The mesmerizing march included elite marching contingents, missiles, warplanes, surveillance gadgets and lethal weapon systems, with French President Emmanuel Macron gracing the occasion as the chief guest.

Iconic public buildings, parks and railway stations dazzled with lights on the night of January 26, 1950 turning the capital city into a "fairyland".

Several states declared a holiday for schools, while government offices, other establishments and public sector banks remained closed for half a day.

From the grounds of the Ram Janmabhoomi, the Rampath, Rajesh Karkera/Rediff.com captures scenes from the celebrations.

rediffGURU Abhishek Shah advise you on how to deal with challenges at the workplace.

Some of her best films are not available on streaming platforms, but Deepa Gahlot looks at her Hindi cinema oeuvre on OTT.

The Union home ministry has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR) for alleged violation of laws, a move the public think-tank termed "incomprehensible and disproportionate" and vowed to seek legal recourse against.

Sue Redfern is poised to make history as the inaugural ICC-appointed female neutral umpire

'Indian Police Force encapsulates the same spirit, the essence of scale, the essence of action and that riveted rhythm that Rohit Shetty brings about, but is complete with absolute realism.'

These schemes are a good choice for investors contemplating a large investment in equity funds. Instead of investing all the money in one go, they can do so in a staggered manner by parking it in these schemes and then transferring it to equity mutual funds through a systematic transfer plan.

He urged China to bolster the flow of its tourists to the Maldives.

The IPO boom in 2023 added four new promoters to the billionaires' list.

'We have interesting leads on the agents. The roles of agents in this entire operation, who were doing what.'

John Abraham made news this week when it was revealed that he had bought property in Mumbai worth Rs 70 crore (Rs 700 million).

How 2024 arrived the world over.

'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'

According to several media reports, gunshots were fired at the residence of the son of Satish Kumar, the president of Lakshmi Narayan Mandir, in Surrey on Wednesday.

The self-employed should invest in the National Pension System, a government-backed, low-cost retirement avenue where they can choose the mix of debt and equity that is right for them.

Something is cooking in online food delivery. After 15 years of grappling with the demands of the business - read cash burn - Gurugram-based Zomato reported its first profit in the first quarter of 2023-24 (FY24). Not satiated, it reported a profit in the following quarter as well: Of Rs 36 crore in the second quarter compared to Rs 2 crore in the first. A year ago, in the second quarter of FY23, it had reported a loss of Rs 251 crore.

The process of discovering and developing a new drug can take decades and costs hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars. However, technological advances like artificial intelligence can help speed up and transform the time-consuming and labor-intensive exercise. In India, Peptris Technologies, a Bangalore-based AI drug discovery company, has announced $1 million in pre-seed round investment led by Speciale Invest.

As the year 2023 comes to an end, a look at some newsy events that shaped the world in the first half of the year.

'It will dictate the flow of funds into the index. We will maintain caution on mid/smallcaps.'

'I only challenge myself in every way possible and feel that an actor's job is to be universal.'

rediffGURU Ulhas Joshi answers your mutual fund queries.

Supreme Court judge Sanjay Kishan Kaul on Monday recommended setting up of an 'impartial truth and reconciliation commission' to probe and report on human rights violations by both state and non-state actors in Jammu and Kashmir since the 1980s, saying the 'wounds need healing'.

"We will raise Rs 300 crore via bonds of two-, three- and five-year tenures. This will be our maiden bond issuance and is part of our effort to widen funding sources," says Vimal Bhandari, executive vice-chairman and chief executive officer (CEO), Arka Fincap. The firm, a subsidiary of Kirloskar Oil, is only five years old and small (assets of around Rs 5,000 crore with an "AA" rating), but the response to this float will be closely watched: It would be the first by a non-banking finance company (NBFC) after Mint Road upped the risk weights on bank exposures to them by 25 percentage points. The move by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has caught NBFCs off guard even though the issue had been flagged by Governor Shaktikanta Das with their corner-room occupants (and that of banks) in July and August 2023 - on consumer credit and the dependency on bank borrowings.

A democracy is one, only if it has a robust Opposition. And as its actions show, the Modi-BJP combine gives two hoots for that. So, the Opposition must learn to convince people why the BJP must go. Else, it can count down to 2029, points out Shyam G Menon.

rediffGURU Mayank Chandel offers advice to students interested in a careers in science or engineering after class 10 and 12.

Heavy rains continued to pound Chennai and nearby districts on Monday under the impact of a cyclonic storm, which is likely to cross the coast in Andhra Pradesh on December 5.

'We started affordable housing loans that has good traction and the books have grown to Rs 750 crore as of the end of last quarter.'

Co-lending deals between non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and banks are likely to rise after the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) decision to increase the risk weight on consumer credit, industry leaders and experts say. Smaller NBFCs, they add, may increasingly opt for co-lending as capital markets could become costlier for them. "Smaller NBFCs will be more comfortable with co-lending because they are geography-specific in terms of industry or customers.

The benchmark National Stock Exchange Nifty has rallied 4 per cent, or 750 points, from this month's low to end at 19,732 on week ending November 17. Technical analysts say the market could consolidate around the current levels as it is nearing the resistance zone. "The near-term uptrend status of the market remains intact, but there is a possibility of some more consolidation or minor weakness for the Nifty in the next one to two sessions.

In 1930, John Maynard Keynes predicted that by 2030 technology would be so advanced that three hours of work per day would suffice. Has AI brought about the transformation that Keynes predicted, asks Atanu Biswas.

A provisional order has been issued under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act against the newspaper's publisher Associated Journals Ltd and its holding company Young Indian, the central probe agency said in a statement.

The ICC on Tuesday moved next year's men's U-19 World Cup from Sri Lanka to South Africa, 11 days after the world governing body provisionally suspended the island nation's cricket board due to government interference.

'It is the best avenue for investors who would like to take long-term exposure to gold.'

Vedanta Resources (VRL), the diversified mining company headquartered in London, is giving final touches to a plan to raise up to $2.5 billion (about Rs 20,800 crore) as debt repayment deadlines near. The company owned by billionaire Anil Agarwal plans to do this by a combination of instruments, including issuing preference shares in the holding company to a slew of offshore investors from West Asia, and taking on another loan to refinance older debt at a higher interest rate. VRL, which is the group's holding company, is also looking to sell part of its 63.71 per cent stake in the Indian listed subsidiary Vedanta Ltd to meet funding requirements, said a banker close to the development.

10 non-bank and non-finance stocks from the BSE500 Index universe that offer an optimal blend of low valuation, reasonably robust revenue and earnings growth in recent quarters, a strong balance sheet, and most importantly, positive cash flow from their operations.

Foreign banks and private credit funds are queuing up to fund acquisitions by Indian companies who are buying out their local rivals. The Adani Group, Torrent Group, and the Hindujas have approached several foreign banks and private equity (PE) firms to fund their acquisitions. Global investors have about $2 trillion of funds to invest, and about $100 to $150 billion is set aside for India, according to an estimate by JP Morgan.

'Historically, equities have consistently outperformed debt, gold, property, and other assets over a reasonable period.'