'The fabric of democracy is fraying,' says T V R Shenoy. 'It is being attacked not just by terrorists in Kashmir or by zealots in the North-East, but is being ripped apart even in Allahabad, in the Hindi heartland.'
The long-neglected fruit may finally get the recognition it deserves.
Here's this week's collection of wacky and funny stories from around the world.
With Samsung Galaxy S8+, another phablet with screen size north of 6 inches, slated to release with a price tag of Rs 65,000, the Samsung Galaxy C9 Pro is not half bad an option costing only Rs 36,990 in comparison, says Himanshu Juneja
Should you expect 15 per cent return over a period of 20 years? Dwaipayan Bose has the answer
Soon after the BJP lost the 2004 election, the stockmarkets went into unprecedented free fall. Then SEBI Chairman G N Bajpai reveals how his firm handling of the situation restored confidence and soon the markets were back to doing what they do best -- make money. A revealing excerpt from his book, A Game Changer's Memoir.
When KV Thomas took over as minister of state for food and consumer affairs (independent charge) on January 19, 2011, he was tasked with taking forward one single, important objective: expedite the implementation of the National Food Security Bill.
'To identify with the common man, Modi had to look like one.' 'The disastrous suit with his name written on it never made its reappearance.' 'Frequent dress changes during the day, which led Arvind Kejriwal to calculate that Modi spent crores on his attire ever year, too stopped.' 'Instead, a newer Modi emerged: Humble and eager to serve.' Narendra Modi has cleverly repositioned himself as a man of the masses in the past three years, says Aditi Phadnis.
One needs to carefully tread the thin but solid line between the sublime & the ridiculous.
We drove in Italy what will be Mercedes-Benz's most affordable drophead offering in India - the new C-Class Cabriolet!
Saudi Arabia on Sunday came under attack globally a day after it carried out mass execution of 47 people, including Shia cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr who was a vocal critic of the government and the Saudi monarchy.
Sukanya Verma recaps all the action at this year's MAMI.
His sartorial taste is not something he acquired suddenly as the chief minister of the prime minister. His "god-given" dress sense is like his politics: inventive, imaginative if slightly unconventional, often loud. It goes well with his oratory, robust persona and penchant for coining terms, says Mahendra Ved.
Mayhem and panic gripped a country music festival in Las Vegas when a gunman opened fire on revellers.
Dhruv Shirpurkar's parents never let go of their faith in God while standing with him in his battle against a rare disorder that left him 85 per cent disabled and bound to a wheelchair.
If you ignore market upheavals and stay the course, you end up making money, says Larissa Fernand
'Our first great challenge is to create 12 million new jobs each year, to make the demographic dividend an economic dividend.' 'We are nowhere near that,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
The number of people, the average age and the smartness of the people, willingness to work hard and the fundamental culture of working, will work in our favour, said Kal Raman, CEO of Solutionstar, in an interview to Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com.
Analysts say that Republic TV has to hit the top spot in the shortest possible time if it has to make a dent in the ad market and break even, writes Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
Rafisaab's memory is as alive as ever in his devoted fans' minds.
Day 2: Syed Firdaus Ashraf attempts to deposit Rs 500, 1,000 notes in his bank account.
'Kejriwal's way of working is 'my way or the highway'. If you don't say Kejriwal zindabad then you will be thrown out of the party.' 'I feel Kejriwal is a very darpook (frightened) man. When he lost in the Lok Sabha elections his strength disappeared and he started compromising.' Aam Aadmi Party rebel Pankaj Pushkar speaks out.
'Working in DDLJ has been one of the best moments in my career.' Satish Shah relives the DDLJ moments.
'For its part, Pakistan often gives safe haven to agents of chaos, violence, and terror.'
Indian and Pakistani movies, now in New York theatres!
'My brother is seedha saadha. He will spend the money on me only,' Hardik Pandya says about Krunal Pandya bagging a Rs 2 crore contract from the Mumbai Indians.
Ganesh Chaturthi no longer has the power that Lokmanya Tilak had seen in it way back in 1893 -- the power of bringing people together. This, say 83-year-old Vinaysheela Govilkar and 19-year-old Arnav Thakker, is the festival's biggest tragedy.
Keep exit plans handy, D-day could be the second week of August, writes Sonali Ranade in Market Notes.
'In contrast to the generally buoyant tone of the Economic Survey in January, he sounds uncharacteristically pessimistic, saying that forces in the world economy -- slowing global trade, protectionism, robots -- will limit India's manufacturing to levels well below what propelled East Asia's economies decades ago.'
'It is a national shame that the only country that enacted a food security act is now better known as the land of farmer suicides. Indian farming can change only if national irrigation policy is implemented in totality,' Dr M S Swaminathan tells Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com
'It has been a quick evolution.' 'That is because he saw the big names playing in the IPL and he played alongside them; that transformed him as a batsman.' 'I would say now he is perfect.'
'Polish girls, who try to dance to Bollywood songs after having a little bit of wine, are quite funny to watch!' Erika Kaar gets ready for her Bollywood debut, Shivaay.
'LIC's proposed investment will come out of what is technically called the 'policyholders funds'.' 'As the name implies, these monies belong to policyholders; that is, you, me and 25 crore others who have taken a total of 30 crore policies from LIC.' 'It is not the government's or LIC's money to play poker with,' says S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
'Narendra Modi has had very good luck. Firstly, the fall of oil prices. You don't get that very often in your life and you certainly don't get that often when you are in government.' 'Secondly, the fantasy of Indian reforms has led to very strong capital inflows to have made his job much, much easier.' 'You ride the winds in times of fortune and he hasn't done that. At least, not yet.' 'Those winds of fortune which are blowing your way can certainly turn around easily. There are quite a few headwinds coming up. He may well, history will show, have missed the opportunities that existed.'
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
Shuma Raha finds out how writers are using social media to produce bestsellers.
The 30-share Sensex ended 50 points lower at 28,112 and the 50-share Nifty declined 12 points to close at 8,531.
'Anyone who disagrees with this and says it depends on perspective is trying to hide their lust because it is socially unacceptable to think free.' Candid talk with Akshay Kumar.
Once a bountiful water body, years of neglect, rampant encroachment and dumping of untreated sewage and industrial waster has virtually turned Bellandur lake into a large septic tank.
Kerala, Andhra, Tamil Nadu and Kerala are facing a severe drought this year, affecting livelihoods as well as lives.