He won the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize for his work in reaching an interim peace agreement with the Palestinians.
The ultimate was surely Yudhishthira's immortal "Aswathama hatha...", followed by a whispered "iti narova kunjarova..."," says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
President Ram Nath Kovind said he was 'a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency' and would be missed by his readers.
Modi releases a photo book, 'President Pranab Mukherjee - A Statesman' at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.
A list of prominent journalists who also became successful politicians.
After expelling party stalwart Jaswant Singh, now it seems that the Bharatiya Janata Party is all set to take action against the veteran leader's son and legislator Manvendra Singh for allegedly campaigning for his father.
As the battle between the Congress party and the Bharatiya Janata Party over Jawaharlal Nehru's legacy continues, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Monday hit out at the National Democratic Alliance government saying it has no understanding of Nehru's values.
The author talks to the veteran photographer about his work, and some of his favourite images over the years
'The politician in him saw to it that the foundation stone was laid in Ahmedabad in the run-up to the assembly election in Gujarat in 2017.' 'But the statesman in him also wants it to be his legacy.'
'Galbraith had a powerful ally in Washington -- not as blunt and direct as the ambassador -- but committed to see Krishna Menon go.' 'This was President Kennedy himself.'
'As general elections draw near, the BJP and the JD-U (in whatever form it is) will do a deal -- the state to the JD-U in return for support at the Centre for the BJP.'
Tokyo was awarded the 2020 summer Games on Saturday, beating Istanbul in a head-to-head vote after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had addressed the International Olympic Committee in person to allay fears over the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Modi accused the Congress of criticising EVMs and the functioning of the Election Commission after they were reduced to 44 seats from 400 in Lok Sabha. "They did not question the EVMs after the recent Karnataka elections," he added.
'Every time I step on stage, I feel like I'm performing the play for the first time,' Manoj Joshi tells Sadiya Updade.
After the Chauri Chaura incident, Gandhi decided to withdraw the Non-Cooperation Movement.
The real challenge, says Subir Roy, is to go for something affordable whose quality is just right.
Amitabh: "There is a very famous limerick that aptly describes my presence tonight, ladies and gentleman: A funny young man from Clyde In a funeral carriage was spied; When asked, "Who is dead?" He giggled and said, "I don't know; I just came for the ride."
Photographer S Paul, who died this month, was furiously protective about his independence and intensely sure about his work. So much so that he once walked away from a shoot with a prime minister.
'You put crores of rupees making films, so I don't think any producer or studio would back you because you know a relative in the industry.' 'They will back talent, either from within the fraternity or outside.'
'It would be too sweeping to say that the elites and the middle-class don't care about liberty.' 'It is just that they are always calculating the trade-offs: What's in it for me, what could it cost me?' 'To that extent, we haven't changed in 40 years,' says Shekhar Gupta.
We can learn much from China with regards to making civil service recruitment more efficient, says former diplomat Kishan S Rana.
'India should be more confident and let Pakistanis meet Hurriyat leaders. India's main concern is terrorism, and India should talk terrorism. If that means talking Kashmir, so be it. India can't answer terror with terror because we don't have terror factories. India can't answer terrorism with war because we both have nuclear weapons. That leaves talks as the only option,' says Shivam Vij.
Shahnaz Anklesaria Aiyar was a formidable journalist. More importantly, she was an incredible human being, says Sanjoy Hazarika.
'I belonged to the working class, not the middle class.' 'I was a rag-picker. I used to pick up coal from the railway tracks.' 'I was rejected from the FTII, as I was very unkempt and skinny.' 'I did not look like a hero, villain or comedian.' 'But Girish Karnad and Jairaj said I should be taken based on merit, not looks.'
According to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who spent 19 months in prison during the 1975 Emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, it is not possible for anybody to convert a democratic India into a "dictatorship" in this day and age.
'Modi's victory is his own victory. Now what he has done thereafter, it seems to me, leads us to believe that he was a bit too prolific with his promises.' 'One achievement of Modi's I will praise is that he has put the fear of God among his ministers and officials.' 'Indira Gandhi's sentiment of controlling everything, centralising power in to her hands is the quality that persists in Modi' Veteran journalist Inder Malhotra casts his experienced gaze on one year of the Modi Sarkar.
While Calcutta has transitioned to Kolkata, Satyajit Ray's detective, Feluda, has remained unchanged in the Bengali consciousness
'Unlike in other states, minorities form a significant number in Kerala. They have money and political power. In such a society, the emergence of a new communal power is not a healthy thing.'
'Independence Day has been India's annual general meeting. For the most part, it has been a forgettable experience of ritual observances. Not so this year... Mr Modi instead presented what I call a moral balance sheet of India,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'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
In the final part of his interview with Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com, journalist Rajdeep Sardesai says the Congress lost the election in 2011, the year of Anna Hazare.
Fifty years ago, India and Pakistan fought a short but bloody war. The author finds out how Sainik Samachar, the defence ministry's journal, reported it.
'The real test will be in defence-related deals, for instance the Javelin anti-tank missile: Is the US willing to co-develop something with India, on terms that will support the 'Make in India' initiative? Is there defence technology transfer? Or will it dump old junk on India?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
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