US president was unaware that the son of a manual labourer had to abandon studies
'Any Muslim who shows even the slightest hint of revolutionary thought is marked as 'infected'.' 'At that point, he is taken to the nearest Detention Centre where a procedure called Reconditioning awaits him.' 'Areas with a high Muslim population have been designated as Scheduled Religion Zones.' 'To be an active participant in this social cleansing ritual, there is only one prerequisite: You have to be an undying patriot whose friend and family is his country.'
As Soumitra Chatterjee turns 80 on January 19, we look back at his best movies.
'Where have we failed, as parents, teachers and leaders, that our children have forgotten all tenets of decent behaviour and respect for women?' President Pranab Mukherjee asks the nation on the eve of Republic Day.
'The forces of good are on the run.' 'But dark times also challenge people to fight.' 'I believe Indians will rise against these dark times.'
'Amitabh Bachchan told me, "I don't appreciate other people doing my voice".'
'Is standing in a queue any bigger sacrifice than that of a soldier's family?'
'Only the smoke is coming out now. Let us prevent the lava from coming out by taking proper measures.' 'I have told every leader that you cannot have a stable government without winning the confidence of the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the most backward castes.' 'Leaders feel that by giving a sop here and there and by symbolic actions, they can win votes. That's all they want. Votes.'
Sanjeeb Mukherjee, who was eight years old when the deadly gas leaked from Union Carbide's factory, gives his account of living in the city during that fateful period
'This can lift us out of confusion, misery, melancholy and failure, and indeed guide us when it is contacted.' 'For us to ignite our spirituality, we need to look inward and transcend our egos. We need to recognize, connect with and integrate the eternal spirit within,' says A P J Abdul Kalam in his latest book, Transcendence.
Foreigners from various corners of the globe to move out of Kathmandu and others parts of Nepal.
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
As football fans arrive to watch Euro 2016, France's trade unions have undertaken a series of strikes to provoke a make-or-break situation. Claude Arpi encounters both Gallic beauty and ugliness in the country of his birth.
62 mass murders carried out with firearms across 30 US states. Of these, 12 were in schools, 19 at workplaces, the other 31 cases took place in shopping malls, restaurants, government buildings and military bases. The average age of the killers was 35, with the youngest only 11 years old. B S Raghavan on how the killings will continue until America confronts the urgent need for gun control.
'Counter terrorism does not appear to be good guys fighting the bad ones; it is about people being picked up, detained and charged with crimes they did not commit.'
'For a long time I didn't know what my mother did -- she kept me in the dark to protect me.' 'But whatever she did, she did it for me.' 'It's been three years since my mother passed away.' 'If she was still alive, I'd respect her choice and stand by her.'
Single mother Gauri Sawant hopes to change the way people view transgenders in India.
A grieving Pakistan's policy shift towards the Taliban has comes at a great cost, says Shahzad Raza.
Buried in a Kolkata cemetery is an Englishman who served India well during her struggle for freedom. Charles Freer Andrews was a benevolent force that neither the Indians, nor the British could ignore.
'I am a very personal writer. I write direct to the reader. I don't hold back,' says India's most loved writer, Ruskin Bond.
In our special series revisiting great Hindi film classics, we look back at Randhir Kapoor and Jaya Bhaduri's 1972 film, Jawani Diwani.
'With Tanu Weds Manu, I discovered myself.'
The new PDP chief will have to work hard to keep everyone in the state happy.
If Pasbola seemed like he was testing Rai on his high school physics, Rai on the other hand, had relocated himself to a classroom of philosophy, offering beautifully inexact answers, arrived at after deep thinking.
Pakistan faces a challenge largely of its own creation and only political processes can correct it, argues Raza Rumi.
Two people can be reasonably happy if they tried sincerely, says Love Guru.
Kailash Satyarthi, co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, in front of packed crowd made a rousing speech asking every person to come together and set our children free. He honoured those who came before him and also said that he accepted this honour on behalf of all the martyrs and activists in India. Here's the transcript of his moving acceptance speech.
We started our journey in wrong direction and we failed to change direction with time, says Pardeep Goyal, co-founder of School Gennie, a start-up that failed.
'So what if the enemies take us as prisoners of war? So what of they kill us? I would feel proud that I could sacrifice my life for the country,' say these proud lady officers of the Indian Navy.
If politics in Tamil Nadu, under Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, can be compared to a complex game of chess, then she is undoubtedly the all-powerful queen while her ministers are mere pawns. If it is compared to a game of rummy, then she is the ace of cards and her ministers are simply a pack of jokers.
The last seven Indian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates were released October 30. Chirag Bahri, Indian coordinator for the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme that aids piracy survivors and their families, speaks to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com on how the near-impossible was achieved.
An active politician for over four decades, Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday completed one year in office as a copybook President, a period that was marked by proactive steps within and outside Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Dhruv Shirpurkar's parents never let go of their faith in God while standing with him in his battle against a rare disorder that left him 85 per cent disabled and bound to a wheelchair.
As the legendary actor turns 60 today, we look at his finest performances in the last six decades.
Son Suneil Anand talks about his famous father, and their life together.
A lot of the terrorism that is affecting Pakistan is really a blowback of the Pakistani state's policy of using jihadist groups as instruments of state policy. And unlike some other countries with similar policies, Pakistan doesn't have the benefit of the political and social space for pulling back from the disastrous course, says Sushant Sareen.
'After 8 to 10 hours of running, when my body starts paining, I keep thinking about the pain and sacrifice of my mother and it makes my will stronger.'
Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday came out with its manifesto for the December 4 Delhi polls, promising to enact Jan Lokpal Bill in 15 days if voted to power.
Friends and colleagues pay rich tributes to the "charming, approachable, and very accessible" Indian Constitution scholar Granville 'Red' Austin.
'They don't always agree with our governments, their teachers or their parents, but it is the conviction of their ideas, and their determination to share them with the world that, I believe, is one of the greatest sources of hope for our planet.' 'The colonisation of space, understanding the very building blocks of matter and the universe, utilising our understanding of the human genome to conquer disease -- these are the tasks waiting for a fellowship of minds to realise new triumphs in our collective destiny.'
