While Calcutta has transitioned to Kolkata, Satyajit Ray's detective, Feluda, has remained unchanged in the Bengali consciousness
The first stage of the inclusion strategy was focussed on opening bank accounts, logically seen as creating the last-mile channels for financial access.
Visually impaired Srikanth Bolla is the CEO of Hyderabad-based Bollant Industries, an organisation that employs uneducated disabled employees to manufacture eco-friendly, disposable consumer packaging solutions.
At the 53rd annual convocation ceremony of the IIT-B, Anand Mahindra urged graduates to focus on imagination.
'The speeches of Modi in Assam, Bengal, Kerala, Baghpat and the border areas of Bihar, overplaying the themes of terrorism, izzat of mothers and sisters, are to be read carefully to understand that he is trying to keep the fear of Muslims alive in the Hindu masses,' says Apoorvanand.
True Indian scenes most often lie on less travelled routes, along roads that have fallen off the map, after modern highways have come up. On the fourth leg of their 2,148 km journey, Rediff.com's Archana Masih and photographer Rajesh Karkera discover one such forgotten place in the Thar Desert.
One cannot but infer that this brouhaha is a crafty ploy to create an issue out of a non-issue. An overview of post-independent India's history reveals that it is not the BJP or the Sangh Parivar but Marxist historians who have been guilty of debasing history to suit their vested interests, says Vivek Gumaste.
The successful effort to combat Cyclone Phailin threatens to put disaster mitigation, and a fundamental overhaul of how disaster management in India is structured, on the back-burner, says Anand Sarkar.
In our series on Super30 achievers, we find out how Aquibur Rahman has fared since he cleared his IIT-Joint Entrance Exam.
'For all its swagger and insolence, the script is full of silly loopholes, annoying clichs and glaring superficiality.'
'Imagine for a moment that the Coast Guard was unable to stop the vessel and it reached Porbandar with its cargo/personnel and targeted the event at which the prime minister was present,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Missile's range to cover China, West Asia, South East Asia and large parts of Africa
The first 100 days of any government should be a period when it is allowed to get its act together, with no media pressure for faster, higher, says Indira Jayaraman.
An upcoming film on Mohammad Azharuddin promises to be a potboiler, though not a true biopic.
'Is there a connection between the way we pitched the entire issue of Udta Punjab's censorship and the apologetic, full-of-very-specific-answers tone of the movie?' 'Maybe it's just me, but as an Indian liberal, I am more scared of us liberals than I am of the average Indian conservative bloke,' says Sreehari Nair.
'... for two reasons: the poor quality of education, and the low rate of female participation in the labour force.' 'Unless something is done quickly to remedy these problems, India will just have a large population of low-skill, low-wage, males trying and failing to feed their families adequately.'
The Pythagoras theorem 'should either be an Egyptian theorem if you look at the standard of just having an idea about it, an Indian theorem if you're looking for a complete statement of it, or a Chinese theorem if you're looking for the proof of it,' Fields Medal winner and Princeton University Professor Dr Manjul Bharava tells P Rajendran/Rediff.com
'China's latest defence White Paper has been issued against the backdrop of the upgraded Sino-Pakistan strategic relationship which has impinged on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Beijing's continuing intransigence on tackling the issue of the disputed border or intrusion by PLA troops,' says Jayadeva Ranade.
Instead of taking up a plush corporate job, Shadab Hassan chose to start a school for underprivileged children.
Where do the commodities market go in the new year? Sonali Ranade offers an insight.
'I believe Modi mentioned Balochistan only to embarrass Pakistan and also divert attention toward the situation in Kashmir.' 'I think from now on, India intends to raise Balochistan whenever Pakistan brings up Kashmir or upsets them on the issue of terrorism.' 'Balochistan is the least developed of Pakistan's four provinces. It is the least educated and least economically developed. People are agitated that a region so rich in mineral resources and a sea-port is still so poor.' Baloch political analyst Malik Siraj Akbar on why the province wants freedom from Pakistan.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
The debate on Sardar Patel's legacy is less about the Sardar and more about the acute sense of threat felt by the Delhi establishment at the rise of Narendra Modi and questions he has raised about the disproportionate share of credit given to a single family, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
'I do not require validation from a hostile media. My conscience is clear.'
'For a long time Pakistan dreamt that India would break up and that it would be the predominant power in the region,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Indian government and RBI must keep foreign equity investors happy and avoid crushing growth expectations, notes Akash Prakash.
As his party girds its loins for the battle to lead India, Bharatiya Janata Party president Rajnath Singh appears to have the maths worked out in his mind on every possible electoral scenario. But about one thing he is certain: in no circumstances will the party stake claim to form the next government if it doesn't have a clear mandate. Edited excerpts from an interview with Aditi Phadnis
Tanmoy's story is one of hope in times of despair, courage in times of trouble and confidence in times of adversity. His story is a reminder that no matter what the situation is today, you can hope for a better tomorrow, say Jimmy John and Anoop Khanna.
'Pakistan is full of 'religious entrepreneurs' like Hafeez Saeed who poison the minds of the young so that they can be motivated to become terrorists. They work in concert with the rulers of Pakistan. It is a private-public partnership.'
Rajeev Srinivasan on how India has continued to disappoint, but could outdo Singapore one day.
'It is obvious within these two months that in many ways Narendra Modi has a great degree of resemblance with Indira Gandhi.' 'The same style of management of power. The same kind of attempt to reduce a large section of the political leadership into, if not spectators, bureaucrats. His leaders are taking orders from him and executing those orders.' 'This is the model that has worked in Gujarat. And he is hoping that it will work in India.'
Bilawal Bhutto's political inheritance is his biggest asset as well as the biggest liability as he tries to make his mark in Pakistan politics. Challenging the Taliban militants is part of that strategy, though it matches with his political ideology. Shahzad Raza profiles the son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardari.
Much of the negative perceptions of the north-east diaspora owe their origin and existence to the perverse policies of the central government toward the region and its people. This realisation must be the beginning of an earnest endeavour to address the issue, says R N Ravi.
'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.
Ishan Sardesai, who took the country's first NEET-UG on May 5, 2013 narrates the chaos he went through while appearing for the common medical entrance examination.
Anup Raaj, 23, describes how Super 30, a free IIT-JEE coaching institute located in Patna, Bihar, changed his life.
'The best Indian movies today are ones that portray life as "something that doesn't end when the movies do".' 'There's no real arc to traverse or easy lessons to learn. And Irrfan and Nawazuddin -- who can both swerve a movie purely on the strengths of their instincts -- are just the perfect actors for this kind of movie sensibility,' says Sreehari Nair.
'Nehru had multiple chances to make compromises, that would have preserved a united India, and he chose not to,' Nisid Hajari tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
'Every Ali obituary I read made the point that he 'transcended his sport' -- a reference to the many battles he fought with America even as he fought in America.' 'What the obituaries leave out is that Ali equally transcended the boundaries of geography and of information -- as witness the Chennai teen who assimilated that most mobile of fighters through still images shorn of context.'