Hers is a rags-to-riches story for the ages, peppered with risks, determination and strokes of luck.
2016 saw the worst unrest in the Kashmir valley in 26 years.
Malayalam film The Dolphins gets preachy after a while, says Paresh C Palicha.
Lifting the AFSPA can certainly be attempted but the provisions of the AFSPA, as an emergency law that empowers the army -- the nation's instrument of last resort -- must continue to remain on the statute books given the increasingly violent and uncertain times that the subcontinent is likely to face in coming years, says Nitin A Gokhale.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by ace Reuters photographers.
A life-threatening blizzard which is expected to pound a record 30 inches of snow has hit most part of the US' east coast.
Uber valued at $53 billion, is looking at more than 50 per cent market share in India by the first quarter of 2016.
The intensity of the fire was so high that people in the villages around were woken up to a loud noise, with their houses shaking.
As he engaged in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chinese President Xi Jinping came in for praise from an unlikely quarter -- exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama -- who described him as 'open-minded' and 'realistic'.
'For years, a whispering campaign against the non-Nagas -- and occasional violence -- has dominated the local discourse, but Farid Khan's lynching was unprecedented in its ferocity.'
So far as entitlements and privileges of a PM's wife are concerned, the rules, though, are not as clear.
This week's digest of stories that are weird, true and funny.
Dog squads are sniffing out poachers and busting their plans. Geetanjali Krishna tells us more about these canine crusaders.
In its attempt to clinch majority in the 87-member Jammu and Kashmir assembly, Opposition Peoples Democratic Party is trying to make inroads in Jammu by raking up "regional discrimination" and secularism card to woo the Hindu voters of the region.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Mohammad Sajjad salutes the memory of Mushirul Hasan -- historian, thinker, academic, institution builder, -- who passed into the ages this week.
The Tamil Nadu state unit of the BJP has been alleging that its leaders have been systematically being attacked/murdered in the state. A Ganesh Nadar bring to light five cases where workers of the BJP or its affiliate organisations were attacked to find out if there is any truth in the charges.
There is a section in the Muslim community in West Bengal that believes that the ruling TMC has not quite delivered on the promises it made.
'For such prices you could get a place inside New York City and inside London.' 'Rs 7 crore is a million dollars and will bring you a handsome place in any city in the world.' 'The truly strange thing is that the conversion of the rupee's actual value makes India's real estate even more expensive,' says Aakar Patel.
The threat to Sasikala won't come from the Tamil Nadu chief minister or New Delhi, but from her 20-plus kin, reports R Rajagopalan.
It is believed that the attack was the handiwork of a freshly-infiltrated group of terrorists who could have entered along the Salamabad Nallah into the town.
Here are some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by...
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy is expected to make big gains in the polls.
The delegation submitted a memorandum to the prime minister expressing "dismay at the lack of a political approach to deal with the situation."
Senior Pakistani TV journalist Hamid Mir, who faced threats from Taliban and other terror groups, was on Saturday shot at in Karachi by 4 unidentified motorcycle-borne gunmen near a bridge on way to his office.
'Jin Jiang had invested in Louvre Hotels.' 'Louvre, a couple of months ago, took a majority in Sarovar hotels.' 'So they are coming in now.' 'Look at the Chinese -- two quarters ago they took 25 percent in Hilton.' And then HNA also took majority in Carlson (Radisson).'
Lalgarh, once a nerve centre of Naxal insurgency in West Bengal, now represents a different place.
'The government's principal aim should be to reduce the volume of cash transactions.' 'That would bring more of the Indian economy within the purview of taxation.' 'The current downturn in economic activity due to a lack of adequate cash is likely to be limited to a year,'
Eurosceptics lined up to laud Greek democracy for disowning what some cast as the oligarchy
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Wednesday
With the United Progressive Alliance government likely to announce a separate Telangana state on Tuesday, the call for carving out Vidarbha state out of Maharashtra has started gaining heat.
Three ministers from Andhra-Rayalaseema regions submitted their resignations to Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy late on Thursday night even as at least 15 others are understood to have backed out following a stern warning by the high command.
'I can tell you, Mr Chairman, from personal experience that there is nothing sadder than witnessing a close one, a loved one with mental illness at close quarters.' 'I have lived with a victim of mental illness. Like many in that condition, very often such people are in a state of denial.'
Born in poverty and subjected to inhuman abuse, Kalpana Saroj overcame all hurdles to emerge a success story.
We revisit the actor's many controversies over the years.
'Modi and Shah know their politics. That is why the alarmed switch to reservations, and raising the threat from 'vote bank' politics,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Based on the estimate, a courier bringing in 1 kg of gold currently worth around $40,000 at world prices could earn $470 if not caught.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
It is an open secret that Manmohan Singh is not a popular figure in the Congress, but Sonia's presence, support and strategy are proving a blessing for the good doctor. When P V Narasimha Rao ran into rough times, Sonia remained indifferent and the Congress had left him to the wolves, says Rasheed Kidwai, author of books on Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party.
