Lit fests in India have become vibrant cultural celebrations across India, bringing together celebrated authors, emerging voices, poets, thinkers and passionate readers, many of them very young, under one lively roof.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor is reportedly upset and likely to skip a strategy meeting for the upcoming Kerala polls due to perceived slights and attempts to sideline him within the party.
A bewildered world is at a loss to find bilateral and multilateral measures to stop President Trump from pursuing his vision of a world unabashedly dominated by the United States, points out T P Sreenivasan.
'India is advanced in that everybody has an ID. But behind that (digital) ID (Aadhaar), you don't have a place where you can share information between each other,' says Tim Berners-Lee.
Chidambaram said that Operation Black Thunder was the right way to retrieve the Golden Temple, by keeping the Army out of the Sikh worship place.
The Congress leadership is reportedly upset with former Home Minister P Chidambaram for his remarks on 'Operation Blue Star'. Party sources indicate that senior leaders should be cautious about making public statements that could embarrass the party.
Controversial Indian author Arundhati Roy has joined fellow writers in calling for a boycott of a literary festival in Sri Lanka to protest alleged rights abuses and suppression of dissent in the country. Roy signed up a petition initiated by the Paris-based Reporters without Borders, urging world class authors to stay away from the Galle Literary Festival, which is due to open on January 26.
The fourth edition of the popular Kovalam Literary Festival was inaugurated on Saturday by Fatima Bhutto, the author of Songs of Blood and Sword. Bhutto, in her inaugural speech, said that both India and Pakistan have a common heritage and nothing can separate that rich legacy. The world shook when Pakistan and India were divided, said Bhutto, adding that this happened again when Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan in 1971.
The dramatic moves of Donald Trump, which have shaken up the global order, dominated the discussion. A sense of bewilderment prevailed, but there was also expectation that President Trump would settle down to a more traditional style of governance after a time of shock and awe, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, an attendee at literary festivals in Calicut, Jaipur, Kochi, Sharjah and Thiruvanathapuram.
Enraged by Pakistani-origin Canadian writer Tarek Fatah's critical remarks about their country, two Pakistani writers on Friday walked out of the inaugural session of the Indore Literary Festival.
Former National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivshankar Menon has stated that the political dynamics between India and Pakistan have resulted in a "controlled level of hostility" that benefits the ruling elites in both nations. Speaking at the Kerala Literature Festival, Menon described Pakistan as a "brand new state" still grappling with its national identity. He argued that India's foreign policy towards Pakistan is influenced by its domestic politics, resulting in an uneasy equilibrium characterized by a "controlled level of hostility." Menon also questioned the concept of a multipolar world, stating that the current global order is merely "confused." He emphasized that the United States remains the world's true military hegemon, while other nations, including China, are regional powers. Menon further argued that there is no binding international order, leading to a state of "between orders." He highlighted the absence of definitive international agreements on crucial issues in recent decades.
'Our fractured world has been embroiled in wars and hatred, and many sessions reflect these concerns.'
Nobel laureate economist Abhijit Banerjee has said the current situation in Bangladesh is unlikely to trigger a fresh round of exodus of minority Hindus into India. He believes that migration is primarily driven by social networks and economic opportunities rather than persecution. Banerjee, known for his work in poverty alleviation, further emphasized that India's overt preference for Hindu migrants from Bangladesh in the past has been a significant factor in their migration, rather than attacks on the community.
The Kerala unit of the Congress instantly gets a headache when Shashi Tharoor lets loose one of his observations showering flowers on enemy territory. With every such action triggering controversy within a nervous Congress party, some feel it is high time Tharoor showed a degree of solidarity with the ideals of his party, notes Shyam G Menon.
When stars travel, they make lovely pictures on social media.
Afwaah is a sum of Sudhir Mishra's thought-provoking reflections and appeal to question what's real, what's rumour, notes Sukanya Verma.
He cited the Congress' poor performance in the 2019 general election after victories in assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh the previous year to buttress his point.
