The decision to rethink the ban on porn Web sites is the latest reversal of decisions by the Modi Sarkar. Has the Modi Sarkar become a regime of U-turns, asks Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Fadnavis said preliminary reports made available to him stated that the tigress was shot after she attacked the forest staff trying to tranquilise her.
'For Muslims, India is now a Hindu Rashtra, no matter what kind of Constitution is still in place,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
'The prime minister has merely paid lip service condemning these crimes instead of launching a massive crackdown against such brutalities,' argues Professor Mohammad Sajjad.
The prospect of Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt missing the Rio Olympics through injury will rightly give organisers and fans palpitations. But track and field's chief administrator, Sebastian Coe, insisted that the Summer Games were not based around one athlete, albeit acknowledging the "genius" of the six-time Olympic gold medallist. Bolt is facing a race against time to be fit in his bid for an unprecedented third treble Olympic gold with the Rio Games just four weeks away.
'The Congress has finally drawn a line in the sand over its pro-poor credentials.'
'The rich better watch out.'
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday said the anti-national protests in the JNU campus had the backing of LeT chief Hafiz Saeed.
'As he has no executive track record, so far, he is all talk and hence essentially a braggart and a bigot.' 'That he is described as the 'Trump of the tropics' should give a shorthand summary to what he stands for on issues in general,' points out Ambassador B S Prakash, India's former envoy to Brazil.
We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
Patrick French, who profiled Nupur and Rajesh Talwar and the case against them in his book India, A Portrait, speaks to Rediff.com about their acquittal.
The prime minister, says Ram Kelkar, could do a lot to advance his stature as a national leader by speaking in strong and unequivocal terms on the subject of opposing intolerance and emphasizing the rule of law, thereby setting the tone for the nation and the party.
We take it as a given and allow a free run to those who deserve to be reined in by a simple democratic act: vote decisively, and if the television has made a farce of itself, use the remote control, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
The Goa-based marine engineer booked for anti-Narendra Modi remarks on Facebook on Saturday said his post was a reaction to BJP inducting controversial right wing leader Pramod Muthalik into the party, and maintained the issue had been blown out of proportion.
'Burhan Wani's killing served as a spark for the anti-establishment fire that has been raging in the minds of Kashmiris ever since the Centre stopped engaging them for their political future,' says Air Vice Marshal (retd) Kapil Kak in an interview with Rediff.com
'Insulting the law, instigating violence, living ostentatiously and preaching godliness?' 'This vulgar hypocrisy needs peoples' rejection and a revolt.' 'If people can't speak out, then it will be a hypocrisy that they expect the government to act and speak for them,' says Tarun Vijay.
'I cannot conceive of any reason than my unsparing criticism of government policies that the government picked me to send a message to many who dare to take it on.'
The onus today is on China, but it also requires a little diplomatic finesse from India, backed by a modernised armed force, argues BJP MP Subramanian Swamy in this excerpt from his new book, Himalayan Challenge: India, China And The Quest For Peace.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation's decision to make washrooms in hotels and eateries open to the public for a fee highlights India's failure to expand access to toilet facilities.
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
'You can see the essential contours of his new Pakistan strategy. Rather than keep engaging with or humouring them, he'd rather work on taking their four biggest supporters -- the US, China, the UAE and later Saudi Arabia -- away from them.' 'In his calculation,' says Shekhar Gupta, 'with the total support of all four of these, Pakistan will be forced to moderate its policies.'
Why do the biggest, most talented and successful film-makers of India suck up to the establishment so breathlessly, asks Shekhar Gupta.
Chaos and controversy rock the 2016 Republican national convention in Cleveland, Ohio.
A new logo can harm image than doing good, say experts.
The tragedy is that, at least on social media, the narrative that was being lapped up by many Indian Muslims was that Yakub Memon was being victimised. The purveyors of this poisonous line of thinking of course want this sentiment to grow since communal polarisation is the primary pillar of their political strategy, says Sushant Sareen.
If there is a lesson to be learnt from the 1980s, it is that mobocracy never works. And a government that yields before public protests will have ceded its right to govern, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
'For years American academia has used the concerns about Hindutva in India to almost completely trash the concept of Hinduism.' 'In the American debate, Wendy Doniger's point of views perpetuated Hinduphobia.' 'Americans were willing to change... Indian intellectuals let us down badly.'
Rahul would know that fealty can be a fickle thing, and that if the Congress bucks the trend and actually wins the next national election, selfies with him would find their way from phones to walls, replacing those taken with Modi.
Even if I completely disagree with what Gulmehar says, I must, as a father, as an Indian, protect her rights and her dignity. Otherwise I am not entitled to be called an Indian, says Tarun Vijay.
The Congress has kept quiet on the way the Union home ministry has handled innumerable blast cases under its rule. It has not openly condemned the bias that pervades within its government and the security agencies, says Neeta Kolhatkar.
'It is only when those who are oppressed stand for themselves that society is forced to create space for them,' says Aakar Patel.
The Biju Janata Dal MP from Dhenkanal says crime will come down if cannabis is legalised.
There would have been no controversy if the convicted rapists were by now punished according to law and sent to meet their maker, in short hanged! But our criminal justice system remains dysfunctional. Ultimately besides the genuine social reform and gender equality it is the lack of effective laws that are at the root of women's insecurity, says Colonel (Dr) Anil Athale (retd).
The Indian Spring represented by Anna Hazare's anti-corruption campaign, which has culminated in the Aam Aadmi Party's impressive electoral debut in New Delhi, began around the same time as the Arab Spring in 2011 but they led to different outcomes in India and the Arab world, says Ramesh Ramachandran.
'The problem is not lack of evidence, but the unholy alliance between political parties and church authorities.' 'If you are raising a voice against the priest, you and your family will suffer.'
Congress accuses Centre of 'protecting' state BJP chief's son.
He recalled that democracy-lovers had fought a big battle against the Emergency.
Don't forget to make your pick for the newsmaker of 2015.
'If Indian armed forces entered Pakistan and succeeded in inflicting major damage on the Pakistani army and occupied territory in the Pakistani heartland, there is reason to think the Pakistani military would use some nuclear weapons against the incoming Indian forces to compel India to stop.'
On the road rage incident in Gaya, Kumar said, "... when I saw in the media the (journalist's) family's demand for a CBI probe, I personally asked the DGP (director general of police) to send a police team to acquaint the family with probe (being conducted by the state police).
'The book was NOT banned. There were NO book burnings. There were NO riots. The author was NOT sent death-threats. On the contrary, the plaintiffs pursued due process. The case is a textbook example of how to proceed with civilised, democratic dissent,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
