Serena Williams trounced Maria Kirilenko at the Australian Open on Monday, setting up an all-American quarter-final with her would-be successor Sloane Stephens after Andy Murray had put flagging Frenchman Gilles Simon out of his misery.

Prasanna D Zore, who extensively covered the recent Gujarat polls, will be on Rediff Chat on Friday, December 21, at noon, to answer all these and many more questions about Narendra Modi's victory juggernaut and its domino effect on national politics.

Gujarat is a tale of woes for the Congress, out of power for over twenty long years, with Narendra Modi performing an electoral hat-trick.

Tamil Nadu opener Arun Karthik batted with resolve to score an unbeaten century even as Delhi walked away with three points by virtue of the first innings lead in their Ranji Trophy Group B match, in Delhi, on Tuesday.

A semi-final berth seems like a distant possibility for Auckland Aces but the New Zealand side will look to keep itself in the calculations by taming the demoralised Perth Scorchers when the two teams lock horns in their final round-robin Champions League Twenty20 match in Centurion on Tuesday.

Hong Kong were crowned Asian sevens champions for the first time in its history after they defeated arch-rivals Japan 28-7 in a pulsating final at the Asian Sevens Series' Mumbai Sevens on Sunday.

As the battle in Gujarat unfolds, it will be skills, craft, and language, as much as the plank of development, which are likely to decide who the winner is, says Dr Manisha Priyam

C Rajagopalachari sometimes referred to as the conscience-keeper of the Mahatma himself, once famously remarked that 'a government by the majority without an effective Opposition is like driving a donkey on whose back you put the whole load in one bundle.'

With Laxman unpadding, looks like cricket has seen the last of the touch artistes, says M P Anil Kumar.

Political equations are changing rapidly and post the monsoon session, national politics seems to be poised for another swivel. Can the West Bengal chief minister handle it, asks Anirban Ganguly.

Virender Sehwag played his trademark punishing knock after little known left-arm spinner Pawan Negi's brilliant effort with the ball to help Delhi crush Rajasthan by six wickets.

Despite being ignored by the Ranji squad, Saurashtra's hard-hitting batsman Kuldeep Raval has shown perseverance and his talent is set to come to the fore for the Delhi Daredevils, writes Haresh Pandya.

Indian IT firms, with their focus on cost-saving and labour arbitrage deals will face intense competition from their better equipped global competitors who provide solutions across the value chain.

While Greece may well hang on through its next handout or two, it is hard to see how it can survive in the euro.

With India on a 10-match winning streak at home, it is difficult to stop their juggernaut, said West Indies captain Darren Sammy ahead of their second One-dayer in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

World number one Novak Djokovic advanced to the final of the Montreal Masters when Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga retired trailing 6-4, 3-0 on Saturday, leaving the sensational Serb on the brink of a record-smashing title.

Deathly Hallows is a lavish film with lots of winning elements.

With the league phase over, Bikash Mohapatra takes a look at one-man shows that handed the opposition a big blow in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.

Chennai Super Kings' incredible run at home continued as the defending champions defeated Kochi Tuskers Kerala by 11 runs in their penultimate encounter of the Indian Premier League at the Chepauk on Wednesday.

The massive 10 per cent swing reflected the public fury against the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam regime, hit by the 2G spectrum scam, power cut, skyrocketing prices and deteriorating law and order.

A day after the Congress in Tamil Nadu was decimated in the assembly polls, TN Congress Committee President K V Thangkabalu announced his resignation from the post, accepting moral responsibility for the defeat.

After registering a comprehensive victory over Kochi Tuskers Kerala to bring their IPL campaign back on track, a confident Rajasthan Royals team will be eyeing an upset win when they take on table-toppers Mumbai Indians in Jaipur on Friday.

All you have to do is read the case, see the question you have to answer on the last slide, click on The Smart Manager logo below, and post your solutions by March 11, 2011. All the best!

Corruption and controversies have eroded the brand value one of India's fastest growing global brands, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

With the assembly elections in fast approaching, the campaign juggernaut has started rolling through the streets of Tamil Nadu. While the 2G-scam hit Dravida Munnettra Kazhagam is doing everything it can to regain its popularity, Jayalalitha's whirlwind campaign is only gathering more steam. Rediff.com analyses the situation in poll-bound Tamil Nadu as election fever grips the state.

Fifties from Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Yuvraj Singh propelled India to a five-wkt victory in the second quarter-final and set up a meeting with Pakistan in the semis.

The Rohan Bopanna-Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi juggernaut continued to roll in the ATP BNP Paribas Open as the Indo-Pak pair advanced to the semifinals with a straight-set triumph over Serbs Novak Djokovic and Viktor Troicki in Indian Wells on Wednesday.

Former India captain Anil Kumble says nothing much can happen if India also does not raise the bar, substantially, in the fielding department.

The government is likely to announce significant policy measures relating to allowance of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail segment, even as the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (Dipp) under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is giving final touches to the draft report prepared by an inter-ministerial committee.

Tolgay Ozbey struck in the second half to help East Bengal to a 1-0 victory over Pune FC in an eighth round match of the I-League at Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.

A look at what your favourite celebrities are tweeting.

The Congress took the gamble of going it alone but Rahul Gandhi's magic, like it did in Uttar Pradesh, failed this time in Bihar with the party recording its worst-ever performance in assembly elections in the state in last 10 years.

Lalu Prasad Yadav, the rustic politician who once promised to make Bihar's roads as "smooth as Hema Malini's cheeks", was dealt a resounding slap by voters in Bihar bringing into question whether his kind of politics can flourish again.

The only current cricketer to be named in ESPNcricinfo's all-time World XI, Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar says he finds it "unreal and extraordinary" to be placed alongside legends such as Don Bradman with whom he would have loved to play.

Ace drag-flicker Sandeep Singh and Shivendra Singh scored a double each as India thrashed Pakistan 7-4 in a must-win Pool A match to storm into the semi-finals of the men's hockey event in the Commonwealth Games, at the packed Major Dhyan Chand National stadium, on Sunday.

Endhiran and its Telugu and Hindi dubbed versions are doing solid business in the US.

On Friday, Endhiran, the big-budget, multi-lingual Rajinikanth starrer, with an 'official' budget of Rs 162 crore and 'unofficial' budget based on market rumour of Rs 250-300 crore, opened to packed houses, with tickets sold out days in advance.

When the Aussies toured India two years back Sachin Tendulkar completed 12000 runs in Test cricket in Mohali. Ahead of the opening Test against Australia, the Master Blaster stands on the threshold of yet another landmark, says Bikash Mohapatra.

By staying engaged in the useless border talks, knowing fully well that Beijing has no intent to settle territorial issues, India gives greater space to China to mount strategic pressure and gain leverage, notes strategic expert Brahma Chellaney.

Here's the half-yearly report-card for the Tamil film industry.