent in his regard on Wednesday.
'Galbraith had a powerful ally in Washington -- not as blunt and direct as the ambassador -- but committed to see Krishna Menon go.' 'This was President Kennedy himself.'
Modi hit out at the UPA government for allegedly 'blocking' surgical strikes post 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008.
'Nehru once told JRD, "I hate the mention of the very word profit".' '"Jawaharlal, I am talking about the need of the public sector making a profit!" JRD replied.' 'Nehru reiterated, "Never talk to me about the word profit, it is a dirty word".' A fascinating excerpt from Shashank Shah's The Tata Group: From Torchbearers To Trailblazers.
'Politics has become a toilet because we delegate everything.' 'We have to catch a bus, watch a cricket match, live our life... we feel this (politics) is not part of our responsibility.'
'Most Indians know very little about Patel which is a great shame.'
"We will work out the parameters then we will see as to how mentioning will be done," he said.
In the case of Air India, even competition could not compete with the government.
'Gandhi turned his life into a counter-intuitive experiment in old ideas like non-violence and swadeshi.' 'He offered numerous universal ideas that talk to the human condition.' 'His ability to take risks was outstanding,' says Sopan Joshi, explaining why the Mahatma's ideas are as relevant as ever.
'These cow vigilantes would not even have touched a cow in their lives.' 'They are rowdy elements who are paid mercenaries...'
As India celebrates its 70th Independence day, Rediff.com pays homage to millions who laid their lives for the country's freedom.
'This is the first time a majority ruling government is nominating a Dalit for President.' 'So, the moral credibility definitely will go with the BJP, particularly Narendra Modi.'
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