Poll arithmetic and ground reports give an edge to Lalu Prasad's RJD over Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal-United in the coming Lok Sabha polls. Mayank Mishra reports
Atletico Madrid sealed top spot in Champions League Group D after second half goals from Frenchmen Kevin Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann but Napoli were held to a 0-0 Champions League draw at home by Dynamo Kiev.
'We need to put aside our anxieties about the Budget for now and possibly for long, and carry on as best as we can,' advises Shreekant Sambrani.
A 25-year quest by nearly 1,000 scholars to document and present one of the world's oldest living traditions came to fruition when the 'Encyclopedia of Hinduism' was unveiled in Columbia.
Alize Cornet fought tooth and nail but the local favourite's French Open run came to an end when she was knocked out 6-2, 7-6(9) in the fourth round by Ukrainian 19th seed Elina Svitolina on Sunday.
India's volatile political mix has a new element - 'the Secularati' - that is adept at hijacking Muslim issues and running with them even before the community itself has formulated a response, says Hasan Suroor.
We take a look at Time magazines top world leaders.
The Geneva agreement is a signal, which at least Saudi Arabia and Israel are so reading, that normalisation of relations between US and Iran is not merely about the nuclear fuel cycle, says K C Singh.
'I have tutored my family and myself to fight hunger,' the former agent for the disgraced Saradha chit fund says, his eyes welling up. 96 of the 107 cases referred to the Serious Fraud Investigation Office are based in Bengal!
The Underwater Photographer of the Year competition has announced the winners of this year's contest, with France's Gabriel Barathieu being named Underwater Photographer of the Year for an image of a hunting octopus. UPY was kind enough to share some of this year's honorees with us below.
Kareena: Bajrangi Bhaijaan will be the biggest hit of the year
'Nehru had multiple chances to make compromises, that would have preserved a united India, and he chose not to,' Nisid Hajari tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
Shalini Krishnan discovers the amazing talent and creativity of tribal children in Odisha.
In insight into PNS Ghazi, the Pakistan Navy's prized submarine that now lies embedded in the Vizag seabed about 1.5 nautical miles from the breakwaters.
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
Scriptwriter of Baar Baar Dekho Sri Rao gets candid about his film and Bollywood.
India's squash players wrapped up a historic performance at the Asian Games, clinching an unprecedented men's team gold after the women's side settled for its first ever silver in Incheon on Saturday.
The 16th Mumbai Film Festival had a delicious spread of movies.
In a candid conversation Indrani Mitra, educationist Sunanda Sanyal explains why many intellectuals like him are disillusioned with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The Queen has retired, the bosses have left, long live the prince as king, says Shiv Visvanathan.
Japan has the capital and needs to pull out of China, which has been its major destination. India, on the other hand, desperately needs capital especially for infrastructure, argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Alas, in this scheme there is nothing to stop the black money flows of the future.' 'On the contrary Modi has sown the seeds of more, through the issue of Rs 2,000 notes.' 'But have you heard one politician decrying this aspect of the scheme?' 'They must be secretly rejoicing that while Modi is taking away their past, he has not shut the door on their future,' says banker S Muralidharan.
Prem Panicker, a keen follower of the game and one of cricket's finest writers, analysed, debated and dissected the four semi-finalists on the Rediff World Cup Chat on Monday.
'It was a mission undertaken in darkness in every sense -- literally, because Afghanistan had no electricity at that time; and, metaphorically because Delhi historically dealt only with the Pashtuns of Afghanistan and the foreign ministry's vast archives had nothing to offer on the culture and politics of the northern tribes in the Hindu Kush.'
We're behaving like frogs in warm water. We swim around untroubled, cooled by our faith in Indian liberal democracy. We are blind to the bubbles popping around us, the bubbles warning of fundamental changes, says Mihir S Sharma.
Despite the rally, on the basis of valuations, Indian markets aren't too expensive, says Christopher Wood, managing director and equity strategist at CLSA.
In his penultimate State of the Union address, Barack Obama said that the economy is improving.
'Let us also not expect that there will be a clean break with the past, much though the new government might like to think about it. In a functional democracy that is neither feasible nor desirable. But basic change it must be,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'In the first meeting of this new year, we took a joint new year resolution that we will complete it this year. At the time things were not very clear, but the mood was clear that yes, we must resolve it.' 'Yes, details have to come out, but there are some sensitivities, there are some stake-holders not yet on board, especially other Naga undergrounds etc, we would like them to come on board... So at a proper time it has to be revealed to the country, and to the legislature. Perhaps, we may have to wait for some more time.' 'With better understanding of the Indian system, many of them have learnt, realised, appreciated that Naga nationalist aspirations can be accommodated in the Indian system. The Indian system is pretty comprehensive and flexible.' 'A Naga has as much stake, claim over India as any other Indian. There is no distinction. This, Nagas have realised, that yes, Naga nationalist aspirations and Indian nationalism are not mutually exclusive.' Ravindra Narayan Ravi, the Government of India's Special Interlocutor for the Naga talks, explains how the Naga Peace Accord was reached in an exclusive interview to Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com
'The partnership of Amit Shah and Narendra Modi has made their biggest mistake. They have been very successful for their party in the last two years, but this batting pair has made the biggest political mistake of their life so far, which is calling Kejriwal a chor. It will backfire on them.'
'Give time to the 2013 Act to work. I not only think that the 2013 law is workable, I believe that the 2013 law is a compromise, a balanced middle path and protects the interests of land owners and livelihood losers.'
Read the full transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday at the US Capitol in Washington.
