Beneath a street lamp in one of Rio de Janeiro's slums, 19-year-old boxer Wanderson de Oliveira does pull-ups from a metal bar outside the Fight for Peace academy while two skinny young boys watch intently. Much of the Complexo da Mar, a teeming neighborhood of 140,000 people near Rio's international airport, remains in the grip of drug gangs despite efforts to break their hold on the city's poor districts ahead of the August Olympic Games. Gang members brandishing automatic weapons inspect vehicles that enter Mar at a checkpoint, watchful for raids by rival crews or the police. Youths with machine guns patrol the streets or loll in plastic chairs at corner bars.
'This is a movie, which if you allow it to, will wash itself all over you, so that you emerge from it a little drenched but wide awake,' says Sreehari Nair.
'You don't peak every week. One has to keep playing.' 'It's a sport where you have to play at least 25, 30 weeks a year.' 'You have to keep your head down and go with the flow.'
Her great grandfather began sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra. Her grandfather was an eight time MP. Her uncle is currently leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. Her cousin joined the BJP on Tuesday, March 12. Nila Vikhe Patil, who could one day become prime minister of Sweden, unravels her India connections in an e-mail interaction with Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Monisha Dudaney tells you how your partner will behave according to his/her star sign.
These girls are so H-O-T you just can't take your eyes off them!
Dr Siras was a man determined to be a freak in the show called Life, says Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
There is so much goodness in Garm Hava, says Aseem Chhabra/ Rediff.com
On the second leg of his trip to Central Asia, Narendra Modi makes quite an impression in Astana, as he talks about terror and trade, films and the future
'Despite a quarter century since India began the uphill battle of moving away from its peculiar hybrid of imperial-feudal-socialism, it remains distressingly -- and sometimes reassuringly -- the country I left in 1986,' says Rahul Jacob.
While Sonu Sood stays consistent and Deepika inevitably dazzles, it is Shah Rukh himself who appears the most out of place, says Raja Sen.
With Narendra Modi about to make his first Independence Day speech, there is a buzz in Delhi that Modi will make some big announcements to signal major reforms and directional shifts. But we have to wait and see if it happens, says Mohan Guruswamy.
Have you heard of the Burning Man festival? Or the Monkey Buffet festival?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his over four-hour visit to the US Capitol established a personal rapport with top lawmakers and seems to have won over his critics.
Aseem Chhabra's take on the highlights of Indian cinema this year.
Chennai born Meera Mitun landed her first modelling break when she least expected it.
Charles 'Biharilal' Thomson, an Australian who speaks fluent Hindi, on how India has bewitched him.
With tiger stripes and India in its logo, Gautom Menon wants the world to drink Indian.
Today, it is modish to be part of a yoga class, to post stories on Instagram while striking an impressively complex asana in a bralette and crop-top paired with neon yoga pants, to bond over green tea and yoga bars after a strenuous session at the studio and have subscriptions to yoga studios, not ashrams, says Manavi Kapur.
One of the best stories coming out of Bihar is about a place where Chandragupta Maurya, Buddha, Ashoka, Sher Shah Suri and India's Mona Lisa meet.
At least 129 people were killed and 350 wounded -- of whom 99 were said to be in critical condition -- in a series of coordinated attacks by suicide bombers and gunmen in Paris at a concert hall, restaurants and the national sports stadium claimed by Islamic State jihadists.
'The rise of IS and intolerant Wahabism are the real dangers to Indian democracy and pluralism, not the RSS,' says Rajya Sabha MP Tarun Vijay.
'Our Indian culture system is very family oriented.' 'We value and respect the decisions of our parents to a great extent.' 'That can be a pro or con.' 'It's up to the parents to gauge how much motivation, pressure or space a child needs.' 'Every child is different.' 'We are all unique and that is what I intend to drive home to parents.'
Moments after a court in Delhi awarded the death penalty to the four men convicted of the rape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student, a man emerged from the court and in one statement to the media, managed to deflect attention from the case that has shaken the nation, and from the issue of woman's safety, to himself.
These tips will help you excel in the competitive exam.
Raja Chari is in training to go to space in 2019. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel presents the story of his journey from Cedar Falls, Iowa, to NASA. A Rediff.com Exclusive!
'I want to leave behind the bank stronger and better than when I took over.'
An army of 'book fairies' are anonymously dropping off some delightful books in public places across the world.
Nitish Kumar has said the only remarkable thing during the period was that prime minister has more selfies than all his cabinet colleagues put together.
Strategic time management is the best way to optimise your percentile in the Common Admission Test this year, says Prof Dr Savitha G R, HR, WeSchool, Bangalore.
'Working with Kamal Haasan was a different experience because of his knowledge and the experience he brings to the table. Everybody says he is an encyclopedia and he is one, indeed.' Sound designer Kunal Rajan discusses Kamal Haasan, and their latest film together Uttama Villain.
The Linkin Park frontman's suicide is a tragic reminder of how real and common the struggle against depression is.
In EU Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, who has kickstarted the long-pending anti-trust investigation into Google, the internet search giant may have finally met its match.
Nobel Peace prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Obama's daughters and Joshua Wong, the face of the Hong Kong protests against China have been named by Time magazine among its list of the 25 most influential teenagers of 2014.
104 years after it was first written, and 76 years after the poet's clarification, the controversy surrounding Rabindranath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana refuses to go away.
Considered a powerful player in Maldivian politics, former President Maumoon Gayoom on Thursday sought to allay India's concerns over rise of fundamentalism in Maldives by assuring strict implementation of a law to check radicalisation of Islam once his party returns to power.
Sree Sreenivasan recalls his encounters with the pioneer of sound who passed away on Friday and gives a sense of how many lives he touched -- in big and small ways.
Every major awards ceremony in the West this year has seen celebrities talk about diversity, inclusion and politics, sometimes even mentioning US President Donald Trump and his policies by name.
Singer, song writer, and a single mother Manasi Scott wears her heart on her sleeves and tells Rediff.com's Anita Aikara why eve-teasing is a universal problem.
In his address to the Harvard class of 2017, Thursday, he shared his Harvard memories and spoke about finding purpose and meaning in one's life.
