Many were hoping that with Vajpayee's NDA gone, there would be a return to the Congress normal. Nobody was prepared for the opposite. Sonia Gandhi was sceptical. This became the only issue over which Manmohan Singh took on his party bosses and risked his government. Politically, it was riskier than the 1991 reform, recalls Shekhar Gupta.
'Had anyone asked me if I was Aamir Khan, I would have admitted to it.' Senior movie journalist Roshmila Bhattacharya flips through the pages of her many interactions with Aamir Khan, who turned 60 on March 14.
Veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, in his latest book, argues that Pranab Mukherjee should have been made Prime Minister in 2012 instead of Manmohan Singh, who was then recovering from health issues. Aiyar believes this would have prevented the "paralysis of governance" and "doomed" any prospects the Congress might have had to form UPA-III. He also criticizes the government's handling of the Anna Hazare-led agitation and the Commonwealth Games scandal, which he believes contributed to the party's downfall in the 2014 general elections.
Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), Viacom18 Media (Viacom18), and The Walt Disney Company announced on Thursday that they have completed the merger of Viacom18's media and JioCinema businesses into Star India (SIPL), creating a mega joint venture valued at Rs 70,352 crore. The new entity will be guided by three chief executive officers (CEOs), "who will lead the company into a new era of ambition and disruption", according to a joint statement. Kevin Vaz will lead the entertainment division across all platforms, Kiran Mani will head the combined digital division, and Sanjog Gupta will oversee the sports operations.
He was a formidable musician but seemed utterly human, a Peter Pan who wore his genius with deceptive lightness. Sandip Roy remembers Ustad Zakir Hussain.
Images from the IPL 2025 match between Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.
'My mantra on set to actors has always been, 'Feel... feel'.' 'And Preity would say, 'Feeling... feeling'.'
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
The saving grace of Shankar's expanded universe is the masterful precision with which Kamal Haasan drops himself into a messy setup, only slightly to elevate the pulpy tendencies of Shankar's vision, observes Arjun Menon.
'Post COVID, people are much more enthusiastic about going to concerts.' 'The live music scenario has suddenly become very relevant to people's lives.' 'They see that it is cooked on the spot.'
'How can a citizen of this country having been a Member of Parliament, and the other who has seen enough of Foreign Service takes no time in saying that what happened in the neighbourhood will happen in India'
Shankar believes how he prepares will be the key factor going into the tournament.
'I faced difficulties, but today when I look back, it all looks mazedar (fun).'
Twelve of the 16 Naxalites killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Gariaband district have been identified as dreaded ultras carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 3.13 crore, including a central committee member of the outlawed movement, a police official said. Among them was Chalpathi alias Jairam, a member of the central committee and Odisha state committee of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), who had a collective bounty of Rs 90 lakh on his head in Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. It was the first time someone from the central committee, the main governing body of the proscribed outfit, has been eliminated in an encounter in Chhattisgarh. The encounter, which lasted three days, involved personnel from E-30 (a Gariaband district police unit), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), its elite unit CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) and Odisha police's Special Operation Group (SOG).
February has some promising original content streaming on OTT.
The biggest risk in under-construction projects is delay and non-completion.
In this multi-part series, Joginder Tuteja brings us the theatrical releases of 2025.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has completed the merger of its media assets with the India business of global media house Walt Disney and formed a joint venture with a valuation of over Rs 70,000 crore. The JV will be one of the largest media and entertainment companies in India with a combined revenue of approximately Rs 26,000 crore and will be led by Nita Ambani as its chairperson, according to a joint statement.
During Wednesday's training, a Jasprit Bumrah yorker hit Shankar flush on his toes.
The Budget should undertake further reductions in import tariffs and seriously consider an announcement of India's intention to join one or both of the two Asian mega-regional free trade agreements, suggests Shankar Acharya, former chief economic adviser to the Government of India.
When elected on July 18 -- which is almost a certainty, given the NDA's numbers in the electoral college -- Droupadi Murmu will be the first President born after Independence.
Among the many performances at the IIFA awards, Rekha's was certainly among the highlights.
Pandit Ravi Shankar was George Harrison's link into the Vedic world.
'Once actors become senior, they may become repetitive and boring for the audience. Kamal sir is updated.'
Vijay Shankar said confidence in his ability to adapt helped him get over his surprise at being asked to bowl earlier than he expected
Raj Thackeray listed out his expectations from the PM in his third term in office.
'Reduce your equity allocation, put that allocation into gold and fixed income.'
The many episodes in which the characters quarrel, sulk and rehearse would have been boring were it not for the music, observes Deepa Gahlot.
Jharkhand, however, could not make the knockouts from the group as Gujarat topped it with Haryana being the second team to progress. Jharkhand finished third.
Netflix India's content head Monika Shergill on Tuesday met Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju in New Delhi, amid a row over the web series IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack.
Delhi's crime rate against women stood at 144.4 in 2022 -- the highest among all states and Union Territories.
'If you just listen to the lyrics, they're so simple. It's definitely a great philosophy to live life by.'
Ustad Zakir Hussain's story will be told in a thousand ways by each person who met him, loved him, spent time with him, got to know him and shared some precious time off stage with him, says Maanveer Singh.
Only three catches in the match, and all three were taken by the Gujarat Titans.
Zakir Hussain was the maestro of tabla, percussionist, composer and even actor -- a legend who was India's very own and yet belonged to the world. Hussain died from 'idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis', a lung disease, in a San Francisco hospital early Monday. He was 73.
Bidhuri, the BJP MP from South Delhi, had faced strong criticism over his "derogatory" comments against Bahujan Samaj Party MP Danish Ali in the Lok Sabha.
As many as 150 youths from the port city and its vicinity have been stuck in Cambodia for a year already, where they are being coerced to carry out cyber crime and ponzi scams by Chinese handlers, the police said.
Pooja Kataria, a passenger on the IC-814 flight hijacked in 1999, says viewers should approach the recently released web series based on the incident as entertainment rather than sparking controversy.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday demanded an accommodation for outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he is entitled to it on account of being the convener of a national party.
Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy on Friday criticised Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar for comparing Opposition Members of Parliament with animals.
