News for '-random-house-india'

Sridevi the eternal screen Goddess of Bollywood

Sridevi the eternal screen Goddess of Bollywood

Rediff.com24 Feb 2020

Sridevi had updated her art to become more contemporary than current actors. She was new-age and yet vintage. By making the predictable so precious, she makes it a scene that could hold its head high anywhere in world cinema.

How I tackled Bloody Monday

How I tackled Bloody Monday

Rediff.com20 Nov 2018

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.

How Modi tried to manage China & Pakistan

How Modi tried to manage China & Pakistan

Rediff.com17 Jan 2020

'New Delhi showed itself willing -- at least for a period -- to tolerate the risk of conflict and to withstand Beijing's implicit and explicit threats.' 'But it also continued to try to cut some kind of deal with China to reduce tensions.'

The mystery of the never-ending con-call

The mystery of the never-ending con-call

Rediff.com11 Jun 2018

The attendee had to call into the conference call and say a few initial pleasantries to establish his/her presence, but could then leave the app to handle the rest once the Senior Company Bore began his monologue... A rib-tickling excerpt from Sanjeev Sanyal's Life Over Two Beers.

The Ticking Time Bomb

The Ticking Time Bomb

Rediff.com5 Nov 2019

Nearly 31 million Indians are unemployed and looking for jobs. While economic growth has been humming along, the pace of job creation has been poor. A revealing excerpt from Dev Kar's India: Still A Shackled Giant.

When smugglers wanted to buy a helicopter

When smugglers wanted to buy a helicopter

Rediff.com28 Jan 2020

Iqbal wanted to land the smuggled goods by helicopter on the Andaman Islands. DK asked, 'Iqbal, a helicopter will bring the consignment to the island, drop it there and then return. Won't radars detect it?' 'No.' 'How?' 'Radars can't detect aircraft that fly at a low altitude. Our helicopter, after entering India's air space, will dive and fly at four feet above the sea level.' 'For that, I have a German pilot in mind. He was an ace aviator in the last world war.' An enthralling excerpt from Aabid Surti's Sufi: The Invisible Man Of The Underground.

Lal Ded, the mystic of Kashmir

Lal Ded, the mystic of Kashmir

Rediff.com23 Sep 2019

At a time when the Kashmir valley has been shut down, it is perhaps appropriate that we remember Lal Ded, Kashmir's best known spiritual and literary figure, someone remembered with divine adoration both by Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. A fascinating excerpt from Sandhya Mulchandani's For The Love Of God: Women Poet Saints Of The Bhakti Movement.

How Ronald Ross discovered malaria-mosquito link

How Ronald Ross discovered malaria-mosquito link

Rediff.com3 Jan 2020

'This proved that whatever was growing in the mosquito's gut was a parasite -- it was almost certainly the malarial parasite.'

What a future India-Pakistan war may look like

What a future India-Pakistan war may look like

Rediff.com14 Nov 2019

'Any conventional conflict could trigger a nuclear war with results that neither India nor Pakistan could survive easily.' >A revealing excerpt from Shuja Nawaz's The Battle For Pakistan: The Bitter US Friendship And A Tough Neighbourhood.

'BJP's nationalism a mirror image of Pakistani nationalism'

'BJP's nationalism a mirror image of Pakistani nationalism'

Rediff.com22 Sep 2016

"A true nationalist must have a "sense of shame" for the crimes his government commits and accept that his country is not perfect," said the eminent historian.

'BJP not sole proprietor of Hinduism'

'BJP not sole proprietor of Hinduism'

Rediff.com3 Apr 2019

Kamal Nath argued that Modi had 'overexposed himself': By constantly pushing his own image on social media and on TV, attaching his name to multiple promises, Modi had become the face rivals could easily blame for India's chronic dysfunction.

'Vijay came across as a force of nature'

'Vijay came across as a force of nature'

Rediff.com25 Oct 2019

Long before he launched Paytm, Vijay Shankar Sharma, a 32 year old from Aligarh, embarked on his ambitious entrepreneurial journey.

'The Gandhis are very much in Modi's crosshairs'

'The Gandhis are very much in Modi's crosshairs'

Rediff.com6 May 2019

'He totally gets the Gandhis...' 'If anything, he pays too much attention to the Gandhis.' 'I feel that in places like UP, where the Congress doesn't matter, he often spends time blasting the Gandhis.'

'Which way is the wind blowing?'

'Which way is the wind blowing?'

