Centre's off-the-record instructions through WhatsApp and a squeeze on funds brought the rural work programme to collapse after a roaring first half of the year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has managed to pull off what was unimaginable a year back -- adopting a much-needed centre-left approach, says Devanik Saha.
Expansion of the BJP's base in the South, will be the main focus of the party's two-day national executive meeting
The government has changed arbitration laws, amended some 'provisions' of the Companies Act.
Outside Diggi Palace's walls, things may be getting darker. Speech may be under threat; writers may be getting murdered for their writing. But, inside, it is possible to feel hope that ideas, nevertheless, may have their own power, says Mihir S Sharma.
In his book Restart, Mihir Sharma minces no words in pointing out that faulty policies, the lackadaisical attitude of bureaucrats and a few wrong decisions of past governments have hampered India's growth.
The percentage of children out of school in the age group of 6-14 years recorded in 2014 in the state is the lowest ever at 2.1 per cent, Annual Status of Education Report facilitated by Pratham, recently released in New Delhi said.
If we can come up with ways of sharing property rights on the internet, why not do something similar in urban spaces, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
Andhra Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu likely to be India's most water-scarce states this summer
Parents always want to give the best to their children.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore spoke with vegetable vendors, fruit sellers, those selling clothes in shops and streets, and a retired school teacher.
'I am here to look after people's needs.' 'I am not bothered about who is a Maoist or who is not.'
The company has done a lot to promote 'Open Happiness'.
Two young cyclists have embarked on a cycling tour across India with an aim to support girl child education.
'Modi cannot content himself anymore with merely indulging in Congress bashing and referring to the Gujarat 'miracle'. He'll have to show that his party is as clean and as innovative as the AAP. And this is impossible because AAP is new and the BJP is now old: the people have tried it already. What they have not tried already is Modi, and this is what may make the difference,' says the respected political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot.
Rallying behind the government, the BJP decided to launch a counter-offensive against the opposition "disinformation campaign" on the controversial land bill with Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserting that his growth model was pro-poor.
The Kolkata-based firm already has a presence in 22 states with over 2,000 branches and 5.9 million borrowers.
'I'm a fashion philanthropist, but people are wondering how she can still be doing a song in a bikini.' 'When a woman becomes a philanthropist, it is always expected that she must be like a Mother Teresa kind of a girl.' 'Why would I become like anyone else?'
The key proposals from the IT industry that were not addressed included removal of dual levies on software products
A new book may help companies in getting corporate social responsibility right, notes Ajit Balakrishnan.
Over lunch, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley breaks down his Budget. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com reports.
The second fortnight of September saw Rs 3 lakh crore of time deposits, something unique, followed by liquidation of Rs 1.2 lakh crpre of these right after.
Almost half of that market is in India's villages.
In India, 173 people defecate in the open for every square km.
The greatest progress on civil rights in the United States since Abraham Lincoln was under the Southern Democrat Lyndon Johnson, the past master of wheeling and dealing in Congress.
'I had been to a village in Haryana. One woman who had four daughters-in-law and three daughters, told me that she had to be awake the whole night to take each of them, one by one to the fields.' 'I am not saying all rapes are because of lack of toilets. 20 to 30 percent of rape cases happen because of the lack of toilets.' Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder, Sulabh International, on how India should go about building toilets for all its people in this exclusive interview with Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'In our film industry, there are not many opportunities for actors... Our films are not character based, they are hero and heroine based. The only roles we have for character actors are to play the girl's or boy's dad or a police officer...'
Stepping up his offensive against the Congress, he asked the party to "repent" for what it has not done in the last 60 years.
Apart from Smriti, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ananth Kumar took over as law and parliamentary affairs ministers respectively.
Between 2001 and 2011, the number of rural habitations with population of less than 1,000 has declined sharply
M R Venkatesh, chartered accountant turned political commentator tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com that Modi's war is not against the opposition parties or the Congress but against the bureaucracy and the establishment.
US president was unaware that the son of a manual labourer had to abandon studies
'His simple lifestyle, his optimism, his hard work and his genuine humility made him an authentic role model to millions of children, many of them growing up in challenging circumstances.'
Siddharth Tata's Purple Chilli helps vegetable farmers earn an income 365 days a year.
While Raju and Brijesh Saroj have found help from the Uttar Pradesh government as well as the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Zahid Qureshi is struggling to make ends meet.
Private investment will respond only to sustainable reform.
Two years into power, there is very little to show for the Modi government by way of 'achievements' on the foreign policy front, and his China, Pakistan policies are gasping for breath, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Onir blasts Bollywood for being regressive.
Reasons include include dropping out of education, raising children and family pressure