Editor’s note: The 19th edition of the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival is finally here, and with it comes an unending list of critically acclaimed Indian and international films to watch. Some of these are submissions for the Oscars, while others are hitherto untold, hyperlocal stories. Firstpost will review the most promising of these films For approximately the first four-and-a-half minutes of this documentary, a camera tracks into machines and […]

An Indian-origin teenager has become one of Britain’s youngest millionaires after his online estate agency business got valued at 12 million pounds in just over a year. Akshay Ruparelia, at just 19 years of age, juggled his school work with negotiating property deals for his no-frills business that offers to sell properties for a fraction of the cost charged by established high street estate agents. This week “doorsteps.co.uk” became the […]

With the Congress dominating the polity post-Independence, India never had an opposition leader to match the charisma and popularity of the Nehru-Gandhis, with the exception of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. For a brief period in the mid-1970s, however, socialist leader George Fernandes and Jan Sangh-backed Subramanian Swamy, with their knack to kick up a storm, caught the imagination of the youth. Both were icons of anti-Congressism. While Fernandes remained wedded to […]

UFO/alien hunters are probably going berserk after a recent video surfaced showing what reports claim to be a UFO zig-zagging over Yellowstone National Park. The CCTV footage shows how a round object first emerged from behind a hill before getting bigger and brighter as it flew higher into the sky. Since the incident took place over a supervolcano, smoke can also be seen emanating from a spot as the ‘UFO’ […]

The trailer of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s period drama Padmavati, as expected, is high on style and spectacle. What is new is the trailer steers clear of any intimate scenes between Deepika Padukone’s titular character of Rani Padmini and Ranveer Singh’s character Alauddin Khilji. The romance between both these actors’ characters is what made Bhansali’s past two films – the 2013 romantic drama Goliyon Ki RasleelaRam-Leela and the 2015 period romance […]

In the meeting, it was discussed that PAN or Aadhaar Card details would not be required for buying jewellery above Rs 50,000. Here are the other major decisions taken at the meeting: GST on unbranded ayurvedic medicines to reduced from 12% to 5%. Man made yarn was taxed 18%, it has been put in 12% slab, will have effect on textiles. The council will try to implement the e-way bill […]

Kazuo Ishiguro was revealed as the 2017 Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday at a ceremony in Stockholm. In its announcement, the Academy praised the Japanese-born British writer as someone, “who, in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.” Ishiguro is the author of eight novels, as well as numerous scripts for film and television. He is known for […]

Buddhism has for thousands of years been associated with peace and tranquillity. It is the spiritual foundation for millions of people and is the fourth most practised religion in the world. However, is there anything on offer for those of us who don’t practise the faith? According to Geetanjali Pandit’s book, Buddha at Work, there is plenty. We live in a dog-eat-dog world. The competitiveness and negativity from our demanding […]

The overwhelming emotion of watching Arun Shourie snipe incessantly at Narendra Modi is one of profound sadness. The dazzlingly brilliant public intellectual is so overcome with bitterness these days that he frequently lets hatred interfere with his objectivity. Once Shourie could find no fault with Modi. Now, he finds a byzantine conspiracy in even the prime minister’s shadow. It was breathtaking to note the bilious animosity during Shourie’s NDTV interview […]

Ever wondered why corporates spend so much on gathering and analysing data? After all, they are just digits and complex mathematics. Data might be boring to look at and difficult to comprehend, but is a treasure trove for those who are in business, governance, media and more. But, what is data? Or, the right question to ask is who is data? The answer is: You. Data is people like you […]