Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore has promised "surgical" precision in distribution of funds to athletes preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games, asserting that centralisation of the process has made bureaucratic hurdles a thing of past.
'Surely a higher standard is required when ministers speak in public to an audience that will assume they are factually correct, says Karan Thapar.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf on the futility of the 'who is a Hindu?' debate.
'Nationalism has been defined for us. It is what the BJP and Modi bhakts decide, not me, you or Salman Khan. If you don't agree with their view, you are a Pakistani agent and an anti-national. Period. No more argument. The discussion ends there.'
Dressed in pink, her hands flying about in eloquent gestures, excitement on her face, Indrani made quite a picture. There was pin-drop silence as she made strong points about why nothing in the hearings had uncovered anything against her. She spoke about there being "Not a shred of evidence... No scientific evidence because it didn't happen!"
All the officials, suspended with immediate effect, have been charged with "failure to take adequate legal action" with regard to "assault.
Badmashiyaan does not have any real plot to tell so it crams the script with numerous characters, who just enter and leave at will, warns Sukanya Verma.
'Dev for me embodied all that kind of charm, optimism, energy, vulnerability, awkwardness and yet strength.' 'He's in every scene for two hours.' 'He has to play drama, melodrama, romance, pathos, comedy.' 'It was a relief when he said yes.'
In his hunger for power, the prime minister has forgotten raj dharma, the Congress alleged.
'Though the RSS honours Sardar Patel, who actually banned it, the real hero in the story of its rise is Jayaprakash Narayan,' says Vir Sanghvi.
'Having consumed thousands of the sickly sweet chenna globes of varying textures over the years, I must demur,' says Uttaran Das Gupta.
'The Dancing Girl is only one of the many symbols they threaten today.' 'Our country is changing.' 'Elements that ought to have remained on the fringes have been handed power and control of a state on a platter.' 'With this, the party that persistently wooed us with its development agenda has arrogantly taken its mask off,' says Veenu Sandhu.
Sukanya Verma presents the changing faces of Shashi Kapoor.
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) recalls how the Battle of Panipat, 258 years ago, changed the history of India for the next century and half.
Team Director Ravi Shastri expects a winning start from his Indian players in the Asia Cup, which kick-starts in Fatullah, in Bangladesh, on Wednesday.
Chile face Argentina in Sunday's Copa America final for the right to call themselves South America's dominant team but perhaps an even bigger question for football fans the world over regards whether Lionel Messi can finally win a major international title. The Barcelona forward has won every trophy possible with the Spanish club but he has lost three finals with Argentina, including in 2014 World Cup Final in 2014 and the Copa America last year. Sunday's game against Chile in New Jersey gives Messi a chance to end both his personal hoodoo and that of Argentina, who have not won a major title since lifting the Copa America in Ecuador in 1993.
Actor Narendra Jha passes away.
This is a film packed with laughs and pathos, but the emotional manipulation is too blatant, too obvious, says Raja Sen.
Varun Gautam, Irrfan's friend from his Jaipur days, learned about Irrfan's illness when he received a phone call from Sutapa. This was sometime before Irrfan officially announced his illness. He assured her, 'Even if the doctors are concerned, he will still stay alive.'
'We are truly blessed to bear witness to the divine talents of, and scarcely human displays put on by, Roger Federer and his bromance buddy, rival, nemesis and plausible co-claimant to GOAT ('greatest of all time') status, Rafael Nadal,' says Arvind Subramanian, who steps down as chief economic adviser to the Government of India in September.
'The bloodthirsty rhetoric of chicken-hawk TV anchors are the worst contributors to Kashmiri alienation.' 'If this implacable hatred is the authentic voice of India, Kashmiris argue, who can hope for peace?' asks Mihir S Sharma.
Outgoing president Sepp Blatter hit back at Chung Mong-joon, one of the candidates to replace him, for labelling FIFA a 'corrupt organisation' on Monday and said the South Korean's remarks were 'disturbing'.
'The time has come to incorporate Indian sociology into economic policy.' 'The first step in that direction would be to listen to economists trained in India and not just the US and the UK, argues T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'Just as a wave brought the BJP into power; an anti wave will blow them away.'
Rediff reader Pritam tells us how he met his wife Seema.
Nafees said she will now appeal to the Supreme Court. She also appealed to all mothers "who have faced the pain of losing their children" to march to Parliament Street on October 15.
'They aren't machines, they are the best players in their position but they aren't unbeatable or unsurpassable.'
'Even if your soldiers are Sunny Deol and Vicky Kaushal, Pakistanis are no Johnny Walkers.' 'The one lot who never takes them lightly is India's professional soldiers.' 'That's why they keep winning the real wars,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'You can accuse him of many things but one thing you cannot accuse him of is being bad at politics,' says Aakar Patel.
'It feels like a part of me is going away with her death.'
Images from Day 1 of the Australian Open in Melbourne on Monday.
'If Mr Modi continues growing as a Hindu Hriday Samrat, better that it is done by restoring ancient temples than demolishing medieval mosques,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Indian cricket is in the safe hands of excitingly talented cricketers. No team can afford to underestimate India. If they do, it is to their peril.'
Shikhar Dhawan was all guts and grit while negotiating tough conditions in his comeback game as he boosted Delhi's morale with a well-controlled 137 against Hyderabad in their Ranji Trophy Group A match in New Delhi. A round up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Wednesday.
BharatShakti.in Founder Nitin A Gokhale pays homage to Mr E N Rammohan and Colonel M B Ravindranath, two genuine Indian heroes who sadly passed into the ages on Sunday
Rediff readers share their experience of autos and taxis in India.
'I hope he will continue to be what he is. And doing so, he won't be much different from those whose example he is being given right now,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
'No country can ever be free to make its choices and remain independent if it continues to wear borrowed plumes,' warn Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The minister said the terrorist groups created by Pakistan is not only harming India, but also hurting its neighbours.
The Pakistani election on July 25 has a strong Indian flavour and connection, says Vivek Shukla.
