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I was in the Odisha cadre of IAS, took early voluntary retirement in 2006 as I was selected for the position of Advisor at the IMF, Washington D C. I visited Bhubaneswar again in February 2023 after a gap of around 16 years. Ever…

Dinesh Karthik is not just a perennial passenger and a cipher contributor, he has pathetic body language, which is enough to sink any sports team in the moments of crisis. In the match against Pakistan yesterday, he trod into the…

I am a big fan of Virat Kohli. Not particularly of his cricketing skills or his attitude though, but of his eagerness to play a social activist. If he plays his game the right way, he might end up as India’s Thunberg, although…

The Chinese value stability over the right to elect, or dump governments every five years. The CPC has evolved with decades of experience, especially after it adopted market economy as its creed in the early 1980s. Controlled…

20 years of Grand Slam Tennis is over in the 21st century. The years 2000-2003 were dominated by American Champions (this article focuses only on the men's Grand Slam events). In this period of 2000-2003, Andre Agassi won the Australian…

Normally, at this time of the year, I would have written a preview of the French Open 2021. However with Rafa Nadal, a 13 time French Open winner and overall 20 Grand Slam winner (and counting) commandingly in the fray, I will dispense…

Rafa Nadal has won as many as 11 Monte Carlo Masters 1000 tournaments. An incredible record. He has of course an even more impressive record of as many as 13 French Open titles. The legend will be aiming for his 12th Monte Carlo…

The locale was deep in the dense forests of Kabini, about five hours drive from the busy IT hub of India, Bengaluru. Five individuals from different walks of life. The driver is a local expert, or so he would like us to believe. A…

Innichen, in Italy, called the Pearl of the Dolomites, is one of the most popular skiing destinations. The most famous resident of Innichen is a young teen named Jannik Sinner who was brought up in Italy's largely German-speaking…

By Samahit Bal Reading has always been a significant part of my life. Writing too, albeit destiny’s harshness in not offering enough bandwidth for writing. However, wrote this piece in sweeping meanders of 1996 while driving with my…