The legendary painter wanted to die in India, old friend Anil Relia tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt
After mishandling completely Baba Ramdev's hunger strike, the UPA government and the Congress party is branding the ongoing anti-corruption stir as the fight of people with communal agenda. Sheela Bhatt analyses where the deception lies.
Hours after he and his supporters were dramatically evicted from the Ramleela maidan in New Delhi by the police, Baba Ramdev spewed venom on Congress President Sonia Gandhi and claims that there had been an attempt to eliminate him. Sheela Bhatt reports on his press conference
Team Rediff.com asked veterans Congress watchers all over India to give their opinion about Congress's weaknesses and strengths in the states and how people perceive the local leadership. The opinions outline the perception that the party is suffering from terminal cancer. Only a miracle can save it.
Sheela Bhatt provides a ringside view to the hectic political developments after yoga guru Baba Ramdev landed in New Delhi to start his fast against corruption.
With the political class ranged against them, the civic representatives of the panel drafting the Lokpal bill face an uphill battle. Sheela Bhatt reports from New Delhi.
Is the leak of Army Chief General V K Singh's letter the last straw that faces the government to take action? Sheela Bhatt explains the factors at play.
'It is very, very mystifying that somebody who is a potential prime minister of this country and someone who is such a prominent leader in such a big political party lacks clear public engagement on the big issues of the day,' says Dr Pratap Bhanu Mehta, president, Centre for Policy Research.
In an exclusive interview with rediff.com Gopalan replies back to the critics of the Budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
Trivedi played a smart one, but not a very intelligent one, on Mamata, but she is likely to have the last laugh on the issue, reports Sheela Bhatt
Did Team Anna member and Right to Information activist Arvind Kejriwal commit a criminal office when he appealed to Hisar voters not to vote for the Congress in the by-polls?
Will the Indo-Afghan strategic agreement project India's soft power and provide it strategic depth or is it a high-risk gamble that will come to haunt us in the future? Sheela Bhatt finds out
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh's low-key visit to Kabul on Thursday is a visit for "reassurance", said a diplomat who is one of the most well informed officials on Afghanistan in New Delhi. "When PM Singh will meet Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai he is likely to say that India is a friend of Afghanistan and Indians are standing shoulder-to-shoulder in Afghan's endeavour for peace and development."
Jason Burke, the Guardian newspaper's South Asia correspondent, tells rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt that there is no need to go hammer and tongs at Pakistan unless there's sufficient evidence to back up claims about its complicity in harbouring Osama bin Laden.
Two powerful businessmen ganged up against the Congress. Starling revelations from a source close to Rahul Gandhi. Sheela Bhatt listens in. Exclusive to Rediff.com
'This is the vote against the Congress's Muslim appeasement policy. The OBCs in Uttar Pradesh has understood how the Congress to gain Muslim votes wants to give away a pie of the quota, which is legitimately theirs.'
China's increasing presence in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was not discussed, but both nations did discuss Pakistan, China and other issues related to maritime disputes and the security situation in the Indian Ocean.
In a clutch of ice-cold words Dr Singh conveyed a great deal outright rejecting any third party mediation and disabusing any Pakistani notions to the effect that India was coming under US pressure over the Kashmir issue.
Dr Singh, his wife Gursharan Kaur, President Obama, Michelle Obama, Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee were seated at the lead table.
Sheela Bhatt on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's dinner for President Barack Obama.
Rahul Bedi, the New Delhi-based correspondent of Jane's Defence Weekly, tells Sheela Bhatt why the rapid American shift of the Indian military hardware is a dangerous development.
Sheela Bhatt travels with Priyanka Gandhi deep into the villages of Amethi and Rae Bareli and discovers that all is not well in the pocket borough of the Congress First Family.
The Indian establishment may get a leverage while talking to American officials on bilateral efforts of counter-terrorism while the media splashes scary details about what Headley did in India, points out Sheela Bhatt
The second part of a special series where well-informed Uttar Pradesh residents discuss the psyche of voters, the personalities of its leaders and the socio-cultural lives of the people of the election-bound state.
'I don't have faith in Indian politicians, but I have faith in Indian democracy. Whatever you may say, Indian democracy is very genuine,' Vinod Mehta tells Sheela Bhatt.
Sheela Bhatt profiles Arvind Kejriwal, a crucial member of Team Anna, who has emerged as one of the key players in the movement for a strong anti-corruption law.
Sheela Bhatt profiles Arvind Kejriwal, a crucial member of Team Anna, who has emerged as one of the key players in the movement for a strong anti-corruption law.
Modi has a real challenge if the allegations of corruption pick up momentum. Modi was struggling to improve his image with the minorities but now he will have to convince the majority that his deals were clean and he is above board, says Sheela Bhatt.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Bangladesh on September 6 and 7, his first to the eastern neighbour and the first by an Indian prime minister in 12 years, promises to take bilateral ties to the next level, reports Sheela Bhatt
A senior non-Congress MP, while briefing about their focus in the JPC on the 2G spectrum scam, said, "This JPC is very important. We understand the issue and we will fight tooth and nail to corner the government. My question is: can you sell petrol, milk or even vegetables in 2009 at the price of 2002? This government did it in the name of continuation of NDA's policy. How can you sell a new product at the price of an old product, at old rates?"
In the wake of the nuclear emergency in Japan, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh should have ensured a 'check-up' of safeguards at nuclear power plants before declaring 'Everything is fine' at those sites, Dr A N Prasad, former director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, tells Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
Sudheendra Kulkarni tells rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt that he feels vindicated after a Wikileaks expose on the alleged 'buying' of MPs during the 2008 confidence vote of the United Progressive Alliance.
Experts tell the PM that India's nuclear power plants are designed differently from the ones in Japan, so a similar crisis is unlikely to happen here. Also it seems certain that events in Japan are unlikely to dampen India's nuclear energy plans. Sheela Bhatt reports.
Sources in the government have claimed that if most political leaders are in favour of withdrawing the government's Lokpal Bill -- at the all-party meeting scheduled to be held on Wednesday afternoon -- the government may agree to withdraw it. The all-party meet will be held on Wednesday at 3.30 pm at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's official residence at 7, Race Course road.
Prashant Bhushan is a lawyer and one of the senior leaders and brains behind the Anna Hazare-led anti-corruption movement for a stronger Lokpal bill. The movement is set to add a historic, new chapter in India's parliamentary democracy.
Although Omar Abdullah has survived as Jammu and Kashmir chief minister he has been unable to govern, People's Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti tells Sheela Bhatt in an exclusive interview.
The team that is forming the strategy to take on Anna Hazare is so confused and incoherent that in spite of Team Anna's few missteps, the UPA government is unable to counter them. Says a senior minister and a leader with political sense, "We are worried about losing the battle for minds." Sheela Bhatt reports.
The government of Egypt and Dubai has complained to India about the excessive media coverage given to relatives of the kidnapped Indian sailors by Somali pirates. According to them, the hype by the Indian media is not helping negotiators who are trying to strike a deal with pirates for the early release of the sailors.
'Mansoor Ijaz is a smooth operator. I am not surprised he has fooled us or anybody, says former R&AW chief A S Dulat in conversation with Sheela Bhatt.
The Congress-Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam alliance is back on track, with the re-opening of communication channels between the two parties. Sources said the Congress is set to agree to contest 60 seats, which was the DMK's final offer after three rounds of hard bargaining.
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