Suraj Sharma reveals how delivering a Subway sandwich landed him Life in Pi and other fun stories.
The apex court also rejected the plea to appoint a Special Investigation Team for probe.
'Indian nationhood is indeed at the cusp of alarming redefinition -- hate-filled, and exclusionary.' 'Nations are not built this way, instead these are the ways of liquidating nations.' 'We must pre-empt it.' 'Can we?' asks Mohammad Sajjad.
'Communalism and communal riots happened in India only during and due to colonialism. Pre-colonial India didn't have this problem of communal conflicts and religious strife.'
Major focus will be on adequately funding existing schemes to ensure their timely completion before the next General Elections.
Among the index heavyweights, Reliance Industries ended down 1.9% while mortage lender HDFC eased 0.2%. FMCG major ITC ended down 1.3%.
Education remains one of the key focuses of the new government.
The India Test spinner had one wicket to show in 21 overs during Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy Group B match against Madhya Pradesh.
'The corporate sector says by 2022 they will create 300 million jobs.' 'In the last 70 years we didn't do it, how will we do it in 5 years?' 'Only agriculture can bail out the economy. Unfortunately, it is not being looked into.'
Come May, the Deltin Royale, which boasts of the country's largest poker room, will play host to India's first Poker Sports League.
Religion is but one trait where intolerance manifests itself. We come across 'chosen' races, communities, political ideologies, economic systems, all lending themselves to discriminatory arrangements, which trample the rights of those considered beyond the pale of whatever is the favoured calling.
Just before the elections, the government waived interest on loans up to Rs 300,000 for farmers. But this may not really help small and marginal farmers in the state, who make up for two-thirds of the total and are still dependent on informal channels of credit.
Will Katra's gain be Jammu's loss? Locals in the area are worried that the development of the new railway line will affect their livelihoods, as pilgrims heading to Vaishno Devi will be able to bypass Jammu completely. This will affect tourism, the main source of income for many in the area, observes Upasana Pandey.
By value, however, electronic goods still account for a large portion of gross merchandise
Saeed Jaffrey lives on through his versatile body of work.
Last September on the eve of the release of Gurmeet Ram Rahim's MSG: The Warrior Lion Heart, Rediff.com's Patcy N and Afsar Dayatar attended a huge concert in Sirsa, Haryana, to promote the film.
'Our religion had some important philosophies regarding trans people that cannot be ignored.' 'Contemporary India is refusing and ignoring transgender people.'
The film sacrifices sense for style, feels Sukanya Verma.
'There is a consensus within the Indian security establishment -- at least among those who draw their conclusions from data instead of speaking from nationalist sentiment -- that India lacks the offensive capability to defeat Pakistan in a short war.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
'If one is looking for evidence of his talents as a mass leader, it has been on display since he announced demonetisation on November 8.' 'Let us look at it and appreciate it, because we are in the presence of a true master,' says Aakar Patel.
'No PM has said no to anything we have proposed. I am not a politician and I cannot give speeches about things, but a lot of good things have been done in science by previous governments.' 'Under Dr Manmohan Singh, we could do a few important things. I used to meet him once in 6, 8 weeks. He often said, 'Professor Rao, you assume that you have my approval and carry on.' He was shy and decent. He is a real gentleman.' 'Science keeps me going at 80. I feel young.' Professor C N R Rao, the eminent scientist who was honoured with the Bharat Ratna, on the state of science in India.
'I think the writer did not have to do much work because Kapil would come to the sets, spontaneously change the dialogue and add a new punch. One had to be very alert while working with him because you wouldn't know how he would improvise his lines.' Simran Kaur Mundi on how she romanced Kapil Sharma in Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon.
India's Muslims need to assert their educational and economic upliftment and political empowerment rather than be provoked by communal remarks, says Mohammad Sajjad, reflecting on the Malda riot.
President Ram Nath Kovind said he was 'a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency' and would be missed by his readers.
"Everyone knows me because of that terrible tragedy. My memories of Mosul only bring me sadness. How can I be proud about my fame? I lost everything there," Harjit Masih told Rediff.com's Swarupa Dutt over the phone.
With the party leadership having entrusted a key state like Maharashtra in the hands of Gen Next, the Bharatiya Janata Party is currently busy scanning the dossiers of several Uttar Pradesh leaders so that it could zero in on a youth who could be groomed as the party's potential chief minister when the state assembly goes to polls in 2017.
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
A Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh man, Manohar Lal Khattar toiled on the ground to build the organisation for last four decades till he was handpicked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lead the first Bharatiya Janata Party government in Haryana.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
And no, the commercial sporting leagues didn't cause the drought, says Shekhar Gupta.
Markets crashed due to domestic worries; bluechip stocks tanked too.
Patrick Bhai and Stephen Bhai are old friends of Gujarat.
Ten trade unions with a combined membership of 15 crore workers in public and private sector, including banks and insurance companies, are on a nationwide strike to protest against changes in the labour laws.
'Is Ansari flagging a genuine concern? Is a rectification called for?' 'And finally: Do minorities matter?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Three businessmen disclose their success mantras: One belongs to an old Marwari family, another is a second generation industrialist whose father scripted an amazing rags-to-riches story and the third was a professional till one day he succumbed to the charms of entrepreneurship.
Dolly, who is leading from the front in Amritsar, wakes up early, plans things for her husband's campaign, oversees resources, does nukkad meetings and keeps busy -- all without getting into the limelight. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com's fascinating insights into the battle for Amritsar!
Delhi Metro, Yamuna-expressway and Tata Power's Mundra ultra mega power project in Gujarat are among the six ventures that have figured in the list of world's most innovative, impactful infrastructure projects prepared by international accounting firm KPMG.
Ground surveys have found that several members of the dominant castes are in economic conditions quite similar to that of peer communities with the advantage of quotas.
'The common man in India who doesn't have anything to hide will have to put up with this short period of discomfort.' 'It will not last more than 10 days at the most.'
