Nehru decided to build The Ashok in New Delhi to host a UNESCO conference. For a prime minister focussed on India building with projects like the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, IITs and factories, "the hotel spoke of the gumption of the country at that time." Manavi Kapur traces the eventful journey of the hotel, which has now completed 60 years.

'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.

United States President Barack Obama has signed into law the $618 billion defence budget for 2017, which enhances security cooperation with India and conditions nearly half of the funding to Pakistan on a certification that it is taking demonstrable steps against the Haqqani Network.

The United States is stronger and more prosperous than it was eight years ago, US President Barack Obama has said, attributing it to a series of steps taken by him during his two four-year terms.

Citizens of many countries including Iran, Sudan and Cuba, who come in large numbers to India are facing severe problems as they do not have international credit cards

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans bid farewell to late communist leader Fidel Castro on Tuesday night

To be at Kakkathuruthu when the sun sets, according to National Geographic, is a surreal experience. Ambassador T P Sreenivasan tells us how the tiny island gradually charmed him.

The team will leave for Havana on Tuesday and is expected to return on Thursday evening.

'Castro's huge appeal lies in the fact that he stood up to the Americans.' 'However, it becomes difficult to be judgmental about his legacy, because there are huge uncertainties about the future of the Cuba that he built,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

'No other Communist leader after Lenin had such an internationalist vision as Fidel,' says Prakash Karat, the CPI-M leader in this eloquent tribute to Fidel Castro who passed into the ages on Friday.

For soccer great Diego Maradona, Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro was more than a friend and fellow Latin American legend, he was "a second father." Maradona said Castro's death late on Friday hit him like a tennis ball to the chest served by Juan Martin del Potro, the Argentine player he cheered on in the Davis Cup final where he received the news. "I wept uncontrollably," Maradona told reporters on the sidelines of the tennis tournament. "After my father, it's the deepest sorrow I know."

For soccer great Diego Maradona, Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro was more than a friend and fellow Latin American legend, he was "a second father." Maradona said Castro's death late on Friday hit him like a tennis ball to the chest served by Juan Martin del Potro, the Argentine player he cheered on in the Davis Cup final where he received the news. "I wept uncontrollably," Maradona told reporters on the sidelines of the tennis tournament. "After my father, it's the deepest sorrow I know."

Former Argentina football captain Diego Maradona has paid his respects to his Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro who died on Friday night.

Although the US was among the first to formally recognise his government in 1959, it began working to oust him as Fidel moved into the Soviet bloc.

World Junior bronze-medallist Sachin Singh (49kg) became only the third Indian boxer ever to strike gold at the AIBA Youth World Championships with a stunning unanimous victory over Cuban national champion Jorge Grinan in the summit clash at St Peterburg, Russia, on Saturday.

'He was a very good friend for India. He stood by us through thick and thin.'

Glimpses from the Commandante's colourful life.

President Pranab Mukherjee, PM Narendra Modi, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Left parties, among others, condoled the demise of former Cuban president.

The Cuban government has announced nine days of mourning and has set Castro's funeral for December 4.

'Castro told us: "Give me a thousand Gurkhas and I shall keep my neighbour under control!"' 'We pretended that we did not know which neighbour he meant.'

'There is perfect coordination between them,' Vice-President Hamid Ansari said when Rediff.com asked what differences he had noted between Raul Castro and his elder brother. 'Commandante (Fidel Castro) remains the undisputed leader of the revolution.'

Indian boxer Sachin Singh (49kg) advanced to the AIBA Youth World Championship finals after notching up an impressive victory in the last-four stage in St. Petersburg, Russia, on Friday.

Meet the top contestants of Miss Grand International 2016. Beware: Hot curves ahead!

Five volleyball players from the Cuban national team were found guilty on Tuesday of aggravated rape of a woman while they were in Finland in July for a World League tournament prior to the Rio Olympics.

It was Obama's eighth and final address to the UN General Assembly as the US President

Modi has debunked the uncontested wisdom of foreign and strategic policy remaining unchanged and running on a broad national consensus. This is clearly seen in his unhesitating embrace of the US and the clear hardening shift in India's stance on Pakistan, says Shekhar Gupta.

Trump asserted that he would have a very good relationship with many foreign leaders, unlike President Obama.

The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday it has disqualified two athletes from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including a Cuban discus silver medalist, after retesting of samples found evidence they had used banned substances.

A selection of some interesting stories from Wednesday that you possibly would not have read in your newspaper.

Cheers broke out in the cabin of JetBlue flight 387 as the plane touched down.

National coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu says the four-year-long administrative logjam cannot escape blame for all that has gone wrong with the once flourishing sport.

Check out the gold medallists on Day 15 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, on Saturday:

P V Sindhu became the country's first-ever woman silver medal winner in the Olympic Games after coming second best against world champion Carolina Marin of Spain in a pulsating clash for the gold in the badminton singles on Day 14 of competition.

Check out the gold medallists on Day 13 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday:

Check out the gold medallists on Day 11 of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday.

Christian Taylor of the United States retained his Olympic men's triple jump title on Tuesday, recording the longest jump of the year to claim the podium top spot.

Croatia's Sandra Perkovic overcame nerves and early fouls to successfully defend her Olympic discus title, winning with a best throw of a 69.21 metres.

Russia's Evgeny Tishchenko won the Olympic heavyweight boxing gold medal to a chorus of boos from the crowd after beating Kazakhstan's Vasily Levit on a unanimous points decision.

Discus thrower Seema Antil added her name to the long list of Indian athletes who have crashed out of the Rio Olympics on Monday after finishing a lowly ninth in her Group B qualifying round, and 20th overall.

Bahrain's Ruth Jebet blew away the competition to win the women's 3,000 metres steeplechase gold on Sunday, but narrowly missed out on the world record. Jebet ran a bold race, bursting into the lead after a few laps and setting a blistering pace to win in 8 minutes, 59.75 seconds, just shy of the 8:58.81 world record set by Russia's Gulnara Galkina at the 2008 Beijing Games.