As Karnataka gears up for D-Day, with most exit poll projections predicting a hung assembly while putting the Congress in the lead, the outcome will boil down to how the battle for some key constituencies play out.

The new chief minister, if from the Congress, will have little or no time for political administration, to ensure that he does not lose the voter's goodwill even before the Lok Sabha polls. He can count only on one thing. That the BJP may not want to upset him too early lest an early failure should become an added problem for the party in all the polls to follow, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.

'What The Kerala Story is trying to do is take the fake hate propaganda which we saw earlier only on WhatsApp to the big screen now.'

The murder of Atiq and his brother and the police encounter with his son have raised many questions about the propriety of how crime is tackled by the Yogi government. But Yogi knows he has the support of the people who are fed up with crime holding the state to ransom for decades, asserts Ramesh Menon.

The US Federal Reserve's interest rate decision, quarterly earnings of corporates and domestic macroeconomic data will influence trading in the equity market in a holiday-shortened week ahead, analysts said. Foreign funds' trading activity, monthly automobile sales data and global trends would also guide market movement this week, they added. Markets would remain closed on Monday on account of 'Maharashtra Day'.

'Every day, after 'pack-up', Khansaab and Deepika would come for dance practice and rehearse till around 1-1.30 am.' 'The weather was a challenge because while on screen, it looks warm and sunny, it was actually bitterly cold, with a sharp, stinging wind which had the actors and dancers shivering in their summer clothing.'

Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com travels to Pullampara to discover how it became India's first digital literate village.

Kolkata Knight Riders will be desperate to press the reset button and snap their three-match losing streak when they face Chennai Super Kings in the IPL match in Kolkata on Sunday.

Away from the distraction of its new high-profile politics, Wayanad's worries seemed very down to earth, discovers Shyam G Menon.

Mutual funds (MFs) invested a record Rs 1.73 trillion in equities in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23), providing strong support to the Indian markets at a time when foreign investors were redeeming their holdings. They exceeded the previous high of nearly Rs 1.72 trillion investment in equities in FY22. The data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) shows MFs were net buyers in the equity market in eleven of the twelve months last financial year.

The game at the Eden Gardens played out like a pendulum with the match swaying this way now and the other way next.

The BJP leadership knows it can't boast of governance in the state as the Bommai government has little to show. So, the game plan is to project Modi, who will reiterate how important it is for a state to have the same party ruling in power at the Centre, observes Ramesh Menon.

The Supreme Court has ordered the sacking of a trial court judge in Karnataka, holding that a judicial officer cannot pronounce the concluding portion of a judgment in the open court without the entire text of the judgment having been prepared or dictated.

The Old Mysuru region, the community's stronghold, comprises Ramanagara, Mandya, Mysuru, Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Kolar, Tumakuru and Hassan districts.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had won 30 of the total 50 seats in the region in the 2018 assembly polls, followed by Congress 17, Janata Dal-Secular 2, and others (KPJP-Shankar) 1.

The market share of discount brokers - such as Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, and Angel One - has grown fivefold in five financial years, with more than half of the National Stock Exchange's (NSE's) active client trading coming through them, reveals a report by CLSA. For the first 11 months of 2022-23, discount brokers held sway over 57 per cent of active clients, up from 11 per cent in 2017-18. Moreover, the number of active clients on the NSE with discount brokers has grown from just 1 million to 19 million during this period. Active traders are those who have traded at least once in 12 months.

The state police also advised people not to believe in rumours.

Lingayats are said to constitute about 17 per cent of Karnataka's population, and the community has dominance in as many as 100 out of total 224 constituencies, majority of these seats being in north Karnataka region.

'And there is nothing much we can do.'

A far cry from his playing-to-the-gallery comedian, Kapil Sharma emerges as a heartfelt picture of aspiration and annoyance, feels Sukanya Verma.

She walked down the runway and straight into our hearts in a gorgeous red ensemble.

'Aamir is deeply patriotic and cares for the country.'

With franchise cricket taking over a major part of the calender, MCC called for urgent intervention to save international cricket.

India's head coach Rahul Dravid doesn't regret one bit playing the four-Test series against Australia on spinner-friendly tracks.

The octogenarian, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, is sought to be put on the pedestal by the governing party's central leaders.

Delhi, daddy issues, drivers, domestic help, politics, patriarchy, sexuality, sexism, choices, compromises, community, religion, real estate, motherhood, marriage -- Gulmohar offers a loaded, layered understanding of familial relationships and its indirect impact on the people at the periphery, notes Sukanya Verma.

Stakes are high for the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the counting of votes on Thursday for three state assembly polls, as the results will signal if it has deepened its roots in Tripura, a Left bastion captured by the party in 2018, and made further inroads in Meghalaya and Nagaland, or if the opposition has managed to dent its influence.

Poor governance and mediocre short-sighted politics are destroying the paradise that Goa was as its environment, water table, culture and way of life is drastically threatened by tourism and migration, points out Ramesh Menon.

Aditya Chopra may be a household name in India, but few have seen his face, recognise his voice or know the brain behind the business outside his tight inner circle. The Romantics makes sure it has its own to brag about when he, finally, appears before the camera, notes Sukanya Verma.

Shah said that the people of the country will decide about the principal opposition party to BJP in the 2024 polls and they have not given this label to any party.

In a four-cornered fight, the real battle is between Union minister Pratima Bhoumik and CPM's Kaushik Chanda.

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty closed higher by more than half a per cent on Wednesday following buying in IT, financial and oil stocks after the RBI slowed down the pace of interest rate hikes. Ending its two-day slide, the 30-share BSE Sensex rebounded by 377.75 points or 0.63 per cent to close at 60,663.79 with 24 of its constituents posting gains. The broader Nifty of the NSE spurted by 150.20 points or 0.85 per cent to settle at 17,871.70, riding on a rally in Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports and HDFC Life.

Talking to reporters in Patna, the former Union minister asserted that he would happily function as 'an ordinary party worker, worth five rupees', if the JD-U leadership was assumed by 'anybody from among the Luv Kush Samaj (Kurmis and Koeris) or the EBCs whose aspirations have been the party's driving force'.

This is needed to maintain the purity of judicial process and fairness in ongoing trials riots' cases, it said.

Colours bring special feeling into our lives, on Republic Day.

The turmoil, if you read the headlines, is about the so-called funding winter. Deep down, though, the question is one of the common direction in which founders and investors need to pull, points out Suveen Sinha.

The coming year will be one that will test sabka vishwas to the utmost, predicts Aditi Phadnis.

As the new year arrives, what is clear is that the BJP's stars continue to shine the brightest while its rivals' search for a way to dim their glow go on.

Harry & Meghan, Vaihayasi Pande Daniel realises, is just a sequel to Diana's Story.

'People will teach a lesson to those who are compromising it for the sake of power and money.'