'The sooner we junk the rhetoric of freebies, the better'

'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.' IMAGE: Women commuters in New Delhi show their pink tickets. Photograph: PTI Photo Free electricity. Free bus ride. Free......

Beware Of Agnipath!

The greatest unknown in this risky initiative lies in the way human relationships will play out -- not just between the Agniveers, who will be competing with their fellows for permanent jobs beyond......

Nun alleges harassment after exposing cruelty to deaf-mute kids in Kodagu convent

A nun at the Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy Mission in Mysuru has alleged that she was assaulted and molested in connivance with some superiors of her religious congregation for exposing 'illegal......

Does Modi govt have an Afghan Policy?

The flawed Indian policy toward Afghanistan is missing the woods for the trees.The Modi government doesn't have a 'big picture', observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who played a stellar role in......

Lessons Pepsi should learn from Tata Tea

IMAGE: The Pepsi ad, which has now been pulled, attracted deserved uproar with people variously dubbing it "tone-deaf", "racist" and "simplistic".  How India became a high-priority......

Is this the end of the road for Varanasi's handloom weavers?

Powerlooms and a lack of policy have pushed heritage art towards extinction, say Shreya Jai and Subhayan Chakraborty. IMAGE: The weavers from Varanasi say they are struggling to......

Lalu's Rail Budget speech

Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav made the following speech while presenting the Railway Budget for 2004-2005 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (July 6, 2004)."Mr Speaker Sir,I rise to present the......

Is the petro price hike justified?

Is the increase in the prices of petroleum products justified? Here's what H L Zutshi, former chairman of HPCL, and Ram Naik, former petroleum minister, have to say about it.H L ZutshiFormer......

COMING UP: June movie releases

June has arrived and it's time for Bollywood's Bhai to take centrestage. Yes, Salman's mega Eid release, Bharat, is on its way to the theatres. In the mix of masala flicks that will......

Why Rani feels today's actors are spoilt, pampered

'There are 10 people (around them) -- the PR person, the media person, the managers, the fitness person, the security...''We were never pampered. If we said something wrong, we would get......

SRK, Naseer, Dharmendra: Vote for your favourite onscreen coach!

Take this fun poll! 'It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great,' is how Tom Hanks explains the value of endurance in sports to the......

'Stumped' by a forgettable experiment

Offbeat films are the latest fad in Bollywood.Granted, the audience is bored of conventional love stories and there is an overwhelming need for new ideas. But experimenting for the sake of it can......

Asian C'ships: Sindhu calls out 'unfair' point penalty

IMAGE: PV Sindhu argues with the umpire after being handed a point penalty. Photograph: Twitter Two-time Olympic medallist P V Sindhu was left in tears after an "unfair" call by the umpires midway......

'Need to respect game when I'm batting well'

For someone whose consistency was an issue some years ago, Mayank Agarwal has now scored two double hundreds in his last four Test appearances. And he wants to make every opportunity count.......

Khel Ratna for Sindhu, Sakshi, Dipa and Jitu

IMAGE: India's P V Sindhu shows off her silver medal during the medal ceremony, after losing to Carolina Marin of Spain in the women's singles badminton final. Photograph: Clive Brunskill/Getty......

England's top stars want to play the IPL

'IPL is huge; I like the money in it.' 'I would love to play in the IPL one day.' England's players hope their international schedule will allow them to take part in the IPL, discovers Harish......

'That's Tendlya. Kaay ahe to!'

'When he cover drives, who the hell cares about where the ball pitched? I only know that he seems to move so lazily and has all the time in the world to make incredibly elegant and powerful......