In 2017, the former Union minister called Modi "neech aadmi" following which he was suspended from the Congress party.
Sheela Bhatt visits a large urban basti a mere 20-minute drive from the prime minister's home to discover a story of grim struggle in the time of lockdown.
"No problem is insurmountable," Shaheen Mistri tells Anjuli Bhargava.
'In the Middle Ages, when Muslims were around 15 per cent of the population of the world, they accounted, according to one estimate, for 90 per cent of scientific advancements.' 'And today, when Muslims are around 22 per cent of the population of the world, their share in scientific writings is less than 1 per cent!' point out Ziya Us Salam and M Aslam Parvaiz.
'I don't believe in the length of the role. But I definitely don't want to be decoration.'
Mourners in large numbers on Saturday paid their last respects to Jnanpith award winner and Kannada literary giant U R Ananthamurthy who was cremated with full state honours in Bangalore.
Dera Saccha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh on Friday deferred a premiere of his controversial film "Messenger of God" in which he claims he has not tried to project himself as God or hurt any religious sentiments.
Indians ought to be all Indian nationalists first and those talking about Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian nationalisms are really anti-national, Press Council of India Chairman, Justice (retd) Markandey Katju said in Nagpur on Friday.
An American professor offers truth behind some popular beliefs. Read on!
Richard Gasquet sent French Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka flying out of Wimbledon on Wednesday, winning the battle of the slingshot backhands 6-4, 4-6, 3-6, 6-4, 11-9 to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time.
Siva Sankar looks at S P Balasubrahmanyam's fantastic repertoire.
India's batting legend Sachin Tendulkar shared his superstition of wearing the left pad first and using his favourite bat even if it was broken by fixing it in his hotel room. The batting maestro, who was in Amravati, Maharashtra to inaugurate a sports complex said, "I used to take off the handle, add glue, replace the handle and put chairs on it so that it got properly stuck for the next day's play. I used to do it at my hotel room," he said. Tendulkar, who was greeted by cheering students in Amravati said that winning the World Cup was the most memorable moment of his life. "It was my childhood dream to play for India and win the World Cup. To realise that dream I toiled consistently. "I never gave up and finally achieved it. It took me 22 years to realise it. I succeeded because I kept trying. So, if you want to achieve anything in your life, don't turn your back and try to achieve it till you succeed," the master told his young fans.
... It is more like a documentary on the appalling condition of the Dalits, feels Namrata Thakker.
'Shows of PK will continue all over Maharashtra and we will provide necessary protection to ensure smooth screening of the film,' Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said.
'It is beyond him to understand how human beings can say the same thing to mean so many different things.'
Acclaimed writer Nayantara Sahgal, the niece of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award to protest against the "vicious assault" on India's diversity and the government's failure to protect cultural diversity.
Alas, not enough to be dazzled by the boring, bogus naivet of Tubelight, Sukanya Verma.
In another twist in the Sheena Bora murder case, bone samples of her charred body collected in 2012 were found by forensic experts to be not matching those obtained from the remains which were exhumed recently.
'The Sanatan Sanstha does not believe in violence. The concept of violence and threatening people doesn't fit into our ideology and principles.' 'There are some people who are opposed to Hindu religion. They think propagating the tenets of the Hindu religion is a sign of backwardness.' 'While the RSS and Sanatan Sanstha propagate Hindutvavad and cultural nationalism, we do have our differences, which in a democratic society is absolutely normal and required.'
'PadMan has its premise in place. Now if only it had some wings,' says Sukanya Verma.
Veteran Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare, who was shot at earlier this week, died at a hospital in Mumbai late Friday night after he was airlifted for treatment to the city this evening from Kolhapur. He was 82.
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
family of the 50-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq who was brutally lynched to death by a Hindu mob over beef-eating rumours in Dadri last week were flown in to Lucknow for an audience with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav at his official residence in Lucknow Sunday morning.
'Jaitley was one of the earliest politicians to sense the changing political scenario in Delhi. He had closely watched the rise of the BJP and declining fortunes of the Congress party during the L K Advani era. But it was between 2009 and 2014 as the Leader of the Opposition that he began to read the tea leaves. 'And thus it was that he introduced Modi-Amit Shah duo to Lutyens Delhi,' says senior journalist R Rajagopalan who had known Jaitley since 1975.
'Stree's allegorical approach doesn't interfere with its need to endear and entertain.' 'Important ideas of empowerment and item songs as well as chills and chuckle coexist to fulfil its objective of thoda hasao, thoda darao,' says Sukanya Verma.
The word 'superstition' doesn't exist in her dictionaries.
The BCCI has retired the No 10 jersey in Tendulkar's honour. But in football, number 10 signifies the legend. After Pele and Diego Maradona, the two great strikers of the ball, Lionel Messi has made the number priceless, notes Veer Arjun Singh.
'We do India great disservice if we continue to perpetuate a flawed narrative on trade, one based on myths rather than facts,' says Hardeep Singh Puri.
The mystery over incidents of chopping of braids in Delhi and other states continued as more such cases were reported.
'It is worrisome that religion, politics and strong regional biases have pervaded our police force.'
'Made in Heaven plays well as a busy show; when it's hip, but without being hopeless,' feels Sreehari Nair.
Suraj Sharma reveals how delivering a Subway sandwich landed him Life in Pi and other fun stories.
Netas in Uttar Pradesh are using Rajkumar Hirani's film PK to play the politics of polarization.
Narendra Modi can pick up a tip from the Samajwadi Party ramlila. If he doesn't want L K Advani as President, he might anoint him Bharatiya Bhishma Pitamah, suggests Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Three guys stood out at the swearing-in ceremony of Deve Gowda's son, says Sudhir Bisht.
A towering figure in the world of letters, Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy, who died in Bangalore on Friday, was modern in his sensibilities and intellectual underpinnings in his literary works questioned many deeply-held beliefs.
'RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat was on the Hindu extremists' hit-list. In June 2008, this information was made public. Prior to that, you should hear Bhagwat's speeches and listen to his 'liberal' statements.' 'After he was informed that he was on their hit-list, he became a hardliner. He was not like that before.'
Nationalism, Hindutva, and war on corruption, not growth, will define Modi's politics until 2019.
The bar's been raised again, says Sukanya Verma.
1929-2018: The life and legacy of Ursula K Le Guin in her own words.
