Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the globe.
In a nation divided by many things, the 12-digit unique identity number is holding lives to ransom.
Gut feeling and a sense of timing has always marked Mahendra Singh Dhoni's decision making process in his illustrious captaincy stint and he once again showed that when he 'stumped' one and all with his decision to step down as skipper of India's limited overs team. No one knows whether Dhoni has read the poem 'Invictus' or watched Hollywood actor Morgan Freeman recite it in his deep baritone: "I am the Master of My fate, I am the Captain of My soul". The context of the poem may have been different but in spirit somewhere, Dhoni may find it eerily similar to his thought process leading up to the decision last night.
Prakash Bhandari chalks the journey of Lalit Modi from his troubled adolescent days to his mid-life crisis, from his grand success at the India Premier League to his dramatic exit from it
Bharatiya Janata party state president for Rajasthan Vasundhara Raje is a blue-blooded category of politician who inherited political acumen from her mother late Vijayaraje Scindia, the queen-mother of the erstwhile Gwalior state in Madhya Pradesh.
The close proximity of Arab billionaire who owns MV Seaman Guard Ohio to the Pentagon raises a number of questions about its presence in Indian waters. Vicky Nanjappa reports
Top seed Sameer, who won the Swiss Open earlier this year, had to dig deep into his reservoir to outwit compatriot Pratul Joshi 16-21, 26-24, 21-7 in 55 minutes. In another quarter-final, Gurusaidutt, a former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, recovered from a game down to beat Malaysia's Lim Chi Wing 13-21, 22-20, 21-11 in 59 minutes.
In an online chat with readers, overseas education consultant NNS Chandra addressed queries related to international admissions.
Here's this week's collection of wacky and funny stories from around the world.
A former US military lieutenant travels to India to fight a battle of another kind. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met Robin Chaurasiya and the girls whose lives she is changing -- one day at a time.
Indrani called her personal assistant Kajal Sharma from the UK, May 3, 2012, and told her she had to sign Sheena's resignation letter as if she was Sheena signing it. But she had to first practice the signature and send Indrani proof of her proficiency in signing Sheena's name before sending the letter off. Sharma said she was reluctant and told the court that she told Indrani as much, but Indrani demanded it of her.
'Professor C Y Bayly was undoubtedly the tallest of his generation. For so many of his students who were privileged to be taught by him he was much more than the rarest of rare scholar.' Professor Seema Alavi remembers a teacher who left an indelible imprint on India history.
Sanjeev Gupta, chief of Liberty House, is being dubbed UK's new 'man of steel' after he emerged as a potential saviour of 4,000 jobs
Here's a glimpse at what happened around the world last week.
'It is very important for Indian Americans to understand that we need to have as many seats at the table as we can get. I am going to see to it that I am going to get there," Kumar Barve, the longest-serving Indian-American legislator in America, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
'To win a medal at the Olympics you need 12 to 15 Virdhawals and Sejwals.' 'We lack a swimming culture.' 'Countries like the US, Australia, France and China are powerhouses, with access to the best facilities.'
'Over one million people served in various battlefronts during World War I. And yet, even today, we know so very little about them.' 'It is absolutely essential to acknowledge this part of India's colonial history,' Santanu Das tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
Asin joins a long list of actresses, who married rich businessmen!
Kicking off our Valentine's Day special, filmi style!
After the wedding, Sheena and Mekhail did not meet again. Four or five months later she met her death. Mekhail referred to their last meeting without overt emotion, clear-eyed.
The author revisits Jaipur, Jodhpur and Udaipur and finds them to be a medley of the old and new
Satya Nadella is the highest-paid CEO in the US. So how do the other Indian-American executives fare?
More people from the content side should be running the business of media if the industry has to grow, Bloomberg's Parry Ravindranathan tells Vanita Kohli-Khandekar.
.There are other things in the socio-economic arena which becomes more important than becoming an athlete.'
It would be wrong to blame only Bollywood or the fairness cream industry, or the masses that cater to both, because clearly, all of us encourage this lust for whiteness that films and companies only cash in on.
A look at few gurus who have attracted controversy in recent times.
The journey of the digitally restored version of The Apu Trilogy is packed with dark stories and years of near detective work by those determined to preserve some of Satyajit Ray's finest works.
Realtors, consultants and foreign universities vie for big share.
On his first official visit to a member country after assuming office in August, world athletics chief Sebastian Coe urged India to promote track and field at the school level if it wants to excel on the international stage.
Tista Sengupta/Rediff.com speaks to aspiring plus size models who, for the first time, will walk at Lakme Fashion Week.
Mehta's export company is the largest integrated gold player in the world.
Ever wondered what happens when Hollywood A-listers turn protestors? Take a look.
Professor Chintamani Nagesa Ramachandra Rao is the third scientist to be awarded the highest civilian award -- Bharat Ratna, a crowning glory of his inexorable list of outstanding achievements.
R K Laxman immortalised the passive, hapless common man with an uncanny perception
The first woman chief justice of a state in India Leila Seth talks about her career and how she went on to fight male bias and discrimination.
If an elected government had been sworn in, Jung's tenure and the government would have been more or less co-terminus and Jung would have been just the ceremonial head of Delhi. Now, he will run Delhi, pending another round of assembly elections, says Aditi Phadnis
'People say my father was scared of Kishore Kumar. That is untrue. There are so many songs that my father told the composers to let some other singer sing because they too are good.'
Now, the world over, policymakers are dusting off their copies of Keynes' classic, The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, and figuring out whether there are any answers there to our own challenges of growing our economies.
'My father knows that he was not good in Parinda. He himself told me that he messed it up because he was so successful at that time with Ram Lakhan and Tezaab. He was so iconic as Munna that he tried to recreate it all the time. It is not necessarily the best thing to do.' Harshvardhan Kapoor says why he's blessed to be an actor in today's days.
Back in September 2002, Shakti Bhatt/Rediff.com located the former Union Carbide chairman's luxury home in New York, declared unknown by the American and Indian governments. Rediff.com reproduces the feature about his life in hiding.
