Legendary Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic was articulate and candid while speaking at a conference in Mumbai on Friday. Norma Godinho/Rediff.com listens in as Vidic talks of Sir Alex Ferguson's motivational mind games, the Ronaldo bet and Man Utd under Mourinho...
'Dalvi, you are saying you asked a question, but don't remember the answer?' asks Pasbola incredulously. 'Yes.' 'You are lying.'
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday attacked the coalition partner on issues like Pakistan, beef, Ram temple and inflation but ruled out walking out of the Maharashtra government any time soon.
A round-up of Ranji Trophy matches played across India on Saturday.
Sixty matches (including the four play-offs) will be played over 47 days in the cash-rich T20 tournament.
'Today, where are singers like Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu and Abhijit Bhattacharya? They didn't sing anything apart from Bollywood. When there is a change in trend, you are gone. But I will remain for another 50 years. I will sing for films and do other stuff too.' The Rathods discuss their music.
A summary of Ranji Trophy matches played on the fourth and final day on Tuesday.
'Films will come and go, some will do really well and some will be okay, you have to learn from that and move on. But rest assured, you know one thing: they (audiences) love you, and that's the most important thing. And you love them back, probably twice as much.' Jimmy Sheirgill gets candid.
Just an hour or so from the ones we commonly throng to, they promise a lot more for a lot less.
Arun Nehru's image of a political strategist, dealmaker and trouble shooter never allowed him to become a political leader of people, says Sheela Bhatt
The people who know Tibet will continue to fight the good fight. Long, hard, less than hopeful, but always peaceful.
Why this non-BJP MP became a Modi bhakt.
'The Pakistan government, we were told, has a plan to renovate several Hindu temples and Buddhist sites, which over the years have fallen into disrepair. The aim is to create a pilgrimage circuit to attract visitors from all over the subcontinent.'
In spite of being wounded in battle, Lieutenant Colonel A B Tarapore fought for six days before meeting a hero's death on the battlefield in the 1965 war. A legend in the Indian Army, he is the highest ranking officer to be awarded the Param Vir Chakra.
'The bonhomie that once characterised the Shiv Sena and BJP was clearly missing this time. Is there a deeper divide than what was apparent?'
It is regrettable that the IB has tried to devalue the expertise available both within the concerned ministry and in the scientific community by its allegations. Governments and NGOs in many western nations have not been accused of being 'anti-national' when they put their foot down on questionable practices by cash rich agri-business companies, says Rashme Sehgal.
Gujarat is a flourshing state but its business model is not so well accepted at national level.
From Aurangzeb to Sangh Parivar, the year 2016 offers plenty of hope in historical and modern literature.
Banerjee along with other regional leaders are likely to play an important role in any future government in New Delhi, so it is in India's interest that regional leaders like herself realise the importance of progressive economics and good governance, says Tridivesh Singh Maini.
The families of the Muslim youth from Hashimpura who were shot dead 28 years ago had some committed supporters in their long struggle for justice.
'You may show at the end of December how much money has come into the system, but none would be the wiser because most of see only what we want to see and believe.' 'Some of us will see through it and you will make your proxies call us enemies of the State.' 'I was somewhat with you till here. But we diverge from here on until you can do something which will veer through my cynicism brought about by your policy,' says Harsh N Gokhale.
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
29 years ago this August, Pakistan's dictator, the general who made jihad part of Pakistani State policy, died in a mysterious air crash. Did the KGB, the then USSR's dreaded espionage agency, assassinate Zia-ul Haq? Was India's RA&W responsible for blowing Zia's military aircraft out of the skies? Was it Zia's many enemies in Pakistan's military? Was it a box of mangoes as Mohammad Hanif speculated in his fascinating novel about Zia's death? Or was the assassin someone else?
Rediff.com gives you a look at newbies in the Council of Ministers
Urban Indians are developing a taste for freshly brewed and bottled craft beer.
'It is difficult to imagine the BJP becoming the legatee of Ambedkar. Whichever way one looks at it, Ambedkar's thought and Hindu nationalism are not easy to reconcile.'
Though there is a full-throated clamour in the Congress that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi be formally named as its prime ministerial candidate for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the Nehru-Gandhi scion is personally not convinced that his projection will yield electoral dividends.
Narendra Modi and his government should look at the emerging geo-politics realistically and not get sucked into having to make a choice between China and Japan. India has enough economic space for both, says Mohan Guruswamy.
At a time when the BJP is facing a perception battle, is Sambit Patra, its national spokesperson, helping the party's image?
'The lack of zeal to serve the country in the mammoth government machinery will be the biggest challenge for Narendra Modi and his government as he tries to change things; there will be not just resistance, but a lack of response to begin with.' If Narendra Modi becomes prime minister, Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com says the issue of human resources, lack of talent and value system in governance will be his biggest challenge.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
Director Anil Sharma gives us an insight into the Deol men, and other Bollywood Greats.
'While Television generally tends to Clarity,' says Sreehari Nair, 'Arnab Goswami's The Newshour Debate portrays our confusions. Each episode offers both the potency of an intensely-fought boxing match and the giddy pleasures of an orgy.'
'Over one million people served in various battlefronts during World War I. And yet, even today, we know so very little about them.' 'It is absolutely essential to acknowledge this part of India's colonial history,' Santanu Das tells Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com
'According to a powerful section of the Congress the vote was anti-Congress, anti-dynasty and pro-Modi, in that order. They say Modi won because he represented and completely played upon "Bhartiyata".' 'Sonia is being accused, privately, of protecting her son at the cost of the party's interest.' 'For the first time ever, 24 Akbar Road, the Congress headquarters, is assessing the "neeyat (intent)" of the Gandhi Parivar, which has never happened before.' A Rediff Correspondent lifts the veil off the churning within the Congress party in the wake of the party's rout in the election.
'This term -- "Nehru-Gandhi" family -- is a misnomer. Nehru was not a dynast; he did not even name his successor... The big mistake she made was to push forward Rahul Gandhi who is a dead loss as a leader,' says Nayantara Sahgal, whom Sonia Gandhi calls 'Tara Masi.'
'He was believed to finish his own work in an hour and spend the remainder of the time walking from one office to another, sitting down with the harried junior staff and helping them sort out the problems they were working on.'
