And no, the commercial sporting leagues didn't cause the drought, says Shekhar Gupta.
In one of the biggest deals in the outsourced product development (OPD) market, audio and infotainment systems maker Harman International Industries will buy Indian-born serial entrepreneur Romesh Wadhwani's Symphony Teleca for $780 million (about Rs 4,800 crore at Friday's exchange rate of 61.4).
If democracy is to survive and thrive, duties have to be as important as rights and tolerance must be the foundation of public and private life.
'I have been tagged the next superstar for a long time, but I have not reached that stage.' 'So it's very important to accept your failures, not be in denial.' 'Those films happened because I chose them.' 'Nobody put a gun to my head and asked me to sign them.'
The incomparable Mohammed Rafi would have turned 93 today, December 24. Raju Bharatan salutes the legend.
'When the audience leaves the theatres (after watching Dear Dad), they will have a smile on their faces. They will not be disappointed. That's a 100 per cent guarantee.' Dear Dad director Tanuj Bhramar tells us why we're going to love his film.
Partially paralysed but with unbreakable will power and determination, Nihad Panju has beaten the odds to become a fitness freak and is all set to run his 4th Mumbai Marathon on Sunday.
'The Parivar's ideology and politics was and remains the very opposite of what Dr Ambedkar stood for.'
Umrika, which won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, finally releases in India.
Ajit Balakrishnan on understanding the anti-cash chorus.
Saroj Kumar Rath, author of the newly-published book Fragile Frontiers: The Secret History of Mumbai Terror Attacks, speaks to Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.
Women candidates have bagged the three top slots in the prestigious Civil Services examination to select Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers among others.
'India has been placed at a level, which would ensure that red tape is cut away. That's the biggest assurance that one can get -- the biggest takeaway.'
'The unique achievements have been made by engineers from small towns who have had a non elite upbringing and who have grown with the programme,' says R Aravamudan, one of the pioneers of the Indian space programme.
Her great grandfather began sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra. Her grandfather was an eight time MP. Her uncle is currently leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. Her cousin joined the BJP on Tuesday, March 12. Nila Vikhe Patil, who could one day become prime minister of Sweden, unravels her India connections in an e-mail interaction with Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
'Playing with international stalwarts in the IPL makes a big, positive, difference.'
Director Ritesh Batra discusses his film, The Lunchbox, which releases this week.
'It is a concocted letter and we suspect the IB (Intelligence Bureau) to be behind this game.' 'All the investigation agencies should have quietly gone about finding more about this alleged plot to kill the prime minister.' 'Why are you leaking such a letter that reveals the plot to the press as well as to BJP spokespersons?'
'The 'Off-with-Rajan's-head' brigade bases its arguments on mistaken beliefs, erroneous causalities, and even downright prejudice.'
'The first time we actually got to meet a Bollywood star, it was Salman Khan.' 'We met him at his farm house.' 'For Pia, an actor is just an actor. There is no such thing as a star in her world, and that may or may not go down well with some people.'
The last rites will be conducted in Mandala in Madhya Pradesh, according to his wishes.
Surinder Kapur's relentless pursuit of quality made Kapur a highly efficient manufacturer of automobile components.
With the Maharashtra government doling out pieces of the lush green Aarey forest to various utilities, the tribals living in it for generations are feeling increasingly insecure. Hepzi Anthony reports.
The prospects for strong, sustained economic reforms do not appear to be promising in India.
The differently-abled deserve a normal life. Nothing will stop Poonam Natarajan from ensuring that India, slowly but surely, gives it to them, discovers Shobha Warrier.
How a bus conductor named Shivaji Gaekwad became the mega-phenomenon called Rajinikanth.
'In any business you have to achieve short-term goals.' 'But at the same time you have to keep your broader perspective long term.' 'It is good for business survival.'
When I met him last year for his 75th birthday, he seemed frail. There was a sense of urgency. I will miss Stephen. His passing fills me with sadness.
'You don't need a godfather to protect you from dangers of Bollywood because nobody will.'
At the Paris climate change summit, there is talk of restricting temperature rise to 1.5?C instead of 2?C, which has been negotiated so far. This would give India less space to grow by limiting carbon emissions further, reports Darryl D'Monte, reporting exclusively for Rediff.com from the French capital.
Issaq is a shoddily written film with a cringeworthy performance from its leading man Prateik Babbar, writes Raja Sen.
Deep down, Katragadda is still that boy who makes as well as sells soap
Joe Biden will embark on his maiden visit to India as United States Vice President on July 22 to discuss key bilateral issues, including trade, energy and defence, to make Indo-US ties the most important strategic partnership of the 21st century.
Why Dalit leaders cross over to the BJP
Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro is one of the best and most uncompromised films of Indian cinema, says Sukanya Verma.
Gaurav Deepak has raised funds for about 100 new-age entrepreneurs.
November 12 marks 25 years of the beginning of the World Wide Web. Shivanand Kanavi gives us the story of how it all began.
Sylvia Dyer's life began nearly 90 years ago in a forgotten, untamed land. She spent her childhood on a plantation on the Bihar-Nepal border in pre-Independent India, lived through the '65 war as the wife of a decorated army officer and saw an era grow and fade in front of her eyes.
Fun and games at start-ups have ended as easy money dries up.
'Those days, none of the leaders thought of amassing wealth.' 'All of them wanted to sacrifice their all for the country.' 'There are many who didn't have any money, but sacrificed their lives for the country.' 'There are many who spent their own money and worked for the country.' 'There are many more about whom we do not even know what they had done; they did everything so silently and selflessly.'
