Minister’s remark on Sonia Gandhi triggers row

Minister’s remark on Sonia Gandhi triggers row

Causing yet another embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), union minister Giriraj Singh raked up a controversy with his “white skin” remark on Congress president Sonia Gandhi but “regretted” it a day later on Wednesday. The statement, however, prompted the Congress party to seek an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demand the […]

Australia become second team to win WC on home soil

Australia become second team to win WC on home soil

Melbourne Australia recently became only the second outfit to clinch the cricket World Cup trophy on home soil, and third ever to win as co-hosts. Australia defeated New Zealand by seven wickets in the final to hold aloft the grand prize in front of a packed house at the historic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here. […]

Indian-American Akhil Sharma wins Folio literary prize

Indian-American Akhil Sharma wins Folio literary prize

Indian-American writer Akhil Sharma has won the second annual Folio prize for fiction for a novel which charts an emigrant family’s heart-wrenching search for the “American dream”, said a media report. Sharma said after winning the 40,000-pound (nearly $60,000) prize that writing the novel, which took 13 years to complete, was a frustrating and difficult […]

Lucknow girl in quest for national game sees hope in PMO

Lucknow girl in quest for national game sees hope in PMO

Will India soon have a national game? The answer might be yes. Based on a request from Aishwarya Parashar, a class IX student from here, the prime minister’s office (PMO) has forwarded her letter to the ministry of youth affairs and sports for consideration and appropriate action. Aishwarya’s RTI had revealed last year that India […]

Indian fashion weeks: Still holding their own

Indian fashion weeks: Still holding their own

This year saw the 25th edition of what is now called the Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) in the national capital while Mumbai saw the 15th anniversary of the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) – two of the country’s premier style events. But are these fashion week going the way of their foreign counterparts? “Right now, […]

Lights, Camera, Action! Bollywood-themed eateries trend pan-India

Lights, Camera, Action! Bollywood-themed eateries trend pan-India

Imagine gorging on ‘Anda Apna Apna’ or ‘Chicken Tussi Great Ho” at a restaurant with walls splashed with Bollywood posters, dialogues and film memorabilia. Special-themed eateries across India are cashing in on the craze for everything Bollywood – films, songs and stars. The owners may be professional restaurateurs or diehard Bollywood fans, but they’ve chosen […]

Modi’s modernity vs saffron orthodoxy

Modi’s modernity vs saffron orthodoxy

Historian Ayesha Jalal has writen in her latest book, “The Struggle for Pakistan”, that “at the root of Pakistan’s national identity crisis has been the unresolved debate on how to square the state’s self-proclaimed Islamic identity with the obligations of a modern nation-state”. The same problem has begun to affect the reputation of the Narendra […]

The World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement with India

The World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement with India

The World Bank said on Tuesday it has signed a $500 million loan agreement with India to improve financial access for the country’s small-scale business enterprises in the manufacturing and services domain. “Lack of adequate finance is one of the biggest challenges facing the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector. Financial institutions have limited […]