Six weeks after winning the Man Booker Prize for her second novel, The Inheritance of Loss, Kiran Desai is hardly out of the news.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The United States Department of Justice released a batch of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein's sex trafficking investigation, including photos and records showing Bill Clinton, Ghislaine Maxwell, and Michael Jackson in social settings with Epstein, CNN reported.
Indian-American Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jhumpa Lahiri is among 10 novelists shortlisted for the prestigious United States National Book Award 2013 in the fiction category for her new work The Lowland, which is a tale of two brothers set in Kolkata of the 1960s.
Through Bob Dylan's music, lyrics, and Timothe Chalamet's superb acting, we feel we have rubbed shoulders with greatness, even when it is full of flaws, self-doubts, warts and all, observes Aseem Chhabra.
Brazil's Fluminense continued their fairy-tale run at the Club World Cup with a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia's Al-Hilal on Friday in Orlando, Florida, to book their place in the semi-finals.
Asha Damle's Marathi translation of American Nobel laureate Toni Morrison's ground-breaking novel, Beloved.
'Trump's desire to withdraw the US from some arenas on the global stage will result in ceding space to China.'
Did Jeff Bezos decide against endorsing Harris because it would hurt his business interests? Only God and Bezos know, and neither of them are talking, notes Prem Panicker.
Oppenheimer is a very politically significant film for our time, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
The narrative is faithful to the source, American Prometheus, but what makes it absolutely spell-binding is Christopher Nolan's technique, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'I don't feel like going back to India, to the old Delhi that I grew up in. Because the place doesn't exist anymore.'
The White House has said the forthcoming book by John Bolton is "full of classified information"
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.
Kuttey's muddled momentum cannot cover up the trail of loopholes it leaves behind, observes Sukanya Verma.
In A Suitable Boy, Mira Nair holds our hands and takes us through the magical journey, introducing us to so many fascinating characters from another era, observes Aseem Chhabra.
The new season of The Crown is a bit of a dreary watch, observes Deepa Gehlot.
The characters drawn for the 2016 film have an edge that wasn't present in the 1967 version. This is perhaps why The Jungle Book has been given an U/A certificate in India. For once, Pahlaj Nihalani may be right, feels Aseem Chhabra.
India-born poet Vijay Seshadri has won the prestigious 2014 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for his collection of poems '3 Sections'.
The New York Times reported that according to Rushdie's agent, Andrew Wylie, the Mumbai-born controversial author was on a ventilator and could not speak.
As the film crossed $200 million barrier worldwide this week following a terrific bump after its eight Oscar win, booksellers worldwide, especially in the UK, Australia and New Zealand are reporting big demand for the novel.
Banning books shows insecurity of the political class, says Praful Bidwai.
'Ishaan Khattar, with the please-fall-in-love-with-me looks in his eyes, carries the first episode,' observes Aseem Chhabra.
'I never got respect as an actress.' 'But when I became a director and worked with actresses like Cate Blanchett and Jessica Chastain, I felt such pride of being an actress.'
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut, on Saturday, questioned Obama's knowledge about India and said that a foreign politician cannot give such opinions on Indian political leaders.
And the First Lady Melania was in tears -- not of joy -- after hearing about the surprise win.
'Never in the history of Indian cinema did we have a distribution system for 240 countries, but we have it now.' 'And if we still keep catering to the B and C-tiers of our country, and not the whole world, then we are really being losers.' 'The visionaries of the industry must pull up their socks and say that now we will create for the world.'
Few debut novels in recent times have been received with such critical applause as Akil Kumarasamy's Half Gods. 'The prose itself is a marvel,' declared The New York Times Book Review. A glimpse of Akil Kumaraswamy's ability to 'distill the mysteries of the human soul', revealed in this excerpt from her story The Office of Missing Persons.
Adani Enterprises on Wednesday said it has decided to withdraw its fully subscribed Rs 20,000-crore follow-on public offer (FPO) and will return the proceeds to investors. The announcement came a day after the company's FPO was subscribed fully on the last day of the offer on Tuesday. "The Board of Adani Enterprises Ltd., (AEL) decided not to go ahead with the fully subscribed FPO.
Byju's, India's most-valued startup, has decided to put two of its key assets -- Epic and Great Learning -- on the block to generate $800 million-$1 billion in cash, with an aim to meet the edtech firm's various commitments, including repaying the entire $1.2 billion term loan B (TLB) within six months, according to sources. The cash-strapped company has proposed repaying $300 million of the $1.2 billion loan in the next three months, depending on whether the lenders accept Byju's amendment proposal, said the people familiar with the development. "This loan repayment proposal has been submitted to the lenders and conversations are going in the right direction," said a person in the know.
There are hundreds of fan clubs -- in Jalgaon, Beed, Chennai, Kolkata, Akola, Yavatmal, Bengaluru, Sitamarhi, New York, Canada, Nigeria etc. Every Indian city/town or a major country has a fan club for the man whose fan base has been estimated at 3.5 billion by Time Magazine.
With a report on Uber by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) opening a Pandora's box, the company is in a damage-control mode. Distancing itself from the actions of its management pre-2017, Uber, while acknowledging the "mistakes" of the past, has said that under CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, it "is a different company". "There has been no shortage of reporting on Uber's mistakes prior to 2017.
10 things you should know about the new (and 1st Indian-origin) editor-in-chief of Vanity Fair.
'I wish Ra.One had more of the evil character played by Arjun Rampal. I wish we could have seen some more sparks of evil from Kapoor. But Ra.One is mostly about Shah Rukh Khan.'