Indians want change and progress. They should be willing to accept tough decisions, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
A move to extend visas on arrival facility to 150 countries and make world heritage sites more tourist friendly has been welcomed.
Sources said a rare exception was made to allow arrival and departure of Aziz, who led the Pakistani delegation, by air at Amritsar which is not a designated port for entry and exit of Pakistani nationals, besides giving swift clearance despite a last minute change in his scheduled arrival by a special flight.
From Dudhwa to Veppathur and Havelock Island, the Indian tourism market is booming like never before.
Attacking the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said the country has suffered due to 'backseat driving' and 'remote control' and warned people of Assam against an unstable government in the state.
'I swayed my arms in the air with strangers when George Michael sang Careless Whispers' 'I was in heaven.'
Here is your weekly digest of the odd moments from around the world
If the government thinks that they will be able to control it, then they're either fooling themselves or have no clue about the power of viral media.
Modi said that mere government budget is insufficient to address the problems such as foeticide and nutrition.
akistani-American David Coleman Headley outline how the Lashkar-e-Tayiba and the Inter-Services Intelligence wanted to spread terror in India.
Devdutt Pattanaik responds to the decision by Penguin to withdraw and pulp Wendy Doniger's book The Hindus: An Alternative History.
Yuvaraj, accused of killing a Dalit youth in Tamil Nadu, has been externed in Tirunelveli where A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com met him.
In effect, companies which put their money in telecom in India would have done much better to keep the cash in bank and earn interest.
It still isn't too late to plan your first trip of the year! Anita Rao-Kashi draws up this list.
With PM Modi's visit, the time has come for a relook at India-Myanmar ties, and elevate the relationship to higher levels, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
'There will be greater communalisation. He talks about development, but his people tell his critics to go to Pakistan and brand Muslims as 'butchers'. This is the true colour of the BJP.' 'He deliberately does not stop them because that is his real agenda; he wants to make sure that the Hindu votes come to the BJP,' says senior journalist Kalpana Sharma. Ritu Jha/Rediff.com listens in.
Vat Vrikshya -- banyan tree in Sanskrit -- helps tribal women, with absolutely zero formal education, set up businesses.
'What struck me was how content the hermit seemed in his little cave, not at all self-conscious in proclaiming that it was the grace of Shiva that had brought him to Tapovan and it was Shiva who would look after him.'
Want a detox from the city crowds? Visit Dharamkot and watch the glorious sunset!
The Michelin Star chef and host of MasterChef India, who penned his first work of fiction, shares stories from his life.
The incredible demand to be a part of Indian-American history in greeting Prime Minister Modi has pushed us to find more ways to let the community participate.
'If the RSS should be saluted for choosing such a scholarly statesman to address its highly trained cadre, one must also praise Pranab Da's sagacity for having gracefully accepting the invitation, thus disapproving any ideological apartheid,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
Bouldering is the new favourite among India's adventure enthusiasts
Behind sprinter Dutee Chand's rise is a hidden journey filled with pain and hardship.
Apart from the two Indians, four others have been selected for the award -- Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines, Dompet Dhuafa of Indonesia, Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers and 'Vientiane Rescue' of Laos
'Aurangzeb spent a major part in the Deccan. The later Mughals were looted by Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah Abdali. The Mughals had no money to build. That's why Zafar Mahal, the only palace they built in Mehrauli, was built very shoddily and quickly fell into ruin.' 'Mehrauli spans a much longer period of time than any other city of Delhi,' says historian Rana Safvi.
India and China have not ruled out a Modi-Xi meeting during the summit.
Hein Kiessling has the kind of access in Pakistan that journalists (and spies) would die for, says Kanika Datta.
On Thursday, Indrani will be obligated to change into the green uniform sari she receives visitors in, as per jail rules, and meet the gentlemen from the income tax department. She may also at some point on Thursday video conference with Delhi in the INX Media-Karti Chidambaram case where she might become an approver.
Ivanka spoke for a good 15 minutes, gracefully, looking straight at her audience, her face wreathed often in winning smiles. She is an articulate, striking, woman who charmed her audience.
'It is obvious that the lakhs who come to see it do not see it through the prism of religion,' says Jyoti Punwani.
'My kids have never seen my films. I'm too embarrassed to show them. When they come on television, my husband calls me over for a laugh but I just switch off the TV and run out of the room.' From actress to author, the glamorous Twinkle Khanna tells Ronjita Kulkarni/ Rediff.com who she really is.
Three stars of Hindi cinema share their memories of Jayalalithaa.
A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com speaks to common folk in Tamil Nadu about whether they will invest in Arun Jaitley's gold monetisation scheme. Their reactions will not make the Union finance minister happy.
What happened within the last 40 years that turned this society from secular democratic to Hindu right-wing that clench their collective fists of spiritual nobility against the fictional enemy that never was? The internet happened, says Vinay Menon.
If India is to follow a smart cultural diplomacy, it has unmatched advantages over both China and Pakistan, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Walking around InMobi's office, it is hard not to compare what you see here with the images one has seen of Google's global offices.
The prime minister, on his first trip to his Lok Sabha constituency in over eight months, claimed poverty alleviation measures have lacked a proper direction and they are spoken about during election time as a "tradition".
Akbar is rumoured to have once asked the navratnas of his court what the greatest pleasure in the world was. The stock answers came back: wealth, power, women, food, wine and so on, with the emperor's own contribution being hunting. Birbal was the outlier; he asserted that the greatest pleasure in the world was surely a good bowel movement.
'People on both sides of the Hindutva debate need to read and understand the texts first,' Bibek Debroy, translator of the unabridged Mahabharata, tells Kanika Datta as he gets started on a similar project for the Ramayana.
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