The Nariman House cook finds living with his memories of 26/11 and the death of his employers daunting.

'This is not the party I knew... it has changed so much,' he said wistfully.

When Usain Bolt blazed to glory at the Beijing Olympics, he was feted as the hero his tainted sport had been crying out for. Now, having repeated them in Berlin, he can consider himself the saviour of the world championships. When the event was changed from four-yearly to biennial it lost much of its lustre, and to many fans became just another, slightly more glamorous extension of the Grand Prix circuit.

The Railway Budget speech underscored the Congress party-led government's focus on inclusive growth, after it was re-elected by\na wider-than-expected margin in May.

Released two weeks ago, it has grossed over $1.2 million, according to trade publications. And now with the eight Oscars it has garnered, the film could become a bigger success not only across Russia but also worldwide.

The 81st Annual Academy Awards, if trends are anything to go by, seem to be more or less on the same page with me this season, which is a peculiar feeling indeed since I'm used to ranting about the results. However, this year the Academy's likely winners and my who-should-win picks are uncannily mirroring each other, a fact displayed in this list of the nominees. The Academy picks are marked by the [A] sign, my picks are marked by the [R] sign.

As Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami says, 'When one vote is cast, the machine takes twelve seconds to reactivate. So the "productivity" of the fraudsters goes down, since you can't just stuff bunches of paper into a box.' The time delay has also helped the Commission figure out when 'stuffing' has happened with a machine. 'If we spot a series where votes were cast every twelve seconds, we simply cancel that result.'

Triple Olympic track cycling gold medallist Chris Hoy was named the BBC's Sports Personality of the Year on Sunday to cap a remarkable night and year for the sport. The Scot finished ahead of Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton and double Olympic swimming gold medallist Rebecca Adlington in a vote by the British public.

"The gunshots were getting louder and louder and the floor and ceiling were actually shaking from the blasts. I knew if we stayed put that, eventually, they'd find us. As an entrepreneur, you learn to think that nothing is impossible. The word 'No' doesn't register. So I asked myself, 'How do we do this?' and 'What would Richard Branson do?'" says British businessman Deepak Kuntawala.

NSG commandos, who executed the operations in the country's longest terrorist siege here in the recent past, are specially equipped with a set of "hooligan tools", a "smart dagger" and some are fluent in English to accomplish "Operation Black Tornado".

'Behind and beneath a book lying unbought and unread in a bookshop there is an entire universe of ambition, aspiration and frustration.'

Here is an astonishing fact: on December 10 1998, the spot price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude was exactly $10 and ninety eight cents. Nearly 10 years and one thousand and sixty two per cent later, it is time to ask some impolite questions about oil. Impolite questions are not always obvious questions, though.

Derivative users are likely to be much more aware of the risks, which would lead to safer investments. It seems many treasuries entered derivatives without attempting to understand the basics. CFOs have embroiled themselves in complicated scenarios of barrier options & cross-currency swaps without trying to understand the nuts-and bolts implications. Currency swaps enable users to shop for the lowest interest rates. Barrier options are cheaper than standard forward contracts.

Sadly, the terrorist attacks of 2001 made a recession politically unacceptable, and America was goaded into a state of artificial economic stimulation. We are now paying the price for what may prove to be the biggest bet in financial history in the form of a credit crisis. This term is really a misnomer, as what we face is a debt crisis, the kind of problem which undisciplined, developing countries have to endure.

The new 150 from TVS is. . . the Apache RTR160!

Saki Naka disaster could have been avoided

Inflation shot up by 0.1 per cent to over 41-month high of 7.61 per cent week ended July 31, mainly due to surge in prices of fruit and vegetables, edible oil and other manufactured products.

Mark Waugh probably chose the wrong sport, the game with the rigid back and stiff upper lip.