On Friday, September 2, trade unions associated with the Left parties have called for a countrywide general strike of workers. Tapan Kumar Sen, general secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions, the Communist Party of India-Marxist’s trade union, and a Rajya Sabha MP, spoke to Rediff.com‘s Syed Firdaus Ashraf on why workers across the nation are going on a strike. Why Read More

The Rio Olympics hoopla has settled down. Given our track record, we Indians will jump into the bandwagon only in 2020, just in time for the Tokyo Olympics. But there are athletes who practice day in and day out to be part of the mega event. One among them is the talented hockey player, Rani Rampal. The 21-year-old striker hails Read More

A dominant India scripted a sensational 4-1 win over higher-ranked Puerto Rico in an international football friendly at the Andheri Sports Complex stadium in Mumbai on Saturday. India were down 0-1 in the seventh minute with Emmanuel Sanchez scoring off a penalty kick, but the hosts went on to dominate the visitors, ranked 38 places above them, with some slick Read More

A pencil-thin alley leads to the main entrance of Mother House, the 4-storeyed grey building with brown-shuttered windows. 54A AJC, Bose Road in central Kolkata — the worldwide headquarters of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa — radiates peace and a palpable sense of energy. On Sunday, September 3, St Peter’s Square in Vatican City will Read More

On August 31, wrapping up his three-day visit to the United States, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar flew from Washington to Philadelphia to visit Boeing’s rotorcraft facility, where India’s Chinook helicopters will be built, starting next year. Business Standard visited the Philadelphia unit ahead of that visit. Parrikar was taken to a former locomotive manufacturing plant, which Boeing has transformed into Read More

‘For a country to be secular, it is not enough that its Constitution and government are secular. It is equally necessary that its society and individual citizens are secular,’ Dr Madhav Godbole writes in his just released book, Secularism — India at a crossroads. Dr Godbole served as a bureaucrat for 33 years before resigning as Union home secretary after Read More

Gene Wilder was the king of the pause. A gifted comedic actor can do many things with a pause, and Wilder — who had a sensational knack for stretching a halt — did them all. The standard Gene Wilder gag is one where he reacts to a straightforward line or event, but, thanks to the commanding pause before this reaction, Read More

Lionel Messi’s triumphant Argentina comeback has been tempered by a hint he may not be fit to play in Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Venezuela. Messi, who had gone back on his decision to quit the team following their Copa America final defeat in June, scored the only goal in a 1-0 home win over Uruguay on Thursday that sent Read More

After reaching a life-time high, India’s foreign exchange reserves marginally declined by $392.6 million to $366.77 billion in the week to August 26 on account of fall in foreign currency assets, RBI said. Last week, the reserves had increased by a healthy $1.346 billion to touch a record high of $367.169 billion. FCAs, a major component of the overall reserves, Read More

The use of video technology for the first time in an international spared a France player an early red card in their friendly against Italy on Thursday and cut down on arguing over decisions, the match referee said. The game in Bari, that France won 3-1, featured the use of video technology to help the officials on the pitch, although Read More