On Thursday, November 6, the Washington Post newspaper reported that controversial American diplomat, Ambassador Robin Raphel, had her office and home searched by the FBI. This most unusual development likely raised much cheer at India's ministry of external affairs, in whose flesh Raphel had been a thorn through much of her tenure in the first Bill Clinton administration in the early and mid-1990s by her anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand. Seventeen years ago, as she was about to step down as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Raphel granted an exclusive interview to Aziz Haniffa and India Abroad, the leading Indian-American weekly newspaper, which is now owned by Rediff.com The July 1997 interview, which provoked a raging controversy in both capitals, Washington, DC and New Delhi, is reproduced here...
'The Gita was propounded on a battlefield and regards the use of force to establish Dharma or righteousness, as not only legitimate but one's highest duty,' says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
he also talked about India's tradition of respecting the nature through festivals like 'Chhat' and referred to the ongoing cleanliness campaign.
'People didn't know of my presence until they saw my saris at the Lakme Fashion Week.'
During her nearly 17-minute speech, she did not mention Pakistan.
With cinematographer Abraham Williams in her home state of Hawaii.
Mumbai Indians' consistency on the big day paid off again during a season where there were more than 30 last-over finishes.
Sharmila Nair's campaign '18 Shades of Black' is inspiring Indian women to talk about the restrictions they faced while growing up and encouraging people to find solutions.
During a time where West Indian cricket has struggled to hit the heights of the great teams of the 1970s and 1980s, he has been more than just a great entertainer at the top of the order.
'The outrage that followed the destruction of the Babri Masjid was an inability to see the event for what it was: The rectification of a grave historical wrong, the restitution of a hurt of a people and the countering of moral injustice,' argues Vivek Gumaste.
The sexism may well be lost out on mothers who call their daughters 'ghar ka beta' but there is something heartening in seeing middle class mothers encouraging them to pursue non-traditional careers. Sonil Dedhia/Rediff.com meets a few 'model' mums.
Reservation is an albatross whose continuation under the current system risks creating deep fissures in our society, warns Vikram Johri.
She noted that the democracy was at peril under the Modi government and alleged that it was misusing and abusing its mandate in the "most dangerous" fashion, the sources said.
The supermodel is a multi-tasker at many levels.
No longer an in-house task; hiring legal eagles is now becoming norm for M&As, fundraising
Tell us which of these outfits you liked the best!
'Basuda welcomed viewers into a world that was instantly familiar and comfortable,' observes Sukanya Verma.
'If there were no Ahmedabad programme -- no flashy town hall event in a huge cricket stadium with thousands cheering him on -- then Trump may well have decided not to go to India.'
India is the perfect place to innovate because locals are aware of what's needed and have the intellectual capacity and engineering excellence to create and think outside of the box.
With the "#100sareepact" trending, saris have come back into focus as a garment that is contemporary yet comfortable. Ritika Bhatia identifies four labels leading the funky revolution.
His songs were the anchor, the substratum, if you will, upon which life unfolded day after day, decade after decade -- across villages, towns, cities, and regions. Siva Sankar pays tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam, the legendary singer who passed into the ages on Friday.
Met these distinctive personalities during Navratri, asks Tista Sengupta.
Normally one would expect a trained sculptor to either carve out statues or be involved in building temples and with artistic airs. But Purna Chandra Upadhyay, who did his Masters in old Indian traditional sculpture in 1979, did neither. Instead, he joined a medical college and created body parts for anatomy students of the Banaras Hindu University for 33 years.
Day Three of Lakme Fashion Week began with a bang, literally. With this line! :-)
Recently, there has been a mushrooming of international apparel retailers.
The software had, perhaps unknown to Dr Tripathi, tracked the changes he had made. The 'morph track' feature of the software provided a trail of what had been done and also indicated that the doctor had, it seemed, opted to morph Sheena's face with the provided skull, much in the same manner that Fantamorph can turn a woman into a cheetah.
Domestic wineries have moved from creating predominantly sweet wines in their initial years to drier, complex blends now. They also seem to be investing more in wine tourism.
Check out the winners.
'The dressing room is a precinct that abounds with all the complexities that make up human nature -- and the unpredictable consequences that can emerge from interpersonal relationships. 'A cursory study of cricket history throws up interesting (and some hugely surprising) examples of conflict between players from the same team,' says Ayaz Memon
Consistent death bowling from a Bumrah and spinners picking up wickets in the middle overs is why the average run-rate in the last few years hasn't exploded the way one would have expected, says Dhruv Munjal.
'India does not wish to remain silent in improving its strategic space so that its leverage to counter China's expansionist designs is maintained, besides enabling it to play a responsible role from a position of strength for peace and stability in Asia,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
'It is unclear whether there will again be such a confrontational moment in our politics before we all go to vote in 2019,' says Aakar Patel.
Entrepreneurship hasn't been a cakewalk for him, says Sinha.
PINK, Penaz Masani and a precious picture of Nirupa Roy in and as Superman, a low-down of Sukanya Verma's fully filmi week!
'We'll certainly have Hollywood productions, so why wouldn't we have Bollywood?'
There are around 6,500 diamond manufacturers of which Palanpuri Jains operate a mere 6 per cent, or around 400 companies. But they stand out for being highly interlinked through blood ties.
Pankhuri Gidwani's beautiful smile, toned body and kind nature will win your heart!
Federer begins the pursuit of a record eighth Wimbledon title and a record 85th match win at the grass court major; Djokovic hoping to curb dismal slide
There will remain those, though, who will remain in opposition to this massive endeavour for world peace with an aim not to improve, but to scuttle the project. But for the rest of us, a cultural and spiritual event of this significance and scale is a feast for the mind and soul, say Sankrant Sanu.
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