An asset swap can simultaneously boost public investment, reduce the fiscal deficit and keep fiscal policy from being pro-cyclical.
Most juvenile remand homes are in appalling condition and need a massive overhaul. But whether redrafting the law will bring down juvenile crime is the moot question. What is required better remand homes, more specialised care rather than to expose young people to the trauma and stigma of adult jails, says Rashme Sehgal.
Most of the Facebook lovers are no longer so much in love with the site.
Single mother Gauri Sawant hopes to change the way people view transgenders in India.
Naseeruddin Shah sets the gold standard as a master memoirist.
'The government that is talking all the time about national security and national interests should be concerned.' 'When national interests are jeopardised by their own project, they should pause and listen.' 'Whether it is the BJP or the Congress, they all want control over the people.' 'They don't give a damn if anything happens to the people of the country; they are only interested in what they can get out of the data.'
From Feroz Khan-Danny Denzongpa's bare skin to Ranbir Kapoor-Ranveer Singh bare soul, Sukanya Verma's super filmi week saw it all!
The plan of UID/Aadhaar-based surveillance does not end with the collection of fingerprints and iris scan, it goes quite beyond it and poses a lethal threat to the idea of India, says Gopal Krishna.
Jamida K is the first Indian Muslim woman to lead the Friday prayer.
Unlike the LDF and NDA nominees who are at ground zero and campaigning hard every day, the Congress candidate's campaign is undertaken in absentia, dependent on an army of local and imported from the rest of Kerala Congresswomen and men.
The 2015 edition of the Sony World Photography Awards, the world's biggest photography competition, has announced the shortlists.
Will there be answers? Will we ever know the truth about who murdered Sheena Bora?
The emperor has no political power, yet he enjoys a unique place in Japanese society, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Tista Sengupta catches up with five emerging designers from North East India -- Daniel Syiem, Atsu Sekhose, Meghna Rai Medhi, Dhiraj Deka and Sanjukta Dutta -- who, in their own way, are fighting to keep their traditional art of weaving alive.
'It is high time the government of Kerala stops appointing policemen without teaching them the IPC.'
Karan Johar talks about his much-awaited directorial venture Ae Dil Hai Mushkil.
Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the world.
'I think my mom's fear came from the fact that I would be compared to her.' 'She was worried about the comparisons because she would say, "I have done 400 films and this is your first, but they will compare you to my 400 films".'
The Revenant is a devastating, visually jawdropping film that, for all its sins of tedium, makes up with scale what it lacks in artfulness, feels Raja Sen.
'Anything that is anti-growth is demonised because growth is the biggest religion.' 'Growth is synonymous with progress. In fact, it is the opposite.' 'Exponential growth is cancer.'
Moments that shaped the world from the week that was
Smita Patil would have been 60 on October 17 had fate not cruelly snatched her from us in 1986. She was only 31 when she died. Rediff.com salutes the incomparable actress in a special series.
This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
'Truth is stranger than fiction. You cannot think these things up.' 'What happens is weird enough.'
Rediff.com's Love Guru answered readers' queries on their relationship problems.
'This may seem like a lyrical lamenting of a writer, but it is the sad reality in and outside the industry. In films, nine out of 10 times the writer's name is not mentioned in posters, publicity or even reviews.' Screenwriter Anjum Rajabali and actress-writer Preeti Mamgain hope to make way for Bollywood's writers.
The Dalals, whose son faces 30 years in prison if found guilty of masterminding domestic terror acts, have decided to take their case to the Indian-American community.
'We have created an enemy we can't even see and that enemy is entertaining us while tightening the noose around our necks.' 'As the radiation increases, it will affect everything -- from your little bumble bee to plants to every living cell.' 'By the time the effects are understood, it might be too late.'
Lawyer turned entrepreneur Parama Ghosh shares her story.
A red fox in a derelict schoolroom, a Bengal Tiger in the forests of Bhutan and walruses are just a few of animals featured in the photos shortlisted for this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year. While we wait for the results to be announced, here are some of the contenders in the contest.
Around 600 scientists and engineers are hoping for the best as they forge ahead with plans of making an indigenous version of a space shuttle.
The hit Harry Potter series actress's speech touched on many issues, including the confusion over the word feminism.
'He was a magnificent looking man -- perhaps the best looking international actor of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, even in the current century. And quite definitely the first actor from Asia to make it big in the West,' says Aseem Chhabra.
What gets forgotten in the German vs Sanskrit debate is the poor standard of teaching in India.
Rinki Roy Bhattacharya's take on International Women's Day.
From an exclusive interview with GQ magazine's Daniel Riley, for GQ India's April 2016 issue, here are 12 things you should know about Cristiano Ronaldo - the footballer, the father and the man
'She was once asked what the secret to political leadership was and she said it was the ability to like all kinds of people.' 'I don't think Rahul fundamentally likes people -- that's probably why he can't deal with them and it shows.' 'Sonia is a more talented political mobiliser than her son, but I think the decline of the Congress set in in 1969...'
Here are some of the most stunning moments of the week that was.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing a loud "bang" from inside the venue.
While Calcutta has transitioned to Kolkata, Satyajit Ray's detective, Feluda, has remained unchanged in the Bengali consciousness
