Obama's decision to visit India must be a result of his judgement that Modi is a man of action, feels Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Hailed as one of the finest filmmakers of his time, K Balachander, who passed into the ages on December 23, has left behind a rich legacy of hard-hitting films, some of which have been routinely credited with redefining Tamil cinema.
The BJP's panicky return to basic-instinct majoritarianism in Bihar has pushed Muslims back into the 'secular' basement, says Shekhar Gupta.
'It is for the first time the voices of the most deferred, the most neglected, the most ignored, the most abused, the most vulnerable - the children-- has been heard. It is a great moment.' 'I always wanted Pakistan and India to have good relationships because I believe that this is very important for the development of both the countries.' 'If children are taught hatred, if they are taught about sectarianism and prejudice, then we can see that there will be terrorism in society." Nobel Peace Prize winners Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistan's Malala Yousafzai were given an ovation after they delivered their rousing speeches in front of a packed audience at a glittering ceremony in Oslo on Wednesday. A day later, they sit down for an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour and share their dreams, their hopes for the future. Read excerpts from the interview.
Haider is a remarkable achievement and one of the most powerful political films we've ever made, a bonafide masterpiece that throbs with intensity and purpose.
'His script, his body language is different, at the most he is a trained pracharak, a national politician building a base, an audience, a community of behaviours and followers from a younger generation, attempting to talk to children so they become his enthusiasts. Many are and that is his victory.'
Brazilian Andre Moritz dazzled the home crowd with a hat-trick of goals to power Mumbai City FC to a stunning 5-0 victory over state rivals FC Pune City in a Hero Indian Super League fixture.
Haider will haunt you long after you've left the theatre, promises Sukanya Verma.
'We think children are not as smart but that is so unfair.' 24 director Vikram Kumar gets talking about his latest hit.
Pasbola wound up his cross examination, tabling a new narrative in the murder case. That Sheena Bora had been murdered not by her mother. But by her brother.
'The irresistible Cuban cigars, which acquire their unique flavour as they are rolled on the thighs of Cuban women, have always been the ultimate temptation for cigar connoisseurs in the US.'
'I want to play a villain. There is something really exciting about villains. They have beautiful girls around them every time, lots of money and all the luxuries because of which I don't mind dying in the end.' Ranbir Kapoor speaks his mind.
Since its launch in 1985, Frooti has been an instant hit with kids.
Full transcript of President Obama's speech at the Siri Fort Auditorium in New Delhi.
The full text of the speech delivered by VVS Laxman at the Pataudi Memorial Lecture in Kolkata.
'If one observes a common man passing a church or gurdwara or dargah, he instinctively bows his head. It is this prevalence of polytheism that has ensured that monotheists and minorities flourish in India. This may sound preposterous in wake of the recent communal clashes in Muzaffarnagar. But it must be understood that in a county of over one billion people that was at worst an aberration,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The Budget has maintained fiscal prudence while announcing a number of steps to boost growth, particularly in infrastructure and rural sectors.'
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It's a humiliating time to be a human being.' It's a pity that the magnificent 17-year-old gorilla is dead. But it's not enough to hang our heads in shame or comfort ourselves with clicktivism, observes Bijoy Venugopal.
'US counter-terrorism policy was encouraging and emboldening the Indians to deal with the problem of Pakistani-supported terrorism once and for all.' 'The US had been trying to browbeat Pakistan into doing what it wants, with very limited success.'
In the next few weeks, the Bombay High Court will hear the institute's petition to review its 2011 directive to vacate the land it occupies in Film City.
Business reacted with caution to the reforms of 1991, and demanded protection from multinationals and imports. Twenty-five years later, traces of that demand can still be found, reports Bhupesh Bhandari.
The Indian Army and more recently the Indian Navy have already set up dedicated intelligence branches. It is surprising indeed that the IAF, where real time and timely intelligence is most vital for effective and safe prosecution of the air war, has still not done so itself, says Group Capt (retd) P I Muralidharan.
Hrithik Roshan on bouncing back as he returns to the marque with his snazzy actioner Bang Bang.
Celebrated chef Gaggan Anand answered readers' queries on June 9. For those who missed the live chat, here is the unedited chat transcript.
'I want people to get into the habit of paying money to see Marathi films. Otherwise, how will Marathi cinema earn revenue like Rs 100 crore?' Shreyas Talpade asks Prasanna D Zore/ Rediff.com
Ruthless Bayern Munich scored five goals in the first 35 minutes on the way to a 7-1 demolition of AS Roma on Tuesday which bore an uncanny resemblance to Germany's win over Brazil by the same score in the World Cup semi-final.
The gulf between Hindi cinema's finest current actor and his contemporaries widens with each film. But even Irrfan Khan, in Mick Jagger's words, can't always get what he wants. Raja Sen tells us why that's not a bad thing.
'If you destroy the assets in Pathankot, you degrade the combat potential of India; you degrade the war potential of India.'
'They are busy making films that suit their purpose. If it suits their purpose to make a Slumdog Millionaire, they will make it.' 'Why are we so upset about not getting an Oscar or producing Oscar quality work? Just look at the quality of work that is venerated by the Oscars. It is not particularly great work. Why are we so desperate to get acknowledgment from the West?'
'How can Devyani sitting in New York and I in Mumbai arm-twist the maid's family?' Uttam Khobragade challenges Preet Bharara's version of events in this interview to Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore.
'This was not the cleanest game of cricket you've ever seen -- there were too many flubs and fumbles for that. But it was certainly the semi-final this mostly blah tournament has needed -- two tough, well-rounded teams, toe to toe, slugging it out, bleeding and drawing blood until there was only one left standing.'
'The starting point of the Udta Punjab casting was that we didn't think stars would do a film like this, so we'd take non-stars. As the names kept rolling in and we had Kareena Kapoor and Shahid and Alia Bhatt, I was like yaar yeh ho kya raha hai?'
'I realised I didn't have to wait for a spectacular event or a character to emerge. All stories of ordinary people, of your family, are extraordinary,' novelist Yasmeen Premji tells Aseem Chhabra/Rediff.com
Read the full transcript of President Obama's State of the Union address on Wednesday at the US Capitol in Washington.
As India gets set to play its 500th Test, Rajneesh Gupta presents India's memorable Test victories at home.