On Tuesday, November 20, 2018, 34 years and 19 days later after the horrific crimes, two men were sentenced to death and life in prison for their involvement in the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 in which over 3,000 Sikhs were killed. It was the first verdict after the riots-related cases were reopened by a Special Investigation Team in 2015. In his novel Man With The White Beard, Shah Alam Khan recalls a calamitous time in India's history.
Nehru decided to build The Ashok in New Delhi to host a UNESCO conference. For a prime minister focussed on India building with projects like the Bhakra-Nangal Dam, IITs and factories, "the hotel spoke of the gumption of the country at that time." Manavi Kapur traces the eventful journey of the hotel, which has now completed 60 years.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar journeys through villages and towns, districts and cities for a reality check.
This week's digest of stories that are weird and crazy!
Here are some of the best iPhone photos taken this year.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee said despite the fencing, floodlighting and patrolling by the Border Security Force personnel, Pakistani terrorists managed to sneak into India from across the border.
Her great grandfather began sugar co-operatives in Maharashtra. Her grandfather was an eight time MP. Her uncle is currently leader of the Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly. Her cousin joined the BJP on Tuesday, March 12. Nila Vikhe Patil, who could one day become prime minister of Sweden, unravels her India connections in an e-mail interaction with Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
R K Studios is not just another piece of real estate; it is part of India's movie history.
Be prepared to have a serious case wanderlust when you're scrolling through these awe-inspiring photographs of our Planet Earth.
Aseem Chhabra picks the scenes that left him impressed this year.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
A G Padmanabhan's dream is to make India a 'no food waste economy' and promote sustainable ideas.
'I wasn't comfortable with the intimate scenes. There were 40 men behind the camera. It's mechanical and doesn't mean a thing but there are so many eyes watching you! I got panicky and asked Vikram (Bhatt, director) sir to help me out.' Patralekha gets bold and beautiful in Love Games.
At least 24 people, including two policemen, were killed as police tried to evict around 3,000 encroachers from a park in Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.
True Indian scenes most often lie on less travelled routes, along roads that have fallen off the map, after modern highways have come up. On the fourth leg of their 2,148 km journey, Rediff.com's Archana Masih and photographer Rajesh Karkera discover one such forgotten place in the Thar Desert.
Why did the district magistrate take over an hour to order retaliatory firing on the murderous SBVS mob?
'Usually, the Left backed the Congress and other 'secular' parties on the justification of keeping the BJP out. In Bengal, the alliance targets a truly secular rival,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'ISRO provides a very positive atmosphere. What matters here is your talent, not your gender,' says Ritu Karidhal, Deputy Operations Director, India's Mars orbital mission, Mangalyaan. A fascinating excerpt from Minnie Vaid's Those Magnificent Women And Their Flying Machines, Isro's Mission To Mars.
India's neglect of villages shows up in many other ways.
Vat Vrikshya -- banyan tree in Sanskrit -- helps tribal women, with absolutely zero formal education, set up businesses.
They are shaken by the mass molestation in the city on New Year's Eve. But they are not waiting to be rescued. Nikita Puri reports.
Former India captain Ravi Shastri has been the team's Director since last year and guided the team during the just-concluded World Cup. This is an exclusive column for PTI
Just to be clear, "love jihad" -- a concept that claims that Muslim men court Hindu women to convert them to Islam purely to take over India -- doesn't exist, says Mitali Saran
'Logic gets suspended here as easily as gravity in space and no one has any motivations for their actions' writes Paloma Sharma about the movies Karle Pyaar Karle.
From linking innovation with supply of inputs to providing contract farming, the private sector can help agriculture move to the next stage of development.
Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's supporters seemed desperate to get a glimpse of their leader as they waited patiently on balconies and rooftops along the 4 km route of his road show, reports Sharat Pradhan
As India celebrates its 67th Republic Day, Rediff.com takes a look at some brave men who stood their ground to protect their country from those who sought to bleed it.
Take this fun poll!
How much do you know about Shah Jahan, Mumtaz Mahal and the Taj Mahal?
The suspect, a 29-year-old man identified as Saifullo Saipov, of Uzbek descent, was shot in the stomach before being arrested.
Donovan Livingston, a master's graduate from Harvard university delivered a poetic address to the graduating class of 2016.
'Perhaps the greatest curse that modern technology has inflicted on the people during the pujas is powerful public address systems that blare out songs which you have no option but to listen to,' says Subir Roy.
As Cyclone Hudhud is closing in on the Andhra Pradesh coastline and is expected to make a landfall near Visakhapatnam by Sunday afternoon, about 1.11 lakh people in five coastal districts have been shifted to safer places.
'Two have already sacrificed their lives.' 'How many more shall need to sacrifice before the government listens?' 'Four, five or six? They are ready, waiting.' After Ganga campaigner G D Agrawal's death, a Haridwar ashram's sadhus are on a relay fast unto death.
Sylvia Dyer's life began nearly 90 years ago in a forgotten, untamed land. She spent her childhood on a plantation on the Bihar-Nepal border in pre-Independent India, lived through the '65 war as the wife of a decorated army officer and saw an era grow and fade in front of her eyes.
Thousands of villages in Maharashtra's Marathwada region have been devastated by the worst drought in a century. Thousands of villagers have fled Marathwada hoping to find some form of livelihood in cities like Mumbai.
We present an excerpt from Kishore Kumar: Method In Madness by Derek Bose.
'Some men and women did seek shelter in our dhaba but not one of them disclosed that they had been raped. They were in our dhaba for over two hours till such time as the cops arrived. If they had been stripped and raped, or had been lying the fields for a long period of time, they or the male members of their families should have spoken about it.'
Art of Living's spiritual leader, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, faced the ire of activists and the National Green Tribunal for environmental violations that would occur when an event of this scale - the festival is said to have seen 3.5 million footfalls -- is hosted in an ecologically sensitive region.
