'B Raman knew that Yakub Memon should not be given the capital punishment but at the same time he harboured too much anger against Dawood Ibrahim and 'Tiger' Memon, and wanted to see that they do not stand to gain in the legal process in any manner whatsoever.'

Private-equity funds made an average annual return of just 7 per cent between January 2007 and December 2013 while the Sensex was up 11 per cent.

A Delhi court, which discharged cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan in the sensational 2013 IPL-6 spot-fixing case, has held there was no prima facie evidence to suggest that they had any nexus with the organised crime syndicate.

'The cooperation of Yakub with the investigating agencies after he was picked up informally in Kathmandu and his role in persuading some other members of the family to come out of Pakistan and surrender constitute, in my view, a strong mitigating circumstance to be taken into consideration while considering whether the death penalty should be implemented,' B Raman had written in August 2007.

Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals were suspended from the Indian Premier League for two years for betting activities of their key officials, Gurunath Meiyappan and Raj Kundra, during the 2013 season of cash-rich Twenty20 cricket tournament.

Lalitgate is so much like the Bofors arms scandal that eventually brought down the Rajiv Gandhi government despite his humongous parliamentary majority, Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi tells Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.

The book claims that donations made by hotelier Sant Chatwa to the Clinton Foundation was instrumental in Hillary to vote in favour of the India-US civil nuclear deal in 2008.

'There is no evidence that it was Nehru who ordered this surveillance (on Netaji's kin). It was a very low-level Bengal-based operation.' 'Netaji's grandnephew Sugata Bose has written in his book on the leader that the existing evidence that Subhas Bose died in that plane crash is overwhelming. No historian looking at that evidence can come to a different conclusion.' 'Contrary to popular belief, there were very little differences among the three (Netaji, Nehru and Gandhi). Netaji was of the opinion that some amount of violence was necessary to bring independence for India.' Historian Rudrangshu Mukherjee says that the controversy over the alleged spying on the kin of Netaji is a damp squib.

'The irresistible Cuban cigars, which acquire their unique flavour as they are rolled on the thighs of Cuban women, have always been the ultimate temptation for cigar connoisseurs in the US.'

When you say the Kawasaki Z1000 hits the three-figure mark, you need to be talking about 200 kmph, because it's in speeding that the humongous machine feels at home.

Sebi is looking into the matter.

'I don't come to the film with an agenda. I come to a film with a story. When the story excites me, I go bonkers.'

A Bangladesh cricketer leading any individual world ranking is an achievement in itself but Shakib Al Hasan has raised the bar considerably by topping the all-rounder's charts in all three formats.

The ad mock Arvind Kejriwal for taking Congress' support in 2013.

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Ahead of the film's release, the godman addressed the media in Mumbai to clear the air about any misapprehension.

Round up of the Ranji Trophy matches being played in different parts of the country

The 20-time English Premier League champions are far from their best, but, in the final analysis, it is the results that matter, and at the moment they are on a winning spree, says Bikash Mohapatra

Jaitley has made it a habit of giving soundbytes to the media like his predecessors on why RBI should cut interest rates

Darkness pervades India's first 'Seeing in Dark' restaurant-theatre built in the upscale Vastrapur area in Ahmedabad where visitors can experience life without light just like a visually impaired person.

Sadly, the attitude and ada that makes Rekha so timeless is dumbed down in a role and film so behind its time, rues Sukanya Verma after watching Super Nani.

'If you are a professional journalist, don't ever think that your work is going to bring in revolution or that you are going to change the world. That job is best left to the revolutionaries,' M V Kamath, the legendary journalist who passed away on October 9, told Nitin Gokhale.

Swami Aseemanand, an accused in 2007 Samjhauta Express blast case, was granted bail by the Punjab and Haryana high court but he is unlikely to come out of jail as he is facing a trial in two other blast cases.

The farming community expects much more substance from the government, Ajay Vir Jakhar.

Charges of drunken driving against Indian Olympic Association secretary-general Rajeev Mehta and sexual assault on wrestling referee Virender Malik during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have been dropped due to lack of evidence, according to reports.

A major revamp of Uttar Pradesh unit of BJP is likely in the coming month. And nobody in the party hierarchy has an idea about what's going on in party president Amit Shah's mind.

Muzzling NGOs is unbecoming of a democracy. Self-confident democracies encourage, indeed applaud, the involvement of citizens' associations, including NGOs, in social and political decision-making and development planning. Instead, our paranoid government bullies and terrorises them, says Praful Bidwai.

Deprecating the hue and cry over acquittals in rape cases, a Delhi court has said that the judiciary cannot be swayed by emotions or media reporting and has to limit itself to the ambit of law, testimonies of witnesses in deciding such cases.

It is unusual to see Narendra Modi highlight his OBC status -- something he has never done in his long political career. Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com examines Modi's compulsions for bringing his caste to the foreground

A slow and ineffective response to allegations of scams under the erstwhile United Progressive Alliace government strengthened anti-Congress impressions in the minds of voters, which resulted in the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha polls, senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said on Thursday.

The new government would assume charge with swearing-in of Prime Minister designate Narendra Modi and members of his Cabinet on May 26.

'We will certainly perform and take India to newer heights. We will really like to see India become a world power in every sense of the term and build a strong and robust economy that is capable of employment generation on a scale required for a country like India,' BJP ideologue Vinay Sahasrabuddhe tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com

Former India star VVS Laxman feels AB de Villiers, without an iota of doubt, is the most complete batsman in the modern era, who has three to four shots in his repertoire for every delivery.

As Narendra Modi files his nomination in Varanasi, Praful Bidwai believes 'a straight contest against Priyanka would have put Modi on the defensive and forced him to concentrate on Varanasi.'

Stepping up its campaign against Narendra Modi, the Congress on Tuesday released video clips of alleged "hate speeches" of several Bharatiya Janata Party, Sangh Parivar and Shiv Sena leaders and demanded their arrest for "trading in the politics of poison" by committing the "sin" of "stoking communal fire".

With actor-turned-politician Smriti Irani entering the fray as a Bhartiya Janata Party candidate in Amethi, a war of words has broken out between her and Aam Aadmi Party contender Kumar Vishwas over his remark that any "Irani or Pakistani" will not make any difference in the constituency.

In the last 10 years, when the people looked at New Delhi, they saw two centres of power and not one decisive leader between them. There was nobody who could speak in a language people wanted to hear. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt reveals the true reason why the UPA appears rudderless on the eve of Election 2014.

Veteran actress Waheeda Rehman remembers Nanda, her friend of 55 years who passed away on March 25.

Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Sunday hit out at his detractors, who questioned his re-nomination from Chandigarh over the cash-for-post scam issue, claiming he was a victim of a conspiracy and had suffered despite there being no evidence against him.

Rejecting the allegation of illegally receiving foreign funds, Aam Aadmi Party has told the Delhi high court that it got donations worth Rs 30 crore from Indian citizens only, out which about Rs 8.5 crore came from NRIs.