Aston Villa's relegation from the Premier League for the first time and from the English the top flight after 28 years leaves Bikash Mohapatra/Rediff.com with a tinge of regret.
Lesser-known Indian players continued to impress, while the fancied struggled to score, even as overseas Grandmasters took charge in the third round of the World Junior Chess Championships, being played at Hotel Hyatt, in Pune, on Wednesday. S L Narayanan was one of the early finishers, holding second seed and super GM Robin Van Kampen (2641) to a draw, while 10-year-old Nihal Sarin's impressive display again won him many admirers after he held Balazs CSonka (2409) to a draw to remain unbeaten after three encounters against opponents rated higher than 2400.
An under-strength Barcelona got their Champions League campaign off to a solid if unspectacular start when Gerard Pique's header secured a laboured 1-0 win at home to APOEL in their Group F opener on Wednesday.
'It remains to be seen how much Prithvi Shaw's warriors go on to accomplish, but letting all the adulation go to their heads is the last thing you can expect.' 'Throughout its dominant streak in New Zealand, the Under-19 team played in the personality of its coach, Rahul Dravid.' 'Now, only if they can kick on and become as good as him.'
Calling people of the northeastern region by "derogatory" names will soon become a non-bailable offence and land you in jail for up to five years.
An MP's is a full-time job, so is the BCCI president's. How can Anurag Thakur do justice to both, asks Sudhir Bisht.
Modi also made a call for European Union unity and said India would play a positive role in enhancing that through Germany.
'Kanhaiya Kumar and others of his ilk are now out on bail. But what about the NIT 'anti-nationals'?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
'I don't want it to be a batting affair otherwise you could just walk in with the umpire, with the bowling machine, put your hat on the bowling machine, walk away.' Brett Lee tells Harish Kotian on how Twenty20 cricket has changed the dynamics of cricket and why a bit of controlled aggression is needed in the sport.
"We are committed to building a new India. We have to do this as early as possible," he said.
'No right thinking student of politics can name one state where the BJP gains in double digits.'
'It is very hard to get the police to file a report against someone from an upper caste.' 'Things are so bad that sometimes we have to sit on a dharna with the body of a Dalit victim to get the police to file a complaint.'
In the pitch dark of the African night, a herd of cape buffaloes gather at the watering hole for a drink, taking care to stay by the edge to avoid the crocodiles lurking in the depths. In Gangiova, a village in Romania, a doctor places her stethoscope to the chest of a newborn baby, listening intently for the beating of his tiny heart. These are just some of the moments that have been picked by the judges for the Sony World Photography Awards. For the 2017 competition, photographers entered 227,596 images across the awards' Professional, Open and Youth categories. The Open competition winner will receive $5,000 (Rs 3.3 lakh), Sony digital imaging equipment and flights and accommodation to the awards ceremony at Somerset House in London. Sony World Photography Awards has been kind enough to share some of their shortlisted pieces with us.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday address Members of the British Parliament in London where he promised to open more doors of cooperation between the two countries and delved on issues like terrorism and United Nations reforms.
With the state going to polls soon, Akhilesh Yadav needs to step out of his father's shadow and come into his own as the state's CM.
'I believe politics was imposed on it by the censor board, when it gave the film's trailer an A certificate, hoping to deny children, teenagers the opportunity to watch it during prime time television shows,' says Aseem Chhabra.
The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan came down heavily on Congress leaders for "persistently and willfully obstructing the House" and suspended them for 5 days. The members who have been punished include a president's son, ex-chief ministers' sons and an ex-CM's grandson. Rediff.com brings you the complete list.
Deven Verma passed away into the ages on December 2. We re-publish an interview done with the veteran actor.
Few top honchos of India Inc did very well in 2014.