Why questions raised by Gunter Grass need to be debated

Late German writer Gunter Grass smokes a pipe during a news conference in Madrid. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters The celebrated German novelist and poet always wrote against the grain and, as his......

Why questions raised by Gunter Grass need to be debated

Late German writer Gunter Grass smokes a pipe during a news conference in Madrid. Photograph: Susana Vera/Reuters The celebrated German novelist and poet always wrote against the grain and, as his......

'I wrote this book on scraps of paper'

Anecdotes and laughter peppered the launch of Renu Kurien Balakrishnan's debut novel, Four Aleys. Image: Renu Kurien Balakrishnan signs a copy of Four Aleys.Photograph: Sanjay Sawant/Rediff.com......

Everyone is a suspected Judas

When we were a captive nation, a brilliant but bigoted British Viceroy of India, Lord Curzon, in a convocation address at the Calcutta University in 1905, all but declared Indians to be untruthful,......

When companies override the regulators

Companies think they are too big to bow before regulators, says M J Antony. There are around 30 regulators in different economic sectors and they have to deal with corporate titans who are not......

Supreme Court dismisses petition against retail FDI

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the notifications and regulations permitting foreign direct investment (FDI) in the multi-brand retail sector. “In matters of......

Banks as casinos, corporates as gamblers

To explain the issue at hand, let me borrow the definition of banking as it stands in the statute book. According to the Banking Regulation Act, 1949, banking is defined as 'accepting deposit of......

Sugar cooperatives on death bed in Maharashtra

Sugar cooperatives in India are the perfect example of a sweet dream turned sour. They have been the backbone of India's sugar sector. Once upon a time they were raking in money like a......

'Pacino, Jack, De Niro are lazy'

Jack Nicholson in Chinatown, Al Pacino in The Godfather, Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver. Truly classic performances, universally acclaimed. And whileFrancis Ford Coppola (inset) isn't disagreeing......

Athili Sattibabu LKG entertains

A majority of Telugu film titles are followed by a caption which stresses on some quality of the hero. Similarly in Athili Sattibabu LKG -- veediki kuuda -- the caption here implies that Sattibabu......

Pacino shines in Merchant of Venice

First, the good news. Al Pacino, whogave over-the-top performances for nearly a decade, has slowed down in the new screen adaptation of The Merchant Of Venice. There are scenes in which he has to......

Where is Al Pacino?

Unlike his buddy Dustin Hoffman, who enjoys attending film festivals, Al Pacino prefers staying away. Which is why many reporters were pleasantly surprised to find his name on the press conference......