Rediff.com15 Mar 2019

Sir Mark Tully on the magic of Indian elections. A fascinating excerpt from The Great March of Democracy: Seven Decades of India's Elections.

The courage of Captain Haneef, Vir Chakra, martyr at 25

The courage of Captain Haneef, Vir Chakra, martyr at 25

Rediff.com23 Jul 2019

'Captain Haneef-ud-din, pulling his sinewy body forward, crawled, rifle in hand, in the snow on 6 June 1999. He died on this craggy mountainside exactly two years after he had passed out of the IMA...'

How To Become An Intrapreneur

How To Become An Intrapreneur

Rediff.com19 Sep 2019

Intrapreneurs are more diverse in their skill sets and backgrounds, more digitally native, more networked and connected, and more ambitious to do bigger things. A fascinating excerpt from Simone Ahuja's Jugaad 3.0: Hacking The Corporation To Make It Fast, Fluid And Frugal.

'Fate had a way of pulling them together'

'Fate had a way of pulling them together'

Rediff.com16 Jul 2019

Love has made me a poet, Rahul thought. He could think about her all day long. Sometimes, she entertained his dreams. He did not wish to wait until after Ganesh Visarjan to see her again.

How Shehla Rashid became a firebrand youth leader

How Shehla Rashid became a firebrand youth leader

Rediff.com9 Jul 2019

Shehla doesn't and has never shied away from talking the tough talk and walking the tough walk, says Gurmehar Kaur.

Has Didi begun her campaign to be PM?

Has Didi begun her campaign to be PM?

Rediff.com4 Feb 2019

With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.

India's Sporting Legacy: Yes, We Can!

India's Sporting Legacy: Yes, We Can!

Rediff.com15 Oct 2019

'I have grown up in an environment where the dominant narrative of Indian sporting achievement was -- We can't.' 'These achievers have fought hard, built on each other's body of work and knowledge, and have today changed the script to -- We can,' notes Rahul Dravid,cricketing legend.

Award-winning writers, thinkers, Nobel Laureates to attend Jaipur Lit fest

Award-winning writers, thinkers, Nobel Laureates to attend Jaipur Lit fest

Rediff.com14 Jan 2014

Two Nobel Laureates, four listed writers of this year's Man Booker Prize, Pulitzer Prize winners and finalists, winners of Commonwealth Writers' Prize, Crossword Prize and film stars will be the attraction at the most sought after literary event in India -- the Jaipur Literature Festival.

Why Mallya sold Berger Paints to a 'shopkeeper'

Why Mallya sold Berger Paints to a 'shopkeeper'

Rediff.com18 Jul 2019

Mallya understood, astutely, that the Dhingras were very keen to acquire Berger Paints. He upped his asking price. The figure Vijay asked for was found to be much more than what Kuldip and Gurbachan had anticipated. A fascinating excerpt from Sonu Bhasin's Unstoppable: Kuldip Singh Dhingra And The Rise Of Berger Paints.

How Economy Stalled Under Manmohan & Modi

How Economy Stalled Under Manmohan & Modi

Rediff.com11 Jul 2019

The Indian economy was on an impressive growth path through the first decade of this century till it was brought to an abrupt halt by the policy inertia during UPA2 and the Modi government's inability to restore economic and financial momentum. Fascinating glimpses of what went wrong from Puja Mehra's must-read book The Lost Decade: How India's Growth Story Devolved Into Growth Without A Story.

How the Mughals changed India

How the Mughals changed India

Rediff.com26 Nov 2018

'It was the Mughals who first established standard units of measurement and maintained offices of meticulous record keepers and auditors, departing from the more haphazard methods of earlier regimes.' 'By the end of the 16th century, their revenue and judicial administrations exhibited an obsessive preoccupation with order, the efficient management of time, and a spirit of rational self-control -- all of them characteristics of early modernity,' point out Sheldon Pollock and Benjamin Ellman.

The First Great Indian Cricketer

The First Great Indian Cricketer

Rediff.com26 Sep 2019

One cricketer made all the difference when the first All India cricket team toured England in 1911. Baloo Palwankar startled the English with his guile and genius.

When will this hatred end?

When will this hatred end?

Rediff.com25 Mar 2019

Junaid was my son. He was son and brother also to the people on the train compartment of his last journey. He was son or brother also of those at the railway station where he breathed his last breath. This moving excerpt from Harsh Mander's Partitions Of The Heart: Unmaking The Idea Of India reveals why we must immediately end the hatred surging across north India before it consumes us all.

Did JRD think Patel would have been a better PM than Nehru?

