The crises of the 21st century, 9/11, the economic meltdown, COVID-19, Russia-Iran war and the Hamas-Israel war seem to be never ending. In this situation, Iran might be contemplating a nuclear deterrent to defend itself, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, the distinguished long-time Rediff contributor who turns 80 on June 17..
We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.
'He can bat, he can bowl, he can field. He has an X factor about him. I hope very well deep down within my heart that when he comes out on top, I'll sit back and I'll watch everyone sing his praises.'
'A campaign that goes beyond caste, creed and religion.' 'This is a campaign that aims to end hunger in society'
Utkarsh Mishra's impressions of the Narendra Modi roadshow in Varanasi.
'Life will test you but if you have resilience and fortitude, the crown will be yours forever,' says Miss World Yukta Mookhey.
"My message (to the players) is always to enjoy the game and each situation. Give your best and don't worry so much about the result.
A 34-year-old Indian-origin Israeli soldier has been killed during fighting in Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip this week, according to the community members.
The Olympic torch relay set off from Fukushima on Thursday, beginning a four-month countdown to the summer Games in Tokyo
Ellyse Perry put up a sizzling display with both bat and ball to power Royal Challengers Bangalore into the Women's Premier League knockouts.
'Every hospital now tracks length of stay closely.' 'More efficiency is brought into the system now.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday reacted to a viral selfie his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni took with him on the sidelines of the COP28 meet in Dubai, saying 'meeting friends is always a delight'.
Andre Russell restored Caribbean smiles and laughter to the West Indies dressing room.
Swift, who last weekend won the Grammy Award for album of the year for a record fourth time, has attended 12 Chiefs games since she began dating Kelce last year, boosting already sky-high NFL ratings.
'I was not able to watch that 19th over bowled by Arshdeep.' 'My son and daughter were watching the match and my eyes were closed.' 'When they used to shout 'Dot ball', I used to open my eyes, that is how I saw that Arshdeep over.'
Ratan Tata is Maharashtra's first Udyog Ratna.
Usually, taking two wickets against a strong North Zone would leave any 17-year-old bowler with a wide smile. But Jotin Singh's smile had a tinge of nervousness.
Brilliant camaraderie was witnessed between the players of the two teams.
India to open campaign against Pakistan in Kandy on Sep 2, meet again in Colombo on Sep 10
With the IPL season set to roll on Friday, one captain who has 100 Tests under his belt is willing and ready to mentor a newbie captain who will be taking over a leadership role for the first time.
Jose Mourinho had a smile back on his face after his Manchester United side comfortably beat Burnley 2-0 at Turf Moor on Sunday to end a week of intense scrutiny in positive fashion.
A New Delhi slum has been given a colourful makeover thanks to a street artist collective, drawing art lovers and selfie-snappers to a rundown area that they would never normally visit.
'Bahut mazaa aaya tha doing Agneepath. When you are working with good actors, it enriches your acting.' 'Amitabhji and I had done Shahenshah before, but that was a fun film.'
The G20 leaders will deliberate on pressing global issues at the grouping's annual summit here on September 9 and 10. India is hosting the summit in its capacity as the current G20 chair.
Big Girls Don't Cry is too solemn to be fun and too timid to be truly bold, feels Deepa Gahlot.
Chef par excellence Satish Arora recalls his days working as a chef to prime ministers to Chandrima Pal.
'It is important to understand that the disability is not in the person.' 'The problem lies in societal attitude and the discriminatory treatment given to disabled people in our country.'
'As the weeks passed, we saw our group changing.' 'It was becoming a microcosm of the world outside -- a world we had hoped would never intrude into this space,' says Veenu Sandhu.
While calling himself "wildcard", Ali said it is not a good thing to put a lot of pressure on pace spearhead Shaheen Shah Afridi.
Wearing his infectious goofy grin, 'Samba Magician' Ronaldinho cast a spell on the football-crazy denizens of Kolkata as his arrival for a two-day visit in Kolkata ushered in an early onset of the Durga Puja festival.
IMAGES from the World Cup match played between England and Afghanistan in Delhi on Sunday.
After scoring, Messi stopped and pointed from the field at the team co-owner David Beckham, who was watching the game. The gesture was met with a wide smile from the former Manchester United great who helped lure Messi to the MLS despite a massive counter offer from Saudi Arabia.
A lady in a white salwar suit leads the chants of people holding both Indian and US flags.
The launch of Koel Puri's Clearly Invisible In Paris, in Mumbai, last Friday, revealed Suhana's star power.
Drawing on his technological expertise, Hajela, who has a BTech degree in Electronics from IIT, Delhi, introduced an innovative mechanism for collecting and collating data of the family tree of every resident of Assam.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was heckled by a group of Khalistani supporters who raised slogans against him and briefly interrupted his speech during an event in Santa Clara, the US state of California.
Shreekant Sambrani remembers P R S 'Biki' Oberoi, personal friend and hospitality icon, who passed into the ages this week.
The latest round of funding values the company at $10.7 billion, almost doubling it from the $5.5 billion valuation during the $1.25 billion fund raise in July 2021 when investors including SoftBank, Prosus and Accel pumped in capital in what was the company's biggest funding since its inception. The other new investors in the latest round of funding include Baron Capital Group, Sumeru Venture, IIFL AMC Late Stage Tech Fund, Kotak, Axis Growth Avenues AIF- I, Sixteenth Street Capital, Ghisallo, Smile Group and Segantii Capital, Swiggy said in a statement.
Why did the company zero in on RBL Bank to understand the business of banking? While the M&M investors heaved a sigh of relief, one gentleman must have been all smiles after this, RBL Bank MD and CEO R Subramaniakumar, notes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
