"Everyone knows me because of that terrible tragedy. My memories of Mosul only bring me sadness. How can I be proud about my fame? I lost everything there," Harjit Masih told Rediff.com's Swarupa Dutt over the phone.
The 30-share Sensex lost 12 points to end at 29,559 and the 50-share Nifty climbed 4 points to close at 8,914.
Indians thrive in ordinariness -- from academia and science to business and military power. Sports is just an apt metaphor, says Shekhar Gupta.
After snapping his political alliance with the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, N Chandrababu Naidu, chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, speaks to B Dasarath Reddy on what he now has in mind.
From teaching to YouTube, these ideas will help students chase their dreams early on.
If and when this latest crisis moves towards resolution, it's unlikely that the economic solutions will take much precedence, says Sreenivasan Jain.
The task I had undertaken was by no stretch of imagination an easy one, says Ajay Singh.
'It was a big relief to get it out of the way. Now he can concentrate on future progress.'
Performance is considered a major reason why Ravi Shankar Prasad might have had to leave telecom.
'It's not only holy reverence that drives them to such vigilantism -- there is adventure too.' 'Some of the younger gau rakshaks enjoy the thrill of the chase: Stopping vehicles, wielding weapons, badgering passengers and then gloating.'
'The food the Sri Lankans gave us was horrible. It used to stink. We used to throw most of it away... In the night my legs used to be in someone's face and his legs used to be in my lap. There was no space... There was no toilet... Both our bathing water and drinking water were salty. We had to beg the guards for clean drinking water.' Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar speaks to Indian fishermen just released from Sri Lankan custody.
Aseem Chhabra has been trying to get an interview with the superstar since 2005, and has been lucky only once.
If an FIR had been registered by the Pen police -- instead of a mere entry in the station diary -- an investigation could have taken place and the body might have been identified as Sheena's, leading to the case being cracked much earlier.
'In the long term, the party that is going to be irrelevant is the Left.' 'It seems absurd that the people of Kerala are the last ones to wake up to the reality that this kind of discredited dogmatic ideological politics has no place in the modern world.'
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
Back to Sheena Bora's grave, via e-time travel
One teenager died in police firing last May. Another teenager is paralysed waist down. Both families have been ignored by the political establishment, including the AIMIM.
Badami asked Das if Indrani was in the room. Das, whipping out his hand and pointing it at Indrani, announced: "Yes, she is right there." Indrani, who was looking down, through most of the hearing, momentarily raised her eyes, just a fraction and glanced at him. That was the first time either of them looked at each other. Till then, and later, Das refused to look at her, as if he was not able to, either out of anger or revulsion. It seemed mutual. Indrani too pretended throughout like he did not exist.
Sofia Goggia carved up the Jeongseon slope 'like a Samurai' to win the women's downhill on Wednesday and leave American Lindsey Vonn with a bronze medal in her final run in the marquee event of Olympic Alpine skiing.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'Modi followed a prime minister whose second term was marked by such tragic passivity that Indians, it would seem, are willing to go to great pains to help this one realise his ambitions for them.'
The NDA candidate tells the Election Commission that the Maoists plan to kidnap him.
'I like to see myself as a troll-slayer and I have realised the best way to do that is to ignore them. Nothing bothers them more,' Barkha Dutt tells Rashme Sehgal.
'Acting is a very crazy profession to be in. Mentally and emotionally we have to go into a particular zone and come out of it and keep on doing it. I am sure acting takes a toll on everyone and maybe that's why logon ko actors pagal lagte hai.' In the second part of a fun conversation, Tabu shares some beautiful nuggets with Rediff.com's Savera R Someshwar and Sonil Dedhia.
One does not need to be extraordinary to be a hero. Sometimes, cutting your hair can be enough.
Indore's Ranjeet Singh moonwalks to control the traffic with his iron will and dance moves!
The blockchain, the public ledger that tracks every bitcoin transaction, is changing commerce as we know it, says Devangshu Datta.
'These are challenging times and we get energised by that.' 'I don't feel that 'I am tired now and I should relax', because even if someone calls us at 12 o'clock I have to answer his call.'
Six-year-old Krishna suffers from Thalassemia Major, a severe genetic disorder that causes excessive destruction of red blood cells for which he needs blood transfusion every 21 days. As he grows older, the time-frame will reduce.
'I have done a lot of films for friendship and, whenever I have done that, I have suffered.' Ajay Devgn gets candid about his career, and Drishyam.
In the last 10 years, when the people looked at New Delhi, they saw two centres of power and not one decisive leader between them. There was nobody who could speak in a language people wanted to hear. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reveals the true reason why the UPA appears rudderless on the eve of Election 2014.
'This country has become cynical, the country has lost hope. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is getting back hope in this country.' 'We are deconstructing the past which had corruption, inefficiency, policy paralysis, a tottering economy where investors had lost confidence, and people had become cynical. We are changing that, we are bringing confidence back to the people of India.'
India'sstartups have a good beginning but will they survive competition is a big questions which needs immediate attention.
'I told the lady I was two months pregnant, but that did not seem to bother her.' A Ganesh Nadar/Rediff.com visits the infamous cages of Mumbai's oldest red light district, Kamathipura, to find out how human trafficking has given India the awful reputation of the nation with the highest slavery rates in the world.
If it ain't love, it ain't entrepreneurship.
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.
'Modi's more than dozen interviews are helping him fine-tune the rough edges of his campaign. He is trying to influence floating voters, undecided voters, non-committal and caste-neutral voters into deciding whether to go for the Lotus or not. These could have been Congress voters, but its divided house, torn between the old guard and Rahul Gandhi, seems to have got completely confused.' Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt lists what the Congress did wrong to find itself in such a sorry mess today.
A new report has questioned the trial court verdict convicting Shahzad Ahmad in the Batla House encounter case, speaks in length about why the verdict in the Batla House encounter is wrong. The 24-page-report, titled Beyond reasonable doubt? The Conviction of Shahzad Ahmad which has been put out by the Jamia Teachers' Solidarity Association, states that the findings of the court are based on conjectures. Vicky Nanjappa explains.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
'The more I lived in India, the more I realised that America was my home too.'