Indian cricket, it seems, pays overwhelming obeisance to a vapid, old adage: The more it changes, the more it remains the same.
GM is already in our food chain for years. The approval for indigenous GM mustard should put fake fear-mongering to rest, says Shekhar Gupta
Aseem Chhabra tell us how he watched 302 films in 365 days on airplanes, on Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google, Hulu, DVDs and even on YouTube.
Prem Panicker, a keen follower of the game and one of cricket's finest writers, interacted with readers on the Rediff World Cup Chat.
Some stellar performances by seasoned veterans and promising youngsters continued to raise the bar in Olympic sports but there was heartbreak in equal measure when corruption scandals blighted India's favourite obsession, cricket, in a see-saw year for the country's sportspersons.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The full text of the speech delivered by VVS Laxman at the Pataudi Memorial Lecture in Kolkata.
The death of Muhammad Ali, the former heavyweight champion known as much for his political activism as his boxing brilliance, triggered a worldwide outpouring of affection and admiration for one of the best-known figures of the 20th century.
For his 60th birthday in December, which he called his third 20th birthday, Mallya flew in Enrique Iglesias to perform at his villa overlooking the beach in Goa.
New Indian captain Virat Kohli should channelise his aggressive attitude in the right direction, according to Team Director Ravi Shastri, who said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's "selfless act" of retiring from Test cricket format at the right time should also be given its due respect.
New Indian captain Virat Kohli should channelise his aggressive attitude in the right direction, according to Team Director Ravi Shastri, who said Mahendra Singh Dhoni's "selfless act" of retiring from Test cricket format at the right time should also be given its due respect.
'Of the 32 captains who have led India in Test cricket, only four have been pure bowlers -- Ghulam Ahmed, Venkatraghavan, Bishan Bedi and myself.' 'The captain must lead with only one idea in mind -- to win the game. The draw mentality is partly because captains lacked confidence and partly because they want to protect their record. If you don't think winning is the point of the game, there is little point in even entering the field.' 'As the Monekygate controversy raged, I received a message from Bishen Bedi, no stranger to controversies himself. "As a captain," he wrote, "take a decision you will be proud of when you look back on history".' Anil Kumble, cricketing legend, on the Art of Captaincy.
Prem Panicker, on the Rediff chat, delves on what went wrong for Team India and what to expect from Sunday's trans-Tasman World Cup final.
Away from the cricket field, it was a year in which Sania Mirza was unarguably the biggest success story with her staggering 10 titles on the Tour -- two of them Grand Slams.
'If fame, money and comfort are the only factors that drive us, then we are playing cricket for entirely the wrong reasons.'
Leander Paes talks to Harish Kotian/Rediff.com about his recent Australian Open mixed doubles triumph and the special bond he shares with his former Grand Slam-winning partner, Martina Navratilova.
'The Modi-Xi and Modi-Obama meetings, with an interval of just 12 days, are juxtaposed superbly at a crucial point in the prime minister's life. Can Modi carve out a win-win situation with the superpower and the emerging superpower at the same time?'
'I can tell you the case that hurts me the most is the one in which the little boy is forced to sign the Kohinoor over.' 'You take a mother away from a child, you surround him with grown ups speaking a different language, you tell him he must sign this over or else...'