During a session titled 'Sustaining Democracy; Nurturing Democracy', he claimed that tightening the already stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in a way that kept people like Siddique Kappan in jail for two years without bail is one of the many ways the current dispensation has 'managed to depart from the democratic spirit of the Constitution'.
'They don't communicate on the telephone. They meet. The conspiracy is discussed, the crime is planned out and then the crime happens.' Rakesh Maria, the supercop who heads Maharashtra's Anti Terrorism Squad, explains the mindset of the modern terrorist at the Times Literary Festival. A correspondent listens in.
Priscilla Uppal, award-winning poet, novelist, literary critic and professor of English at York University, was amongst the five Indian/Indo-Canadian writers invited to the 12th Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, Canada's largest literary festival, in Montreal last month. Ajit Jain caught up with the author.
'Goodbye dearest Anil. An elegant mind, a stylish writer, and a loyal friend. You will be missed by all those whose lives you touched. RIP.'
Karan Johar's biography will release in January.
'If you are being paid less than your male colleagues, file a complaint about it, make a noise... If you are being given a hard time over issues like maternity leave, complain to your boss's wife! Be innovative. Get involved.' On the sidelines of the Jaipur Literary Festival, legendary activist Gloria Steinem interacted with a select group of journalists, including Rediff.com's Sanchari Bhattacharya, and addressed an array of issues including the Pope, prostitution and personal victories.
'...and all of us need to do more to give it a happy Bollywood ending. I used to be a huge optimist but now I have become somewhat of a pessimist. As a country, we don't seem to want to get things right,' Sanjoy Roy, producer of the Jaipur Literary Festival, the biggest free annual literary event in the world.
K Satyanarayana, Dalit scholar, activist and associate professor in the Department of Cultural Studies, English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad, tells Ravichandran Chakkiliyan of Dalit Camera why he feels betrayed by Ashis Nandy
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday demanded that Rajasthan government should immediately send author Ashish Nandy to jail over his controversial remarks at the Jaipur Literary Festival that 'most corrupt people come from OBC, SC and ST communities'.
Two months after being forced to skip the Jaipur Literary Festival, controversial author Salman Rushdie on Saturday hit out the Congress, suggesting that his presence there was blocked because of "useless electoral calculations". Participating in the India Today Conclave, he said India "deserves to be led by better leaders".
Terming the entire Salman Rushdie episode in Jaipur as "shameful", Pulitzer prize winning author David Remnick has said it reflects "troubling tendencies" of contemporary Indian politics where retaining power is more important for the government than freedom of expression.
Muslim groups on Friday welcomed the cancellation of controversial author Salman Rushdie's visit to the Jaipur Literary festival and said their protest no longer stands.
A Mumbai-bound GoAir flight with nearly 100 passengers, including former army chief General V K Singh on board, was forced to return to Delhi airport following a fire alarm on Saturday morning.
The entire event suggests that in India democracy is decreasing and psephocracy is increasing, says Ashis Nandy, who spoke to rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt.
When Truth dies along with it dies the 'Fabric of Trust' that holds nations and societies together. From raising dishonest questions over the Batla House encounter to raising false bogeys over the Rushdie visit, the Congress stands guilty of causing irreversible damage to that fabric of trust, says Shashi Shekhar.
Writer Amitava Kumar speaks to Aseem Chhabra about life after he read from The Satanic Verses at the Jaipur Literary Festival.
The raging controversy over author Salman Rushdie's visit to the Jaipur literary festival and the abrupt cancellation of a video link with the writer at the last minute on Tuesday evening refuses to die down. We reproduce an interview with Rushdie, when he visited India in 2000.
Rejecting Salman Rushdie's charge that it had concocted the story about a plot to eliminate him to keep him away from India, the Rajasthan government on Sunday said the information was provided by the Intelligence Bureau.
Continuous projection of Rushdie-like issues, as vital to Muslims, comes in the way of development as their priority requirement, says Saeed Naqvi
The author faces threat from homegrown terror outfits as well as organisations with political interest. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
'Everybody of a certain age wanted to write like Rushdie and so did I but I wouldn't want being hunted around the world. I am sure even Rushdie wouldn't want that life, says Pakistani Writer Mohammed Hanif.
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