The transformative improvement promised in Jammu-Kashmir remains largely a mirage, observes David Devadas on the second anniversary of the Constitutional changes in the former state.
On the itinerary: Luxury camping, tribal homestays, heritage cities.
'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.
'There was a wrong policy of government during the Congress regime. They didn't construct roads up to the border which left a buffer zone of 3-4 km which China occupied. Construction of new villages isn't a new thing, it's all inherited from Congress'
India's water future remains very bleak. The monsoon season, which once extended to 4 months, is now down to less than 30 days of heavy rain.
Out of 18, four personnel were critically injured but they are responding to treatment and are stable now, people familiar with the matter said.
A 13.2 MW small hydro project on the Rishiganga river was swept away in the glacier burst in Uttarakhand on Sunday, but there is no danger of floods in the downstream areas as the water level has been contained.
The teams carried out a helicopter survey of the area on Tuesday to find clues as to what led to the massive flash floods that swept everything on the way.
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First coach Manhas remembers 17-year-old terrorising Ranji batters at nets
An alert has been sounded across Assam as cyclone 'Mahasen' is likely to hit the northeastern states on Thursday night, officials have said. All boats and ferry services on Brahmaputra have been closed for the next three days and fishermen have been directed not to venture out to the river.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
Four Chinese soldiers were killed in the fierce clash with the Indian Army in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June last year, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) acknowledged for the first time on Friday.
Modi's critics will say that he has put up cement and steel structures, but weakened the institutions of governance whereas Nehru strengthened them, observes T N Ninan.
The commander said the situation in the region has been stable and no major "changes or palpable shift of stance has been noted" even as the Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a stand-off in Demchok and Depsang in eastern Ladakh.
Military officials said India is also strengthening its surveillance mechanism to keep an eye on Chinese activities along the borders in the strategically sensitive Tibetan region and has even been regularly deploying choppers to carry out recce.
Through its programmes, Swechha tries to ensure Delhiites don't forget their dying river.
Did Xi deliver a message to Modi at Mamallapuram, which though couched in a velvet glove was time-bound? What was that message? It is clear Indian/Israeli/US spy satellites would not have missed detecting Chinese troop movements towards the Ladakh-Tibet frontier. Then why did some important functionaries in the Government of India choose to only ask the Russians about this in April 2020? Was Russian reassurance of Chinese troop movements being part of a routine exercise the reason that the Leh-based XIV Corps did not mobilise itself for its annual summer exercises near the LAC? A fascinating excerpt from Iqbal Chand Malhotra's new book Red Fear: The China Threat.
It originates in the Tibetan Himalayas and enters the Indian landmass at Upper Siang in Arunachal Pradesh before flowing east to west through the entire stretch of Assam valley towards its final destination the Bay of Bengal.
These railway bridges are truly engineering marvels.
'China has forcibly occupied territory it had never occupied before, blocked Indian patrols' access to areas they had patrolled for decades and, most provocatively, killed 20 Indian soldiers.' 'Most countries would regard these as acts of war.' 'New Delhi has apparently taken off the table the option of evicting the PLA with force,' observes Ajai Shukla.
Senior officers recounted extreme Chinese brutality to the Indian prisoners, with some of them being pushed over cliffs and soldiers' bodies being recovered from the Galwan River.
'We should not minimise the seriousness of Chinese encroachments because their perception is different.' 'Nor should we fall into the trap of accepting so-called 'buffer zones' in areas of overlapping claims. We cannot have buffer zones in our own territory,' asserts Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
There are lessons to be learnt from the Uttarakhand tragedy. Topping the list is the need to immediately stop mindless construction activity in the Himalayan hills, says Nitish Priyadarshi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday alleged that "urban Naxals and anti-development elements" with political backing had stalled the construction of Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river in Gujarat for many years by running a campaign that it would harm the environment.
The capital cost of the entire project, including a 5.6-km-long bridge, other minor bridges, underpasses and a rail overbridge, was estimated at over Rs 2,900 crore. The decision to cancel the project came in the backdrop of the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in a clash with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley on June 15.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated from their homes as 'unprecedented' levels of flooding continue to hit the already blighted north of England.
The 15-year-old elephant is suspected to have consumed a pineapple filled with powerful fire crackers, which exploded in its mouth in the Silent Valley forest.
'Which will not happen.' 'Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has expressly refuted Beijing's statement that normalcy was returning to Sino-Indian relations.'
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Lauding the bravery displayed by the soldiers, the prime minister said: "The bravery that you and your compatriots showed, a message has gone to the world about India's strength."
"As regards reports about a bridge being made by the Chinese side on Pangong Lake, the government has been monitoring this activity closely," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Curfew from the south Kashmir town was briefly lifted on Saturday morning after remaining in force for 49 days.
Rediff readers share their holiday photographs.
Army chief General Naravane said the ongoing dialogue will sort out all the perceived differences between the two countries.
The North East is a sizeable success story for the Modi government politically and for the BJP electorally. It will be an unpleasant surprise if they choose to blow it, bowing to their basic, polarising instinct at any point, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Both the Indian and Chinese armies have brought in more troops in sensitive locations like Demchok, Daulat Beg Oldie and areas around Galwan river as well as Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, the sources said. The area around Galwan has been a point of friction between the two sides for over six decades.
