The move is aimed at reflecting the diversity of India and highlighting the contribution of prominent personalities.
'The country has moved beyond the likes of Yogi Adityanath and his medieval thinking. The results of the by-elections are early warning signals by impatient Indians. It's up to the BJP to learn its lesson or face the consequences,' says Ashutosh.
Top Pentagon leaders have warned US lawmakers against including their "pet projects" in the annual defence budget, particularly at a time when it is struggling to save money in view of the tough economic environment.
Munter, confirmed by the US Senate last week, would replace Anne Paterson in Islamabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the BJP has emerged as the "third force" in Kerala that will replace the two fronts in the next year's assembly elections.
Spiritual leader Dalai Lama on Saturday appealed for complete freedom to practise various religions saying that there may be differences in philosophies of different religions but all profess the same message of love and compassion.
The infrastructure of the 20th century would not do in the 21st century as times have changed, the Prime Minister said.
The 10th IRB of Nagaland has been requisitioned by the Centre to fight Maoists in Bengal's Midnapore and Purulia districts, but a section of jawans staged protest at the police training centre at Chumukedima, near Dimapur, on Saturday alleging they had inadequate logistic support and 'vintage' firearms were provided to them.
US Congressman Joe Crowley, who spearheaded the campaign for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to create a new separate hate crimes category in the agency's uniform crime reporting programme to track bigoted attacks against Sikh Americans, has now set his sights on fully integrating Sikh Americans in the US Armed Forces
'How can a State, which claims to be a responsible power, unilaterally grab a "disputed" area to build a road on it?' asks Claude Arpi.
'I have no problem with people from the right wing who speak with a certain integrity of position.'
The Maoist-infested state needs a visionary leader and Hemant Soren is definitely not one, opines Aditi Phadnis
Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma Gandhi and president of the New York-based Gandhi Worldwide Education Institute, has said that the Gujarat riots of 2002 were the worst in living memory and that the savagery displayed was something he had not expected from fellow Gujaratis.
The West Bengal government wants to replace hand-pulled rickshaws with battery-operated ones. But the rickshaw pullers are apprehensive that they will lose their livelihood
Describing late Congress leader Jagjivan Ram's life as a "modern epic", Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal has said he fought battles on his own merit and helped others overcome challenges.
Madhu Kinnar, newly-elected mayor of Raigarh in Chhattisgarh, speaks to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com.
A recipient of high literary honours including the Kendra Sahitya Academy award, Azhikode hit national headlines a few years back by declining to accept Padma Shri holding such honours went against the spirit of Indian Constitution which saw all citizens as equal.
Karnataka Chief Minister K Siddaramaiah's 'atheism'is not a new trend in Indian politics, points out Archis Mohan.
Grey hair and seniority are no longer criterion to rule countries; the latest in the growing list of young leaders is British Prime Minister David Cameron.
People elected me to fight corruption, I'm doing what they told me to do, Modi said.
Addressing a joint session of Parliament on Monday, President Pranab Mukhejee spelled out the Narendra Modi's government's agenda. Here are the highlights of his speech,
Running highlights from FIFA's congress. World soccer's governing body has voted on a series of reforms and will elect a new president later on Friday (all times GMT): 13.30 The voting process is proving a long, drawn out affair. After an hour's voting, we have crawled to L for Latvia with little to get excited about apart from the brief appearance of Davor Suker, Golden Boot winner as the top scorer at the 1998 World Cup, as he cast Croatia's vote. Time then for a reminder that for a candidate to be elected in the first round, he must obtain at least 138 votes, two-thirds of the 207 votes cast. If this does not happen, a second round is held. This time, a simple majority -- 104 votes, which represents more than 50 percent of the votes -- is sufficient for a candidate to be elected. If no candidate gets that majority, the one with fewest votes will be eliminated and a new round will be held. This continues until one candidate obtains a majority. 12.45. Having begun his speech by promising to "die with my boots on", Sexwale ends it by withdrawing from the race, "I have got a surprise for you. My campaign ends today and I suspend my participation. With only four people it is your problem now." Markus Kattner, FIFA general secretary then reminds delegates of the voting procedure, reminding them not to photograph their ballot papers.
'There is much symbolism in President Pranab Mukherjee's participation in the Victory Day celebrations in Moscow.'
Vladimir Putin is set to assume Russian presidentship in 2012 for a record third term after the ruling United Russia party on Sunday nominated him for the powerful post, a move that could keep him in power through 2024 and turn him into country's longest-serving leader.
'Mainly, his strategy to win UP veered around spreading the message of Hindu identity, projecting Modi's leadership, encashing anti-incumbency against the Samajwadi Party and UPA governments in Lucknow and Delhi respectively.' Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com provides exclusive insights into Amit Shah's strategy that gave Narendra Modi an awesome victory in Uttar Pradesh.
'...even if they have profound differences. We discuss within our party and with each other, but not openly. We just reminded the BJP that they too, should follow this dharma.'
In his customary state of the union address to the Chinese parliament, Premier Wen Jiabao said the country's economy was the first in the world to have staged a recovery after the global economic slowdown in 2008, thanks to the $586 billion stimulus package announced last year.
'One big problem for the RSS is, while they spread their ideology of hard, Hindu-ised Indian nationalism, the absence of their own pantheon of modern nationalist giants. They missed out on the freedom movement quite comprehensively, in some ways comparable to the Muslim League and latter-day Communists. They have to find heroes elsewhere.' 'They borrow who they can from the Congress, like Madan Mohan Malviya and Sardar Patel, and then steal the entire lot of revolutionaries, from Bhagat Singh to Netaji, never mind that many of them were extreme leftists.'
The first Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra headed by state party chief Devendra Fadnavis will be sworn in on Friday with Shiv Sena unlikely to join the new dispensation for now as talks continued between the two saffron parties for a tie-up.
'The Congress has collapsed and is fighting for survival. Other parties carry no weight in comparison to the BJP. This situation does not augur well for democracy,'
Addressing students of the Devi Ahilya University in Indore on Tuesday: Rahul said: "If I have any ideal in politics, that is Gandhiji for me. And as I progress in politics, I have appreciated him all the more."
Describing the Congress as a "national revolution", which led the country to Independence from imperialist rule, its president Sonia Gandhi on Monday said the party always stood for secular values.
Expressing serious concern over the menace of disruptions in Parliament and legislatures, President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said time had now come to address the issue, which cannot simply be brushed aside, to bring a recalcitrant administration to its knees.
The RSS realises that with a majority BJP government at the Centre and in several states, now was the best time to undermine and perhaps outdo the Congress-Left 'stranglehold' over campuses and young minds.
Jairam Ramesh discusses issues related to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference which will be kicked off on December 7. He also talks about all there is to know about India's official position on the hottest issue on the planet this season: climate change.
'In North India, brother kills brother for a small piece of land. So if the perception goes that the government has come to snatch away land, then the issue can go to any extent.'
Vice President Hamid Ansari has said that it is important to remember that those advocating extremist, fundamentalist and terrorist causes constitute a tiny minority. "They neither have the religious nor political mandate for their abhorrent actions and ideologies," Ansari said.
The Biju Janata Dal MP from Dhenkanal says crime will come down if cannabis is legalised.
'I can tell you, Mr Chairman, from personal experience that there is nothing sadder than witnessing a close one, a loved one with mental illness at close quarters.' 'I have lived with a victim of mental illness. Like many in that condition, very often such people are in a state of denial.'
"What is Rahul Gandhi up to?" was the question doing the rounds in Lucknow after the Congress general secretary appeared at the city's Amausi airport on Wednesday afternoon.
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