What Saisuresh Sivaswamy learnt about the election from television and the newspapers. A must read column, folks!
Congress party's general secretary Rahul Gandhi kicked off his Discover India journey on Friday from tribal Nuapada district of Orissa, as part of the Congress strategy to reach out to the 'last man in society'. Sans any road show, the much-hyped four-day tour of Orissa began with a visit to a watershed programme at Nangalbod village where Rahul interacted with farmers, women and members of self help groups. Gandhi is scheduled to criss-cross 13 of the 30 districts.
General Asad Durrani's disclosures could leave considerable egg on the face of those currently wielding the stick in Pakistan, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
'Under the guise of Maoism, the State is presently determined to clear out the whole Bastar area of its tribal population.'
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
Rahimullah Yusufzai, also a senior journalist, told rediff.com that it cannot be said that recent violence in Pakistan was orchestrated by the Al Qaeda -- led by Osama bin Laden and his right hand man Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
He also asked men to work towards securing for women their due place in society.
Siva Sankar looks at S P Balasubrahmanyam's fantastic repertoire.
Sreehari Nair reviews Ayyappanum Koshiyum.
Raksha Bandhan festivities were little subdued this year owing to the coronavirus pandemic, with siblings having to rely on technology to wish each other.
Ezhamathe Varavu may not be the best from the legendary team, but it is still worth a watch.
At a time when finding out who is paying for labourers' train tickets is a task for Sherlock Holmes, Hemant Soren's Jharkhand government has flown in stranded workers from Ladakh, and is probably the only state that has tried to give 'migrant workers' a modicum of respect, observes Debashish Chatterjee.
The Naxal movement is today facing leadership issues, losing favour with the Tribals and is confused about its future agenda and course of action.
Every day a Party unfolds on social media where armchair activists, politically charged influencers, trend pundits, gyaan givers and troll armies change the world in their heads but remain clueless about the nation's grassroots reality, feels Sukanya Verma.
Sangma was a nine-time member of Lok Sabha and the Speaker in the 11th Lok Sabha. He had also held important portfolios in the central government.
'This is the first time a majority ruling government is nominating a Dalit for President.' 'So, the moral credibility definitely will go with the BJP, particularly Narendra Modi.'
'There are communal overtones in the chargesheet.' 'Hindus and Muslims live peacefully in Jammu and by highlighting such facts in the chargesheet they are committing a conspiracy against Jammu.' The reason: A Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Kathua rape-cum-murder case (see box below) and the deportation of Rohingya immigrants. Speaking to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, B S Salathia, Jammu Bar Association explains their call for a bandh and the communal divide it has brought about in Jammu.
'The Congress can't return to power unless it reins in prices, lowers interest rates, taxes the rich,' says Praful Bidwai. 'If this means sacking those most responsible for the UPA's pro-big business policies including Finance Minister Chidambaram, so be it!'
Maya Vishwakarma gave up her job as a scientist in California to make 'No Tension' sanitary pads for tribal women who have never used one before.
'... of protecting the lives and property of a large section of society.' 'It may further deepen the communal divide which already exists in the country.'
Fencing the border between Myanmar and Nagaland is expected to adversely affect the Naga tribals. Gautam Sen, an expert on Nagaland, explains why the Indian government needs a more comprehensive and long-term perspective on this issue and why it must take local tribal sensitivities and customs into account.
The US administration will take the final call in a meeting in coming weeks.
The roots of the problem lies in the alienation of the tribals. Extreme sensitivity is required to tackle the issues involved. Rough and ready methods of using force may prove counterproductive in the long run, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
He targeted the prime minister over the controversy, saying "one Modi is standing by another Modi".
Complaints of electronic voting machine malfunctioning poured in from several booths on Tuesday during the third and largest phase of Lok Sabha polls which saw voters turning out in large numbers to cast their vote in 116 seats, including all constituencies of Gujarat and Kerala.
'Wayanad has become famous because of Rahul Gandhi.'
This is for the first time in several years a news report has surfaced about the hiding location of the Al-Qaeda chief, who is Osama bin Laden's mentor and successor.
Once the scheme is implemented 70-80 per cent of the freight would move along national highways as against the current 40 per cent, says Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari.
Justifying action against the JNU and the HU students, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said if slogans are openly raised for terrorists then action is imperative.
District officials on Wednesday said marrying boys and girls with canines was a common practice among Santhals and was supposed to protect them against danger.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday.
Over a month after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh intervened to end his revolt against Narendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday said the Sangh founthead is the "ideological family" which "binds us together".
With the bitter war of words between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party intensifying, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday dubbed the BJP as a "party of thieves" and accused it of "looting the natural resources" of Chhattisgarh.
'It did not start as a Hindutva slogan.' 'It started to tease the TMC and slowly it got internalised and the BJP started countering with Jai Shri Ram slogans because Mamata was getting provoked.'
Pakistani Taliban's splinter group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar on Thursday identified a 25-year-old man as the suicide bomber who blew himself up at Wagah killing 61 people, minutes after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at the main land border crossing with India.
Slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party-led alliance in Assam as coming together of "two dangerous forces of communalism and divisiveness", Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "insulting" people of the state
'Our honourable CM is so shameless that she will say the state is among the safest for women.'
Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday raked up "snoopgate" controversy to lash out at BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi saying the BJP's PM nominee is so desperate for power that he can even "divide the nation" to achieve his goal.
