This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
And no, the commercial sporting leagues didn't cause the drought, says Shekhar Gupta.
The tension between the way the law views justice, and the way public opinion views justice, is the best reason not to make laws based on public opinion, says Mitali Saran
Besharam is so unbelievably sloppy and senseless, not even the best actors in the business can redeem it.
'Pornography is available on every phone today. Even children are watching it' 'If there is no pornography in India, good things will happen in the country.'
Accusing Narendra Modi of using religion for canvassing by putting out Lord Ram's portrait in the backdrop at his Faizabad rally, Congress on Monday approached Election Commission demanding registration of an FIR against him and other party leaders as well as derecognition of BJP.
'I am a very personal writer. I write direct to the reader. I don't hold back,' says India's most loved writer, Ruskin Bond.
'I'm a rebel. I'm not easy.' 'Once a top actor wanted me to sing a song and a top music company was involved. They wanted changes in the song. I told them not to take pangas with me.'
'Manto is the only writer to grasp what the project of Pakistan would eventually mean,' says Aakar Patel, who has translated a collection of Saadat Hasan Manto's essays in a just-released book Why I Write.
Historian Romila Thapar, while delivering the 3rd Nikhil Chakravartty Memorial Lecture organised by The Book Review Literary Trust in New Delhi, delved on the growing hesitation among free-thinking Indians.
Who are the NGOs in India with maximum funding in India? Which are the countries funding them? How many NGOs are registered under the law? Vicky Nanjappa finds out.
'Over 50 crore Indians are currently suffering from a livelihood crisis, something to which the whole country had shut its eyes to for the past six months.' 'We woke up only after the IPL was affected.'
The reason for the windfall: the soaring value of their stock awards.
The second part of our series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministers with a criminal record.
'If anyone crimps on the media, it automatically begins to impact the freedom of the citizen.'
Sarvesh Agrawal tells Shobha Warrier about how he built a start-up "of the interns, by the interns and for the interns."
There are no real people in Tamasha -- there are only character-types written in little pink balloon-letters, all floating in cloudland, feels Sreehari Nair.
'It is not about women today; it's about men.' 'We need to focus our energy on a war footing on men.' 'Let us start with a boy who is 10 years old.' 'If you don't concentrate on your son, the safe spaces for women will shrink further.'
Indrani Roy/Rediff.com visits Ranaghat in West Bengal's Nadia district, the scene of the horrific rape of a 72-year-old nun, and encounters a clueless police and a frightened Christian community.
For one thing, US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was perhaps right in postponing the quantitative easing taper even though the markets had complained at that time that they were primed for some reduction in QE3 and the Fed had missed an opportunity to execute their plans without causing too much of a flutter.
'We have vindicated Krittika's honour, Indian diplomats' honour, and India's honour in the United States,' her attorney Ravi Batra said, announcing a $225,000 settlement won from New York City.
The wars of the future will be fought over water and if they occur on large scale, will be far more devastating than any we have seen yet.
'Even with the restrictions of depositing more than Rs 2.5 lakh in a bank, people will find new methods to convert this cash hoard into legal tender.'
'Hrithik Roshan is in an awkward situation.' 'The world is saying that Hrithik's wife left him because he had an affair with my client.'
'I get scared of horror films. Chak De! India was (first) offered to me but Shah Rukh Khan also needs to get some good films. When has Aamir seen me without clothes?' When Salman Khan was in the mood for fun.
'Is it a crime to be inspired by the Left ideology? Why can't I read a book on Marxist philosophy? Is it banned in India?'
Defending champion Novak Djokovic moved confidently into the second round of Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 win over German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Monday.
Pakistan avenged their Asian Games final loss when they beat India 4-3 in Bhubaneswar on Saturday to enter the Champions Trophy hockey final.
In villages in Palghar district -- in Mumbai's backyard -- more than 254 children have died from malnutrition.
'We have won our political freedom, we have liberalised our economy and now it's time to liberate our minds also. That is why this film.' Director Ketan Mehta lists his reasons for making Rang Rasiya.
Sheela Kochouseph Chittilapally is one of the most successful woman entrepreneurs in Kerala with a Rs 75 crore business.
'To consider BRICS anything more than a temporary club with some common interests would be folly. The goal should be to induce others (Japan, ASEAN, South Africa) to align with us -- a non-threatening, democratic nation, rather than with malevolent China or waning America. For us to consider aligning with either China or the US would be absurd. India is just too big to be a sidekick,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Shubir Rishi/Rediff.com speaks to rockstar saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh Insaan days before the release of the sequel, MSG 2.
'The best Indian movies today are ones that portray life as "something that doesn't end when the movies do".' 'There's no real arc to traverse or easy lessons to learn. And Irrfan and Nawazuddin -- who can both swerve a movie purely on the strengths of their instincts -- are just the perfect actors for this kind of movie sensibility,' says Sreehari Nair.
Only three percent of Indians pay income tax; our tax-GDP ratio is among the lowest in the world. This must change. Our elites must realise that India's poverty has damaging consequences for them, and that they can help decrease it. The food security bill, with all its limitations, will hopefully contribute to generating such awareness, says Praful Bidwai.
A look at the life and times of maverick businessman Chinnakannan Sivasankaran
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