We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
'Make no mistake, depriving water deliberately to a nation of 190 million people is a repugnant idea.' 'The world community won't forgive us.'
As Venezuelans continue to flee the starvation, crime and the horrific inflation that continues to mark the worst crisis it has ever faced, Radha Biswas looks back at a devastated country she continues to love deeply.
'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.
North Korea warns the US that it will soon 'suffer the greatest pain it ever experienced in its history'. Rajaram Panda looks at the latest twist in the North Korean crisis.
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Diageo, which recently coughed up a total of Rs 18,000 crore (Rs 180 billion) to take majority control of USL, seems to have a lot of faith in him.
Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 302 films in 365 days on airplanes, on Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google, Hulu, DVDs and even on YouTube.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest and funniest stories from around the world
India's main hubs are bursting at the seams.
Jaspal Bhatti's feel for the grime, the confusions, and the madness in our system was so complete that he could take on every kind of woman or man God ever gave to the institutions of India, feels Sreehari Nair.
Jaitley also said the government will soon unveil reforms for other natural resources sectors along the lines of coal block auctions.
The broader markets, however, outperformed the benchmark indices -- BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended up 0.6%-1%.
'Mahesh Bhavana is a young man who is beaten up in the town's marketplace and who consequently pledges that he won't wear his slippers again, till he avenges the beating.' 'But Mahesh can't get his revenge that easily -- his punisher is off to a distant land. So what does Mahesh do? He waits. And the town waits with him. And we wait with him.' 'Maheshinte Prathikaram is one of those movies where I didn't know what hit me. I don't remember another movie -- at least in recent times -- that I surrendered to with such happiness,' says Sreehari Nair.
'When Modi was having his maiden meeting with Donald Trump, China is up to its old tricks again, by causing a distraction on the Doklam plateau,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'It's a good thing that people will see our chemistry on screen. What happens off camera is not our concern.'
From starting with two sewing machines in her bedroom, Anita Dongre is all set to launch two stores in America. Archana Masih meets the designer for the working woman and the bride.
'One one hand, the BJP puts Uniform Civil Code as a goal in its manifesto, and on the other, it pushes massive discrimination against Hindus.' 'This is not sabka saath, sabka vikas. Rather it is "Haj ka saath, church ka vikas",' argues Sankrant Sanu.
'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.
Leaders from across parties condemned BJP vice president Dayashankar Singh for comparing the BSP chief to a sex worker.
Sherin Mathew left her hometown in Bihar in late 2015 for a new home in America.
The only thing more dangerous than a killer who thinks he is acting to protect his faith or community is the killer who knows he is acting with the sanction of his faith or community
Today, Apollo Tyres is the first made-in India automotive brand to be sold in Europe independently.
'It was the first document he had seen that asked him about his past in such detail; it was the only interest this country (America) had shown in his origins, and it was most inconvenient. To get ahead, he had to find out where he had come from.'
'This was our country, after all, our India, humara Hindustan -- why would we go anywhere else?'
'The execution has been 100 per cent faulty.' 'The scheme is also a stupid one, a real Tuglaq Darbar scheme.' 'This way of attacking black money is the most ineffective one.'
'In being dismissive of Naveen, his colleagues showed incredible naivety.' 'On the few occasions that he put his foot down, the overconfident party leaders, who believed they were using him and not the other way around, failed to read the signs of what was to come.'
Ministers who were in the news for all the wrong reasons
Some 800 million or more Indians gaze at their mobile phones all day. Whoever can crack what's news on the mobile phone for them and their families, for a nominal payment of Rs 10 a month, is a winner, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Aseem Chhabra's recommendations for the Mumbai film festival.
'#MeToo is a giant stride towards protesting sexual/verbal assault.' 'It is very important for us, as a society, to 'listen', to introspect and to understand that this is part of 'change' towards a safer society.' 'Hushing it up will only encourage the perpetrators who will begin to feel that they are invincible.'
Tamal Bandyopadhyay discusses his latest book Bandhan: The Making of a Bank at Bandhan headquarters in Kolkata.
What began as a challenge ended up a way of life for 'Paalam' Kalyanasundaram, whom the United Nations adjudged one of the most outstanding people of the 20th century.
The assumption that money drives performance is dated.
Mehta was known to be outspoken and had an unerring instinct for what would be read
'When Rajkummar Rao plays Bose with his tummy jutting out, Buddha Ears, his mouth puffed, and his talk straight, it feels more like an echo piece than a real person,' feels Sreehari Nair.
Over 22 passenger and commercial vehicle makers and 18 two- and three-wheeler makers will take part amid proximate security.
The efforts of two women have given hundreds of street and slum children of Dehradun the hope to dream of a promising future.
'In this resurgent India, class is the new caste. We are shaken up only occasionally, and briefly, when a battered, tribal teenager from Jharkhand looks us in the eye from our closet,' says Shekhar Gupta.
There's more to this country than just the Northern Lights.
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