Lauding the Senate confirmation of 37-year-old Vivek Murthy as the youngest ever Surgeon General, more than a year after his nomination, US President Barack Obama has said the Indian-American physician would hit the ground running as the country's top doctor.
What has really alarmed the police, and also the families of young drug abusers, is the entry of "chitta" -- a highly refined white powdery semi-synthetic substance (mainly heroine) -- into the drug scene and has spread like wildfire among the state's youth. Ashwani Sharma reports.
Just like China wants Trump to lose the US presidential poll, it may want Modi to lose the Lok Sabha polls. So months before the 2024 elections, China may take possession of an important area, say one of the Char Dhams, warns Sanjeev Nayyar.
'In one instance of the Pakistani army's violation of the Ceasefire, I ordered a far tougher response designed to deter the enemy.' 'I warned that 'unexpected damage' to their forces will be inflicted if they continued with such ceasefire violations.' A fascinating excerpt from Lieutenant General K Himalay Singh's Making of a General: A Himalayan Echo.
From displaying his skills as a drummer in Dar-es-Salaam with Tanzanian President John Pombe Joseph Magufuli to pensively retracing Mahatma Gandhi's train journey in South Africa, Prime Minister Modi's tour albums are one of their kind.
Damu Nagar -- a shanty colony built around a hillock in Mumbai's northern suburb of Kandivali, abutting the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, was engulfed in an inferno Monday, December 7, that left more than 2,000 homes gutted and thousands homeless. Residents displayed exemplary courage, camaraderie and chutzpah as they grappled with ways and means to overcome their personal catastrophes when Rediff.com visited them.
'Strengthen hospital capacity, look after patients who need care, primarily ICU care...' 'Train doctors, get PPE, get ventilators, have treatment protocols in place.'
'The diplomat's arrest has led to a major diplomatic spat, the likes of which I have not seen in my nearly three decades of covering the US-India relationship, says Aziz Haniffa. 'The knee-jerk reaction by the powers-that-be in Delhi was myopic to say the least.'
'The ideal thing that should be done in Kashmir is call for an election -- before the end of the year.'
"Who will be his men?" a distinguished official close to the prime minister asked. Frankly, nobody has an idea. Hardly seven weeks are left for a regime change, but the idea of Narendra Modi on Raisina Hill looks abnormal, if not unreal. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt captures the uncertain mood in the capital's bureaucracy ahead of the largest democratic transfer of power in the world.
'When there is a change in the wind speed or the stress exerted on the surface, it will change the ocean currents.'
'His contagious smile and peal of laughter, his affirmative approach to national challenges, his faith and conviction in India's future and his profound attachment to the welfare of the northeast attracted anyone who came in touch with him,' says Dr Anirban Ganguly.
Rediff.com digs into its archives, tracking down Dr M R Rajagopal's sincere efforts of changing lives and changing the way India looks at palliative care.
Dr Pinakin Shah visited the Land of the Thunder Dragon and returned mesmerized.
'Obama probably thinks, "He is quite a guy!" Americans on Capitol Hill think, "He has guts. He is a big player".' An Indian official explains the importance of the Modi visit to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Four individuals who have taken up poker professionally tell Norma Godinho/Rediff.com how their stars have changed for the better.
Dr Behera speaks about how the nationwide positive reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that the very idea of India is changing. From a diverse, multicultural entity, could India be becoming a place where assimilation is more important than accommodation?
The incredible demand to be a part of Indian-American history in greeting Prime Minister Modi has pushed us to find more ways to let the community participate.
'The India-Canada relationship has suffered benign neglect. Its full potential has not yet been realised,' says Rup Narayan Das.
Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs in the Obama administration, has strongly asserted that India's support for Russian President Vladimir Putin's actions in Ukraine and Moscow's annexation of Crimea should not be conflated with the row over diplomat Devyani Khobragade.
'There is a point near the hill where you kill the engine and park your vehicle in neutral.' 'The vehicle automatically slides a few inches, which the locals believe is due to the magnetic power of the hill.'
Veteran Rajasthan Royals leg-spinner Praveen Tambe has come under the spotlight after it was learnt that he had played an unsanctioned T20 match in the United States alongside tainted Bangladesh cricketer Mohammed Ashraful, who has been banned on charges of match-fixing.
'The josh is very high as we fight this global pandemic.'
Thirty-four years after he traveled to space, Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih that he looks forward to Gaganyan, India's first manned space mission in 2022.
Asked to declare a holiday on the Hindu festival, the school board in Millburn Township, New Jersey, instead comes up with a solution that angers many. Rediff.com/India Abroad's George Joseph reports.
Rare glimpses of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Kind courtesy: Architectural Digest India.
Like millions of people across the world, the year 2020 had dealt me irreplaceable losses and the lowest of blows. Like I have always done at such junctures, I had sought the refuge of the mountains. I wanted to end the year on a high, to show the finger to life, says Sumit Bhattacharya after a memorable journey to North Sikkim.
'What was predictable, but entirely missed by Modi's strident critics, is that the excessive and intemperate demonisation of Modi allowed him to assume his own metaphor -- the underdog, the martyr, the marginalised,' says Dr Aseem Shukla.
US admiral's suggestion for a revival of a strategic maritime quadrilateral with Japan, Australia and India leaves China livid, says Rajeev Sharma.
Rediff.com's Prasanna D Zore reports from Bhopal and Manikhedi Kot, Etkhedi Kot and Kejra Dev, about the October 30-31 escape and encounter in which 8 prisoners were killed, a case that has many questions and few answers.
Richard Rahul Verma, the first Indian American to serve as US Ambassador to New delhi, quips that surviving the first month in India is his first goal.
'If there were no Ahmedabad programme -- no flashy town hall event in a huge cricket stadium with thousands cheering him on -- then Trump may well have decided not to go to India.'
Thirty one outstanding teachers were invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan for a first-ever in-residence programme.
The record-shattering Virat Kohli became the quickest to reach 10,000 ODI runs on his way to slamming yet another century as India notched a competitive 321 for six in the second match against the West Indies, in Visakhapatnam, on Wednesday.
'When the United States and India make common cause there's really no challenge that we can't tackle, there's no mission that we can't overcome,' believes senior US official Nisha Desai Biswal
Scientists at the India Meteorological Department warn that not only has India turned hotter in the last two decades, but that heat waves are projected to become more intense, have longer durations and greater frequency, thereby resulting in more deaths.
Despite the devastation that has struck this tiny mountain nation, Dr Vani Kori - who volunteered her service in Nepal for 10 days - believes it will soon rebuild itself.
'We have never before seen an Indian prime minister's visit to the United States so heavily business-oriented and so packed with meetings with the US business community.' Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com reports from Washington, DC.
Modi and Shah's next focus will be South India, and the Maharashtra and Jharkhand assembly elections. Shah is unlikely to abdicate control over the party even after he joins the government. Modi and Shah both know only too well that the party makes the government, and not the other way round.
For the last 40 years, Modi fasts during Navratras devoted to Ma Amba. He drinks lukewarm water and sometime he eats a fruit a day.
