Choona is too slow, has redundant characters and needless complications, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Flanked by security and chanting Congress supporters, Rahul inspected the slum area and also interacted with affected families who told him of their woes, while a massive crowd followed him.
Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament from Jamnagar Poonam Madam was on Monday injured after she fell into a drain while meeting slum dwellers of Jalaram locality during a demolition drive by civic authorities.
While hearing a matter relating to encroachment on railway land in Gujarat, the apex court observed that when the Constitution recognises rule of law, it has to be adhered to by one and all.
The injured -- 130 -- cannot go back to work nor do they have homes to return to. Many of them refuse to leave the hospital while some of their relatives sleep in the hospital corridors. Apart from their physical injuries, the trauma of seeing their family members swept away haunts them as does the loss of all their possessions. But the BJP-Sena government remains indifferent to this human crisis.
Former prime minister V P Singh Wednesday said he was detained briefly by the police as he prepared to go protest demolition of slums on the Yamuna bank, a charge denied by the police.
The fiery activist, who is crusading against demolition of slums in Mumbai, entered the conference hall at a hotel in south Mumbai when Chidambaram was about to leave to catch a flight to Delhi after delivering a speech on urban renewal.
Last week's slum fire at Bandra east highlights the stark difference between the two sides of the neighbourhood's railway station. But Piyush Goyal can change it, says Anil Singh.
Activist Medha Patkar, along with 200 other protestors, was detained by the Mumbai police at Santacruz in suburban Mumbai, after she blocked the Western Express Highway on Thursday morning. Traffic movement near the highway was affected by the blockade for over two hours. Patkar and local residents were protesting the demolition of several homes for a slum rehabilitation authority project in Golibar in Santacruz.
The 7th Pay Commission recommendations are a major challenge for the Railways.
After the railways razed their shanties, residents of the Shakur Basti slum on Sunday picked up pieces of their lives from debris strewn all over, even as father of the toddler in the midst of a row said his child would have been alive had officials shown generosity and given some time.
They were protesting against the demolition of slums by the Brihanmumbai\nMunicipal Corporation.
Police have registered an offence against social activist Medha Patkar for violating orders prohibiting assembly of more than five people.
'This is a new phenomenon,' says Shekhar Gupta. 'Does it point to the rise of egomania, and could it also be a reason our politics is broken and Parliament non-functional? Where our biggest leaders talk not to, but at each other.'
Two Indian-Americans returned to India from the US to contest the elections from the AAP. They may have lost the elections but Deelip Mhaske and Dr Prabhat Ranjan Das have no regrets and speak of their experiences. George Joseph reports.
Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com visits this Delhi slum where the administration demolished 1,200 shanties, resulting in a baby's death.
Though he went back to writing "beautiful scenes" for other Bollywood directors, his deep interest in the lives of ordinary citizens never slackened, evident from the way he made himself available to human rights groups whenever they called him.
A week after taking office, Arvind Kejriwal and his ministers have ambitious promises to keep.
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken in the week gone by.
N Suresh pays tribute to a consummate politician who passed into the ages on Monday.
'There is too much news about film stars. There is too much fawning over wealth and power. There is a grey area between seriousness and triviality in news reporting now.' 'Mumbai is still a magnet. All the politicians have property in Mumbai. Politicians are the biggest racketeers here.' Olga Tellis, the legendary reporter who completed 50 years in journalism, tells A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com about her life and experiences.
Constitutional questions referred to larger benches of the Supreme Court long ago have literally gathered dust, says M J Antony
'Mumbai's killings in January 1993 came at the tail end of two outbursts of vicious communal violence, whereas today, it's peacetime in a 'new India'.' 'At that time, the perpetrators warned onlookers to keep their mouths shut.' 'Today, the perpetrators take videos of their attacks, such is their confidence.' 'The mobs have succeeded in terrorising an entire community and indeed, all those dealing in the transport of cattle, whatever their religion,' says Jyoti Punwani.
In this May 2014 interview with Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com, the politically conscious Karnad spoke of why he is concerned about Modi coming to power.
The fact remains that in the present-day Tamil Nadu, GenX and GenY voters, born and/or growing up after the end of 'Kamaraj rule' in the '60s and 'MGR rule', respectively, constitute an absolute majority of the electorate. If they still vote for a Rajini or Kamal, in preference to the established 'Dravidian voters', it is despite the MGR imagery, not because of it, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'I do not think Rajiv Gandhi at that stage had any influence on his mother. Indira Gandhi relied totally on Sanjay and she looked upon him as a dependable son.' 'What really affected people and eventually Indira Gandhi was the sterilisation drive. She lost so badly in north India because of these drives.' 'She is the one who has given this aura of 'the family' to the Gandhis.' The second and final part of veteran journalist Coomi Kapoor, whose book The Emergency: A Personal Account was published recently, to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com about Independent India's darkest phase.
How do you translate a first love into a profession? How do you become a writer once you set your heart on it? Susmita Bhattacharya, who once worked as a graphic designer in Mumbai, now teaches the basics of English to newcomers to Britain and is also a creative writing tutor. Her first novel The Normal State of Mind was published earlier this year after a grim battle with cancer.
