The reputation of Bihar's schools has taken a knock. Satyavrat Mishra explains how a student-teacher nexus has gamed the system to produce toppers by the dozen.
Since the Saradha group of companies went bust with its owner Sudipta Sen in police custody from 2013, its agents have been left penniless, homeless and have lost all hope of living a peaceful life. They are out on the streets, crying themselves hoarse for compensation. One of them writes an open letter to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for help.
When I met him last year for his 75th birthday, he seemed frail. There was a sense of urgency. I will miss Stephen. His passing fills me with sadness.
Tuesday was the last that Courtroom 51 saw of Shyamvar Rai, accused No 3 and approver in the Sheena Bora murder trial. True to form, Rai's final hours in the witness box were rather acrimonious. His cross-examination at several points turned downright ugly.
Sensing the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's attempts to rekindle Ayodhya sentiments, the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in Uttar Pradesh has banned a meeting to mark the 25th death anniversary of brothers, Ram and Sharad Kothari, who fell to police bullets while performing the symbolic kar sewa on November 2, 1990 -- two years before the Babri Masjid was brought down.
Investigators in the sensational Sheena Bora murder case are not ruling out the "honour killing" angle after it came to light that both Peter Mukherjea and main accused Indrani allegedly disapproved of the "relationship" between his son Rahul and the victim.
The Bollywood stalwart turns 70 on January 17.
Satyajit Ray. Films from Italy, Iceland and Albania feature on Aseem Chhabra's list.
The writing is on the wall -- and it is written in the blood of the women who 'died', 'ran off' or 'committed suicide' under mysterious, carefully unexplained circumstances -- that the only life that matters is one that belongs to an upper class, upper caste, politically connected male.
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.
Narendra Modi's mother washed utensils to make a living. Madhusudan Mistry's grandmother, who brought him up, was a vegetable vendor. Mistry's trajectory from poverty to membership of the all powerful Congress Working Committee is moving. the man who has Rahul Gandhi's ear and is all set to take on Narendra Modi in Vadodara, speaks to Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt in a fascinating interview.
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?'
Vinita Bisht and Vinita Kamte lost their husbands -- one an NSG commando, the other an IPS officer -- in the 26/11 terror attack. Six years later, Archana Masih/Rediff.com meets them to discover that closure is one of the hardest things to find.