Did JRD think Patel would have been a better PM than Nehru?

Rediff.com7 Jan 2019

'Nehru once told JRD, "I hate the mention of the very word profit".' '"Jawaharlal, I am talking about the need of the public sector making a profit!" JRD replied.' 'Nehru reiterated, "Never talk to me about the word profit, it is a dirty word".' A fascinating excerpt from Shashank Shah's The Tata Group: From Torchbearers To Trailblazers.

The village that hasn't forgotten Tukaram Omble

The village that hasn't forgotten Tukaram Omble

Rediff.com27 Nov 2018

Mayura Janwalkar travels to Kedambe, a tiny village in Maharashtra's Satara district, now better known as 26/11 hero Tukaram Omble's home. An excerpt from 26/11 Stories Of Strength by The Indian Express.

How Jamsetji Tata created the Indian Institute of Science

How Jamsetji Tata created the Indian Institute of Science

Rediff.com19 Nov 2018

The Indian Institute of Science topped the HRD ministry's 2017 national rankings. In 2016, the IISc was ranked among the world's top 15 universities in the Times Higher Education University Rankings. In his book The Creation of Wealth: The Tatas from the 19th to the 21st Century, R M Lala recounted how Jamsetji Tata's grand vision and immense personal contribution laid the edifice of arguably India's finest educational institution.

The Lady Who Writes Magical Songs

The Lady Who Writes Magical Songs

Rediff.com5 Nov 2018

'We, the audience, listen to stories that have nothing to do with us and we cry, just from the truth of those stories.' 'And Anvita is one of those people who makes this happen.'

When Nehru rebuffed China's demand for Ladakh

When Nehru rebuffed China's demand for Ladakh

Rediff.com11 Oct 2019

The Indians felt that if they acceded to Chinese claims in Ladakh, Beijing would simply be emboldened to press for further concessions in the future. A revealing excerpt from India And The Cold War.

The challenge before India

The challenge before India

Rediff.com29 Sep 2017

A must-read excerpt from former RBI governor and former Rajya Sabha member Bimal Jalan's India: Priorities For The Future.

For the RSS, Gandhi was a leader gone awry

For the RSS, Gandhi was a leader gone awry

Rediff.com2 Oct 2018

'Gandhi was ambivalent about the RSS; the Sangh, for their part, actively distrusted him.'

'Definitely he's touched by God'

'Definitely he's touched by God'

Rediff.com4 Feb 2019

A lot of people only associate him with his music. And, obviously, he's a great musician. But Rahman, above all else, is a living example of spiritual equilibrium and intrinsic human goodness. A fascinating excerpt from Krishna Trilok's Notes Of A Dream: The Authorized Biography Of A R Rahman.

Working during pregnancy? Read this!

Working during pregnancy? Read this!

Rediff.com30 May 2018

Don't try to be a super woman. You must listen to your body, says Dr Mahima Bakshi.

Explained: Why you must invest in PPF

Explained: Why you must invest in PPF

Rediff.com3 Oct 2019

The amount saved in a PPF account is actually saving for a rainy day.
God forbid, if bad days fall upon someone and debts pile up. A fascinating excerpt from Anil Lamba's Financial Affairs Of The Common Man: Master The Art Of Personal Finance Management.

Guest Of the Enemy: On Pakistan's side of the LoC

Guest Of the Enemy: On Pakistan's side of the LoC

Rediff.com13 Feb 2019

What happens when a Delhi professor is given the rare opportunity to travel with the Pakistan army along the LoC? Find out in this fascinating excerpt from Happymon Jacob's book, The Line of Control: Travelling With The Indian And Pakistani Armies.

Will India vote for Modi? Prannoy Roy answers

Will India vote for Modi? Prannoy Roy answers

Rediff.com5 Apr 2019

'You've got to be a doer to be re-elected.' 'You don't have to be a great communicator or an orator any more because voters want to see action and development on the ground.' 'And they want a doer rather than just an orator.'

'This is the story of thousands of Sikh families'

'This is the story of thousands of Sikh families'

Rediff.com18 Sep 2014

'Since last year, over 50,000 Sikh farmers have been evicted from Kutch district and Narendra Modi's government has done little other than giving assurances.' 'We are today at a point where Sikhs continue to move out of the country in large numbers and nobody is ready to address the real concerns of Sikhs.'

RSS won't do anything to rock Modi's boat

RSS won't do anything to rock Modi's boat

Rediff.com31 Aug 2018

'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'