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?'
Mamata set 6 conditions for the state government to withdraw their four-day-long stir.
'All businesses have to be run for business, for profits on a sustainable basis. It may sound old school, but then I have been in business for 32 years and you can't change an old tiger's stripes.'
What has really alarmed the police, and also the families of young drug abusers, is the entry of "chitta" -- a highly refined white powdery semi-synthetic substance (mainly heroine) -- into the drug scene and has spread like wildfire among the state's youth. Ashwani Sharma reports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cleanliness drive should be about Indians keeping themselves and their surroundings clean. It cannot be a day-long or time-bound campaign, Sulabh founder Bindeshwar Pathak tells Upasna Pandey.
'The vehicles have evolved, the mindset hasn't. And it won't, not until boys are reformed to understand, imbibe and espouse the importance of consent,' says Veenu Sandhu.
'With this success (of access to water) the women are convinced that their rights go beyond law books -- and the law is indeed powerful.' 'The women are now not afraid to file a police complaint or file a case in court.'
With the tide of public disillusionment rising against his government, Arvind Kejriwal is trying at least publicly to extend the olive branch to both Narendra Modi and Najeeb Jung. Privately, he has confided to his confidantes that much as he dislikes it, he must do his best to soften these two reigning deities.
Consultant NNS Chandra shares advice on how to pick the right international education.
The Information Technology Act needs another tweak to allow a different kind of information intermediary to flourish, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
'There are companies that are losing and there are companies that are rising.' 'And the companies that are losing are positioning it as an economic slowdown.'
'Collateral damage during operations needs to be avoided.' 'Such an objective can be achieved more easily should stone throwers not gear up to en masse oppose security forces.' 'With the conditions being quite sensitive at this stage, the death of one of these boys could easily serve the terrorists in instigating violence,' notes Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'At the Asian Games I had a dream, to stand on the podium and have the tri-colour hoisted.' 'I missed one thing in Jakarta -- the national anthem being played.' 'I hope to make it happen at the Olympics by winning gold.'
Archana Masih recalls that December evening 22 years ago when Atal Bihari Vajpayee logged into the Rediff Chat.
Interrogation of the last three accused arrested in the suspected ISI-linked espionage racket by Delhi Police brought to fore a conflict within the spying ring which might have led to its busting.
After a brief lull, intermittent rains lashed Chennai and its suburbs on Sunday, while the weatherman predicted more showers in Tamil Nadu over the next 48 hours.
'In UP/Bihar there is no industry. There are no other jobs, you either herd cows, teach or join the IAS. The brightest go to the IITs. The rest go to arts college and they become IAS officers and it is this crowd that is now agitating.' 'English is the business language of the world, we have to accept that. If I had done my IIT in Hindi, I would be stuck in the cow belt without work.' IIT graduate, entrepreneur and politician R K Misra on the row over English in the UPSC prelims.
'How can the monument where the prime minister unfurls the flag on Independence Day, in a ceremony broadcast and telecast nationally, be maintained by a private entity?' asks Jyoti Punwani.
An Indian American Silicon Valley entrepreneur has launched a unique initiative designed to get techies to volunteer their time to develop software and applications that will benefit people in India and other developing countries.
PV Sindhu, Depika Padukone ensured Indian representation on the global front.
In addition to CPI workers, activists of Congress, YSR Congress and other Opposition parties, who extended support to the bandh, held rallies and other forms of protest at different places in the state.
In an online chat with readers, NNS Chandra offers career advice.
The ambitious odd-even scheme of Delhi government got off to a decent start on new year with volume of cars on the city roads coming down significantly.
'We eat first, they later; we sit on chairs and they on the floor; we call them by their names and they address us by titles,' writes Tripti Lahiri, author of Maid in India.
With Uber dipping into its generous war chest to subsidise its service, its pampered clientele should sit back and enjoy the ride.
Time is running out: Will India manage to attain goals set by the UN.
'Whether he will apologise or not is not a problem.' 'I want him to make an effort to create a new world, by learning from history.'
Indian students, who are living and studying away from home, tell us how they are dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and what they discovered on their journey back home.
Besides providing a new source of employment, services like Uber are changing our mindset.
The Union government has no 'Buy India' policy, but has a 'Buy Air India' policy.
Silsila didn't work. But its roaring rang of romance continues to colour every single Holi. Sukanya Verma revisits this classic.
Measures that will make Indian cities more organised and liveable need to be implemented to tackle the menace of pollution.
Nitish Kumar has to eschew disastrous experiments with prohibition and reservations in the private sector. Unless he is dissuaded from pursuing these flawed measures, he will pave the way for Bihar to again become a part of the BIMARU group of sick states, says Amulya Ganguli.
Air that people breathe in Indian cities is among the worst in the world.
'The reopening of the petition shows that there was something that was flawed in (the earlier) Supreme Court judgment, and this means another step forward.'
Uttar Pradesh still remains far behind the Indian average on most health indicators, says Dipa Sinha.
Sukanya Verma's super filmy week was high on emotions.
Gurugram based Gayatri Gandhi is India's first KonMari certified tidying consultant.
He said that as the previous government could not do it, he had to do it.
Once called India's garden city, this upper middle-class residential area in Bangalore has India's most toxic air, says Devanik Saha, IndiaSpend.com.
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