As the year draws to a close, Rediff's Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya takes a look at the hits and misses, the highs and lows, the newsmakers and the dealbreakers in alphabetical order.
Sack Gambhir before he damages any more careers, if you must. But it cannot stop there. The project ahead must be bigger, more ambitious, and far more urgent: Rebuilding the spine of Indian cricket from the grassroots up, and giving the Test team the seriousness it deserves. Only then will Indian cricket stop lurching from one crisis to another and begin, once again, to imagine greatness, suggests Prem Panicker.
The motive of the crime is still unclear.
Dharmendra remained one of the most loved stars of all time, even when his movies tapered off, and age caught up with him.
Lord Curzon Ki Haveli lacks the wit and the wickedness to go anywhere with the mildly intriguing setup, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The 2025 US National Security Strategy marks a major pullback, with America turning backward and effectively allowing China greater dominance in Asia. while long-time partners like India are left to face an increasingly unstable global order largely on their own, observes Rajeev Srinivasan.
'There is no substantive basis for Bangladesh-Pakistan relations. The only real link they can have is mischief, with Pakistan's intelligence agency using Bangladesh to create trouble along our eastern borders.'
Wondering what to watch on OTT this weekend? Namrata Thakker lists options to choose from.
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
They were each sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 28 years behind bars.
The comedy is unfunny, the emotional bits are dubious and the music forgettable in Heer Express, observes Deepa Gahlot.
The casting of Marathi theatre and screen actors gives Manvat Murders its stamp of authenticity, observes Deepa Gahlot.
A 12-year-old girl has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of 80-year-old Bhim Sen Kohli, who was killed in a park near Leicester in September. Kohli was attacked while walking his dog and died in hospital from a neck injury. A 15-year-old boy, who was 14 at the time of the incident, has also been charged with murder in connection with the case.
An Indian woman sentenced to death in Abu Dhabi for the alleged murder of a four-month-old child has been executed on February 15, the Delhi High Court was informed on Monday. The woman, Shahzadi Khan, was handed over to the Abu Dhabi police on February 10, 2023 and sentenced to death on July 31, 2023. Her father, Shabbir Khan, had filed a petition seeking information about her well-being. The court was informed that the woman's last rites will be held on March 5.
The official said Sukhvinder's brother Satpal possibly transferred Rs 2.50 lakh from Canada to his cousin Jitu Singh alias Jita in Gwalior to facilitate the November 7 killing.
'This was a decision taken and executed by Prabhakaran and his intelligence chief Pottu Amman. Both were convinced that the assassination would not be linked to them.'
India is working with Yemeni authorities and friendly nations to find a solution for Nimisha Priya, the Indian nurse sentenced to death in Yemen for murder. The government is seeking more time for Priya's family to reach an understanding with the victim's family.
A 67-year-old Indian-origin nurse, Leela Lal, was severely beaten by a patient at a Florida hospital, leaving her with multiple facial fractures and potentially losing her eyesight. Stephen Eric Scantlebury, the 33-year-old patient, allegedly made racially charged comments during the attack, leading to a hate crime enhancement in his charges. Lal's injuries are described as critical, with "essentially every bone in the victim's face" broken. Scantlebury remains jailed, with a judge ruling him a danger to the community.
A SpiceJet employee, Mudasir Ahmad Khan, claims he was assaulted by an army officer at Srinagar airport for enforcing baggage rules. He demands action against the officer, while the army says it is cooperating with the investigation.
Black, White & Gray - Love Kills has a unique take on the standard murder mystery that may not be perfect but is very entertaining nonetheless, discovers Mayur Sanap.
A year after the RG Kar rape-murder Swarupa Dutt/Rediff look at the city where it happened, Kolkata -- its study in dichotomy, at once the self-proclaimed cultural capital of India as also a petri dish for a peculiar rage that breeds crimes against women.
A 24-year-old Indian man who went to Canada in 2022 to pursue higher education was shot dead in his car in Vancouver city, police said on Sunday.
The Supreme Court of India has dismissed the bail plea of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment in a 1990 custodial death case. The court ruled that there was no merit in his plea for bail or suspension of sentence. Bhatt, along with co-accused Pravinsinh Zala, was found guilty of murder, voluntarily causing hurt, and criminal intimidation by the Gujarat High Court in 2024. The case stems from the death of Prabhudas Vaishnani, who was detained by Bhatt following a communal riot in Jamjodhpur in 1990. Vaishnani's brother alleged that Bhatt and other police officers tortured him in custody, leading to his death.
A 21-year-old Australian man has pleaded guilty to the murder of a young Indian woman whose dismembered body was discovered in a suitcase in a Sydney canal last year. The body of Tosha Thakkar, 24, was found in the suitcase floating in a canal near the Parramatta River at Meadowbank in March 2011.
'Is it right and proper for the US authorities to allow people like Subrahmanya Swamy [sic] go round the country preaching murder, violence, overthrow of the duly elected Government of India?' A fascinating excerpt from Sugata Srinivasaraju's The Conscience Network: A Chronicle of Resistance to a Dictatorship.
Shetty was shot dead by two alleged members of Rajan's gang on the hotel's first floor on May 4, 2001.
Zakir Hussain was the maestro of tabla, percussionist, composer and even actor -- a legend who was India's very own and yet belonged to the world. Hussain died from 'idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis', a lung disease, in a San Francisco hospital early Monday. He was 73.
The trial of 'Psycho Stapleton', a Briton accused of the murder of Indian student Anuj Bidve on December 26 in Salford, begins in the Manchester Crown Court on Monday. The trial of Kiaran Stapleton, 21, is expected to last 12 days.
Two Indian-origin brothers wanted in connection with the murder of a 22-year-old MTech student from India have been arrested by Australian police, media reports said.
A 24-year-old Indian, who cut his wife's throat eight times with a box cutter and left her bleeding to death, has been found guilty of manslaughter by an Australian court which acquitted him of the murder charge.
An Indian-origin man has pleaded guilty to hiring men to murder an NRI couple in Michigan and faces life imprisonment.
Tigmanshu Dhulia's earthy touches, perverse humour, and queasy depiction of the upscale and underbelly revels in pulpy and devious twists, notes Sukanya Verma.
The victim, identified as Yuvraj Goyal, was found dead by the police when they were responding to the call of a shooting in Surrey on Friday morning, the homicide unit of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.
Dhillon told reporters that IPS Section 304 slapped against the Nihang could be converted into Section 302 (murder) following further investigation.
An Indian-origin man was on Thursday re-arrested in connection with the sensational murder of an oil executive who disappeared some weeks ago and whose decomposed body was found in a car in London last Thursday.
A man has been arrested in connection with the twin murder of Indian-origin Avtar Singh Kolar and his English wife in Birmingham, the West Midlands police said on Saturday. Officers working as part of Operation Tiler executed a warrant at a house in Birmingham on Friday night and arrested a 24-year-old man as part of their investigation. He has been taken to a police station in the West Midlands where he is being questioned on suspicion of murder.
Documents released by the Justice Department of British Columbia, Canada show that all four alleged accused in the murder of National Investigation Agency (NIA) designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar appear to be no longer in custody.
'Very rarely does a film give you the opportunity to do this, I was constantly improvising and adding scenes on the set.'
Patrick Graham's crime documentary The Dupatta Killer gives all sides of the story and leaves it to the viewer to fill in the blanks, notes Deepa Gahlot.
