The world endured bushfires, drought, tsunamis and earthquakes in 2018.
The Travel Photographer of The Year Awards winners have been chosen and they're a stunning selection celebrating the beauty of our planet and all its inhabitants. Photographers from 142 countries submitted over 20,000 jaw-dropping pictures that were shot on everything from high-end professional cameras to mobile phones, in categories including 'faces, people, cultures'; the natural world and the beauty of light. The winning images can be seen at the TPOTY exhibition, which is free, and will be on show at LondonBridgeCity next Spring. Rediff.com was kindly granted permission to publish 25 of the 150 winning and shortlisted images. Scroll down to see our picks of the bunch.
Travel photographers take note! The competition is already fierce in the 2018 National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year Contest, now underway. National Geographic editors have pulled together some of their favourite entries so far from all three categories - Nature, People and Cities. Once the competition closes, a panel of judges, selected by National Geographic Travel, will choose a winner in each of the categories and also name an overall winner. A public vote will also see a people's choice winner named. The photographer scooping the top prize will win $10,000 and have their winning image posted on the Nat Geo Travel Instagram account. The contest is now open and entries can be submitted until May 31, 2018.
National Geographic's new travel photography competition is entering its third week and is attracting stunning pictures from across the globe. Some of the jaw-dropping pictures show the famous "Firefall" of Yosemite National Park to a sunset at the Taj Mahal. The annual competition is accepting entries until May 3 at 12pm and asks for pictures in three categories: nature, cities and people.
By May this year, awards in highways projects will swell to Rs 2 lakh crore from Rs 1.6 lakh crore now
December 3, 2021 marks 50 years since the beginning of the 1971 War which ended in a decisive military victory for India and the liberation of Bangladesh. Most analysts of the 1971 War agree that the IV Corps dash across the mighty Meghna river led by the brilliant General Sagat Singh was the turning point in the war, recalls military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A journey that can teach us all a thing or two about resilience.
Thousands of emergency rescue teams officials remained on their toes, helping people affected by the deluge. Weather official said parts of state are expected to receive rainfall again.
It will take months if not years before flood-ravaged Srinagar is restored to its pristine glory.
The prime minister said that India has invited Germany to take advantage of opportunities in defence production in the defence corridors in Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.
'The missile mounted near Kailash-Mansarovar is called DF-21. It is a medium-range, 2,200 kilometres ballistic missile. Its advantage is that it can cover all cities of north India, including New Delhi'
The disaster management department said that the state government has urged the Indian Air Force to send a helicopter for air-dropping of food packets and other relief material in marooned areas.
A bandh to protest against the release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu has brought Karnataka to a standstill on Friday
The prime minister and the Chinese president walked along the banks of East Lake and also took a boat ride together as they decided to step up their personal rapport.
The King Air C90 12-seater aircraft had taken off from the Juhu airstrip on a test flight.
'In India, we are paying a price for not managing water as we are not willing to pay the cost for it.'
'Animal populations are increasing. Human populations are increasing. So there is no way the man-animal conflict going to go away.'
Extensive anthropogenic interference, as part of developmental activities, is a significant factor that increases this hazard manifold. As a result, the landscape in the Himalayan, north-eastern regions and many other regions of India are highly susceptible to reoccurrence of landslides, says Dr Nitish Priyadarshi.
Here's a collection of stories that prove we live in a truly mad, mad world.
Suspected pro-Tamil protesters attacked and damaged a hotel run by a native of Karnataka in Chennai.
A close-up of a leopard, little owlets hiding inside a pipe and a gorilla mother mourning the loss of her baby are just a few of animals featured in the photos that have won this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year. Wildlife Photographer of the Year is the most prestigious photography event of its kind, providing a global platform that showcases the natural world's most astonishing sights.
Stunning photos have revealed incredible secrets of the underwater world, with the winners of the 2018 Underwater Photographer of the Year award announced. German photographer Tobias Friedrich has been named Underwater Photographer of the Year 2018. More than 5,000 images were submitted this year by photographers from around the world. UPY was once again kind enough to share some of this year's honourees with us below, with captions written by the photographers.
Mayura Janwalkar travels to Kedambe, a tiny village in Maharashtra's Satara district, now better known as 26/11 hero Tukaram Omble's home. An excerpt from 26/11 Stories Of Strength by The Indian Express.
He said that as the previous government could not do it, he had to do it.
'Rahul Gandhi accuses the Modi government of being in thrall to corporate fat cats at the expense of farmers and other common folk. But the facts do not bear out this argument, as Indian farmers are relatively better off compared to the really wretched of the earth, the unfortunate landless, often itinerant, labourer. And since Rahul's ancestors are the ones who failed them, it is a little disingenuous of him to ignore them in his rhetorical flourishes,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Here are Aseem Chhabra's picks -- 'films that mattered to me, entertained me and will stay with me through the year.'
Conde Nast Traveller sorted through the wish lists of wildlife enthusiasts from around the world to collate this definitive guide. How many will you cross off?
'Would Chumki ever get to lead a normal life? How could we reinstate her in a family? Questions like these haunted me.' Indrani Roy discovers how a young child, cruelly handicapped at birth, is now living a normal, healthy life thanks to the determination of a few warm-hearted people.
Aseem Chhabra spots 10 must-see movies at the Berlin Film Festival.
One of the best stories coming out of Bihar is about a place where Chandragupta Maurya, Buddha, Ashoka, Sher Shah Suri and India's Mona Lisa meet.
'India today has to fight many a battle, all of which cry out for innovation. This is where the experience of the Diaspora could be the most productive well-spring.'
Hers is a rags-to-riches story for the ages, peppered with risks, determination and strokes of luck.
After reaching a deal with ANZ in a six-year tussle, Pankaj and Radhika Oswal have left Australia and plan to start a new venture in New York
'India needs to deeply introspect on the costs of pursuing peace with Pakistan,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'The year in pictures' treks across the globe, looking back on the moments that shaped 2016. From the United States presidential race, to demonetisation in India to the refugee crisis, the news has kept pouring in. Here are our top 50 moments from the world.
The 1965 war teaches us that war by escalation is a real possibility. Despite clear threats, Pakistan never believed that India will ever cross the international border. In the age of nuclear deterrence, this failure to deter Pakistan is the central lesson of 1965, says Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
The industry's reactions to the Budget have been mixed.
The three-time World champion talks about the challenges of being the first black driver in F1, why he credits his family for his success, what was his first car, what he says to his critics who say that he's not focussed on racing, how many more years does he think he has in F1 racing.
'Greenpeace has been brutal in targeting both India and the Manmohan Singh government. The push to go after Indian coal is driven by its long-term agenda. What is surprising is that China has not been meted out the same treatment, despite the fact that the rise of China as an economic power has been built around generating power from coal. 'Being richer and more affluent, yet far less democratic, there is less room for an NGO such as Greenpeace to drive home a complicated global agenda, so there is more of a tendency to go along with anything the Chinese offer despite China being the biggest by far with regard to coal use. But for India, it reserves tougher prescriptions, notably for its middle class, says Srinivas Bharadwaj.
