Budget should be a platform for govt to take bold steps.
'In one mansion we visited, I was told the doors in the back courtyard had to be kept closed because to have the front and back doors open at the same time would result in Chettiar wealth flowing away,' notes Rahul Jacob after a memorable visit to Karaikudi.
'Most likely scenario is Modi comes back with either a much smaller majority and no majority at all and a coalition.' 'Very hard to imagine him doing better than he did last time.' 'He will then be a weaker prime minister,' the author of The Billionaire Raj tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
A half-Indian Chandrika Darbari is creating waves in the international music industry.
Experts say poor city planning and inefficient administration turned an unusually high rainfall into a disaster.
Amazon has seen its India sales growing four times this year.
For people like me, all these fast-moving gadgets are not only costly and confusing but emotionally barren as well notes Barun Roy.
This was good enough for Fernandes to hire Chandilya to lead his India business.
Rediff reader Subin Mohan from Dubai, talks about owning a Royal Enfield.
VJ turned chef and author Maria Goretti talks about how she got interested in food.
Before finding their 'happily-ever-after', some Kapoors have endured and inflicted heartbreak.
'Gujarat should have been a breeze. But the Patidar agitation and economic uncertainty queered the pitch.' 'Yes, the BJP won and its rank-and-file will take great comfort in the assembly victory. But the leadership is taking stock for a very tricky set of elections coming up in 2018.'
'With enjoyable physical activity, stress release quality sleep and the right diet, we can reverse the metabolic damage which is wreaking havoc in the world and especially in India.'
But experts say downside limited, pockets of opportunities for investors
Sarvesh Agrawal tells Shobha Warrier about how he built a start-up "of the interns, by the interns and for the interns."
"We, Indians have forgotten what is good for us. Foreigners say oats are good so we say the same, arrey, we have oats since ages!" Meet Preeti Virkar, a believer of a different kind.
'I just lucked out.' 'I got good roles. I was in the right phase, selected at the right time.' 'But I had no great ambition.' Suchitra Krishnamoorthy gives us a glimpse into her career.
'The Maharashtra government diktat is another meddling example in an industry where politics or language has no role to play.' 'Cinema has a universal language. Filmmakers are divided across regions, but united in their passion for films,' says director Suparn Verma.
Princess Shivranjani of Jodhpur is breathing new life into dead forts and quietly changing the house of Marwar.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest and funniest stories from around the world
Stunning photos have revealed incredible secrets of the underwater world, with the winners of the 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year award announced. German photographer Tobias Friedrich has been named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018. More than 5,000 images were submitted this year by photographers from around the world. UPY was once again kind enough to share some of this year's honourees with us below, with captions written by the photographers.
Ranjita Ganesan and Nikita Puri chronicle the journey of Abhishek Poddar, one of India's leading art patrons.
Director Krish (Krish Jagarlamudi) makes his Hindi debut with Akshay Kumar starrer Gabbar Is Back.
'My father knows that he was not good in Parinda. He himself told me that he messed it up because he was so successful at that time with Ram Lakhan and Tezaab. He was so iconic as Munna that he tried to recreate it all the time. It is not necessarily the best thing to do.' Harshvardhan Kapoor says why he's blessed to be an actor in today's days.
Sarmesh Kumar is the first in his family, that comes from the community of rat eaters, to go to college. Archana Masih/Rediff.com met the young man and traveled to his village -- which Bill Gates visited a few years ago -- as Rediff.com looks at Bihar through the stories of its people.
Vivek Gambhir revels in his two-city life between the Godrej-owned flagship in Mumbai and his own family in New Delhi.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the inflation index would determine the nominal growth figure, and it is better to set modest targets and outperform them.
'There is nothing bigger than Bigg Boss. I was lucky and blessed that I stayed inside the Bigg Boss house for three months. The love that I got from people was so humbling that I started crying. That's the first thing that I did when I came out.'
Single mother Gauri Sawant hopes to change the way people view transgenders in India.
Pulkit Samrat and Yami Gautam have some fun, as they promote their latest film, Sanam Re.
All of 22 and straight out of college, Pavithra YS (pictured below) decided to make a difference and look what she's achieved!
Born and abandoned in Mumbai, reborn in Sweden, Erika Sandberg says she is Indian on the outside but feels Swedish on the inside. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel narrates her tale.
Cashi Crisis: Day 9: Aaj ki Taaza Khabar!
Sumit Jain, CEO and co-founder, Commonfloor talks about serendipity and his entrepreneurial destiny.
How do you translate a first love into a profession? How do you become a writer once you set your heart on it? Susmita Bhattacharya, who once worked as a graphic designer in Mumbai, now teaches the basics of English to newcomers to Britain and is also a creative writing tutor. Her first novel The Normal State of Mind was published earlier this year after a grim battle with cancer.
