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...
In an interview with Suman Guha Mozumder, Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh says a little less superiority and a little more humility on the part of India will serve us very well in the future.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi equalled the Champions League scoring record of 71 goals when he struck for the second time in the 76th minute of Wednesday's Group F match at Ajax Amsterdam.
India's policy of rupee appreciation has had the unfortunate, and predictable, effects of not only hurting the Indian economy but also benefiting the Chinese economy.
This was good enough for Fernandes to hire Chandilya to lead his India business.
'What is true khadoos? Stubborn? Dogged? Unyielding? Relentless? Or something in between that? Or all of it together?' 'Just like you can't translate it, you can't teach a kid to be khadoos either. You can only inculcate that attitude in him by sharing stories of all the khadoos-ness of past stalwarts.' 'For instance, the story of Sunil Gavaskar batting left handed to counter the left-arm spin of Raghuram Bhat and salvaging a draw in the 1981-1982 Ranji Trophy semi-finals...' Rahul Dravid on Cricket's Great Oral Tradition.
Shopkeepers are losing buyers in droves to e-tailers for everything from fashion to smartphones, and are struggling to find solutions.
If he has nothing to offer beyond what he has said in Cairo on the Palestine issue, making peace with Islam will remain a distant dream. I very much hope that he has something else up his sleeve.
The death of one of the most pivotal characters in the story sets up the perfect situation for a grand finale -- Harry alone on a mission with no one to pave the way for him, no guiding lights for him to follow.
'Modi as the PM of the country has to take everybody on board and deliver on good governance. That is his responsibility. In that talking alone won't help, he's working.' Commerce Minister Dr Nirmala Sitharaman tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com how the Modi government plans to change India.
We think we have the right strategy in place in terms of our offerings in the US market, says i-flex CFO Deepak Ghaisas.
'Narendra Modi is single-handedly changing the formula to win elections. With money, human resources, mobile technology, the Internet, advance planning and tremendous confidence, he has spread his image more in UP villages than in urban areas.' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reports from Lucknow on how Team Modi is changing the rules of the election game.
Kamal Haasan and his artistic freedom is the smaller issue. How will the world view us when a handful of demonstrators terrorise our governments to ban a movie? Who will invest in India when a few truckloads of fanatics can cause closure of the highly protected and centrally located US embassy in a prominent city of the country, asks M R Venkatesh.
'No one talks about the Mumbai riots anymore, though like Delhi 1984, the guilty have not been punished. In Gujarat, many powerful leaders of the state's ruling party are in jail for their role in the riots... In Mumbai, only one politician of the Shiv Sena, a former MP, was convicted of hate speech, along with two other Shiv Sainiks, one of whom was a corporator and the other a junior functionary... So why the apathy? Could it be because despite these statistics and the widely-publicised findings of the Srikrishna Commission, what remained in public consciousness was the violence by the Muslims, thanks to a highly efficient Sena propaganda machine? There's no demand for it, but would an SIT probe into the closed cases of the Mumbai riots help today?' The fadeout of Mumbai's riots from public debate can be called a triumph of the communal State, argues Jyoti Punwani.
Here is the full transcript of Congress vice president and Lok Sabha poll campaign chief Rahul Gandhi's first formal TV interview with Times Now Editor-In-Chief Arnab Goswami.
Since 2004 the Congress has hung onto power in a situation in which it was on track to be out of power. In each case, it effectively gamed the system through Constitutional coups, argues columnist Rajeev Srinivasan.
The United States' nonproliferation lobby is apparently relishing the controversy ignited by erstwhile Defense and Research Development Organization scientist K Santhanam that the May 1998 Pokhran thermonuclear tests were not a full success implying that India needs to test again.
'Praise me, condemn me, but do not ignore me. Given that the Congress party has a whole army of office-bearers, a vast majority of Indians would find it hard to name even a couple of them. But you can bet that they will readily recall the name of one general secretary: Digvijay Singh. Fame and notoriety being two sides of the same coin for present-day politicians, Singh would not mind being abused by the 'aam aadmi' so long as he enjoys a fair recall value.'
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India's fear of small states derives from memories of Partition and the paranoid view that it will break up under 'too many' states. It's time to shed such fears and bite the 'states' reorganisation' bullet. India won't crumble under a few more Telanganas, Vidarbhas or Gorkhalands, says Praful Bidwai.
The shock treatment that Advani administered to the BJP has simply no parallel in India's modern political history, says Sudheendra Kulkarni.
Swati Parashar pays tribute to her mentor B Raman, who passed into the ages on Sunday.
Even in a banner year marked by achievements of the highest order across a wide variety of fields, it was inevitable that Dr Zakaria would be named India Abroad Person of the Year 2008. Filmmaker Mira Nair, who won the award last year, was on hand to honour her successor with the award that, over the seven years of its existence, has become one of the most sought after accolades in the community space
The Left wields power far disproportionate to its strength. Its veto powers turn the definition of democracy on its head. And that is the biggest danger the nation faces today.
Canadian minister of state for foreign affairs, Peter Kent discusses Canada and India with rediff.com's Ajit Jain
The hardest part of my job continues to be this federal government, this administration, this president, says South Carolina Governor, Nimrata Randhawa Haley in a prime time speech at GOP Convention. Aziz Haniffa reports.
Myanmar democracy icon made history as she became the first non-head of state to address both houses of Britain's parliament. In a speech at the Westminster Hall, Suu Kyi has implored Britain and "the world beyond" to reach out to help Burma at "the moment of our greatest need". Here's the transcript:
The Congress is now at its most vulnerable. For the moment, it has weathered the storm caused by the DMK, but not without some loss of credibility and appeal, says Praful Bidwai.
The Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 argues for a perfect land market, unrestrained urbanisation and industrialization, says activist Gopal Krishna.
The Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill 2011 argues for a perfect land market, unrestrained urbanisation and industrialization, says activist Gopal Krishna.
The text of the Prime Minister's inaugural address at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas 2010
The criticism of the Indo-Pakistan joint statement is largely misdirected and based on the misperception that the composite dialogue has already been resumed and will continue full tilt no matter what Pakistan does. In fact what Dr Singh and Gilani agreed to was much more limited and laced with caution.
'One of the key issues is how big a nuclear weapons programme India wants to have and how rigid the barrier will be between civil and military,' says Stephen Cohen.
In an hour-long chat on rediff.com, financial planning expert Sailesh Multani offered some valuable tips.
Nitin Gokhale, Defence Editor, NDTV, recalls his encounter with then Sri Lankan army chief General Sarath Fonseka soon after the LTTE's defeat last year. A fascinating column on how Velupillai Prabhakaran finally met his nemesis.
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