This is nature at its funniest, courtesy Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. Some seem to be having a whale of a time. Others, grinning for the camera, or caught in "gotcha" embarrassing moment. These are the best entries so far in the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, 2019.
If Irrfan could have been our finest professor of empirical philosophy, and Nawaz is our foremost poet of that space halfway between the gutter and the stars, then Jaideep Ahlawat has to be our greatest artist-scientist, asserts Sreehari Nair.
'China has gone too long as a rogue power, trashing international norms, agreements, and treaties as if they were not the paper they were written on.' 'The ill-advised attack on Ladakh may be the beginning of the end of that nonsense,' advocates Rajeev Srinivasan.
'No other country other than India can do it on this scale.'
Rediff readers shared these photographs from their travels.
M D Riti pays tribute to Bangalore's homegrown business giant.
'I can assure you the Ganga will be more polluted in 2030 than it is now.' 'What they are trying to do now is clean the Ganga without understanding how to do so.'
The pandemic has brutally highlighted the inadequacy of India's administrative systems. And, the government has demonstrated its culpable inability to speed up vaccination in a timely manner, says Jaimini Bhagwati.
'The only way to contain this is to see that a lesser number of people are affected.'
From majestic forts to scenic lakes, choose between trips that offer the best of history and culture and tranquility.
'The Cauvery is not dependable as Karnataka will never consider our needs.'
A decision to include Japan and Qatar as the invited sides to this year's Copa has also done little to generate faith in the new leadership, with the tournament usually featuring the 10 South American nations plus two invited teams, although they are generally from elsewhere in the Americas.
'Did the government learn any lesson from the disasters of 2008, 1987, 1975?' 'Certainly not!' 'They are making people believe that the 2017 flood was unexpected, so no preventive effort towards reducing the loss of human lives was to be expected from the government,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
A case of negligence has been registered against authorities of the Larji Hydropower project in Manali even as rescuers on Wednesday negotiated through huge boulders and high level of silt to trace 19 engineering students and a tour guide who were washed away in the turbulent waters of the Beas River.
Rediff reader Rajiv Aggarwal shared this list of books he wants everyone to read
The Constitution is a terrific document, but it is also one that has suppressed the Hindu majoritarian sentiment. We are living through times when this suppression is being popularly rejected, notes Aakar Patel.
To believe that the key job of his senior ministers is to ensure that his image be kept intact whatever be the outcome of his policies is to expect too much even of someone as ambitious as Narendra Modi, asserts Rashme Sehgal.
The chief minister still has time to repair the damage but he will have to act all-round, both at the government and party levels, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
But it's a journey of a lifetime.
'How does relief in the form of citizenship to a persecuted Hindu in Bangladesh put the citizenship of an Indian Muslim in danger?', asks Dr Sudhir Bisht.
The Supreme Court and its committees, the two states and the central government must become objective and take the present and not just the past in mind.
'It would have given us more relief if the accused had been sentenced to death'
'If you behave like a nail, the adversary will behave like a hammer.'
As the sprinter runs his last race, we veer off the trodden tourist trail in Jamaica and revisit his hometown, Trelawny Parish.
Senior officials, including those from a central team, were present during the night-long operation and a close vigil is being maintained on further movement of locusts, Katiyar said. Two fire brigade vehicles loaded with insecticide had been deployed in all four Jhansi tehsils besides six vehicles were kept ready at the district headquarter. Ten municipal employees with two insecticide spraying machines were posted in every block.
The winning entries in this year's Drone Photo Awards deliver an outstanding assortment of aerial images, from the overall winning shot, catching a school of salmon forming the shape of a heart, to a special category focusing on the profound ways COVID-19 has transformed our cities. Here we showcase a selection of the shots that will be on display in the Siena Photo Awards in Italy from October 24 to November 29.
'It's also a movie-crazed kid's idea of a great time,' discovers Sreehari Nair.
Readers share their monsoon pics. You can share yours too.
It's time to travel to Prague with our desi girl.
Get Ahead reader Sangeeta didn't realise how she spent an entire day on the banks of the Narmada at Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh.
Building toilets, however essential, must not be confused with sanitation and the crying need for a revamp of India's sewage systems.
'We used to enjoy looking at the serene Periyar river every day, flowing quietly and calmly.' 'How everything changed in a day!' 'The quiet Periyar became angry, aggressive, ferocious terrifying everyone in its way.' 'I have not seen this kind of rain fury in my entire life.'
'Nothing differentiated us, neither religion nor money.' 'We were all in a crisis together and we survived together.' 'We plan to assemble on the bridge every year on the same day, to thank for giving us a second life.'
Have a look at these photos taken from the incredible world we live in. These are the winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition 2020.
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.
Rediff readers tell us what has changed in the last 10 years for them.
Readers share their unusual summer photos.
In any conflict with China, the unmanned BrahMos could be advantageously used in the opening stages for pinpoint strikes on heavily defended targets -- such as air bases, headquarters, key roads and railways or logistics dumps -- which are too dangerous for manned fighter aircraft to attack.
RInstead of disengagement, the Indian and Chinese armies have deployed an estimated 35,000 to 40,000 soldiers each along the LAC. The PLA has deployed S-400 air defence missiles to neutralise the IAF's advantage in air power
