The average value of retail digital payments dropped 48 per cent from Rs 8,769 in March 2021 to Rs 4,560 in March 2024 due to a growing preference to use digital modes of transactions for small value payments, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) report on the trend and progress of banking in India.
AIFF to write to SAFF regarding Nepal holding up SAFF women's semifinal match
Wondeful shots of African women and giraffes roaming Kenyan grasslands were judged the most outstanding photographs of the year.
The Galwan clash occurred six months after the Doklam disengagement and two high-profile meetings. India should not be caught by surprise once again, asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The new PM would be more than unwise to attempt steering away from India into an all-encompassing Chinese embrace that would ultimately swamp Bhutanese identity, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
He said this in response to a query during a press interaction held at his residence in New Delhi on what Germany was willing to do bring over three-year-old Ariha back and whether her issue will be raised at the "highest level".
A post written in Hindi on the handle "RaGa4India" at 9.52 am on September 8 stated that the statue "can fall anytime as cracks have started appearing on it".
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
The government has sanctioned a dozen fresh SSB battalions, comprising over 13,000 personnel for the Nepal and Bhutan borders guarding force, to "fortify" defences along these fronts including the tri-junction area in Sikkim that adjoins Bhutan and Tibet, officials said.
The Indian cricketing legend is in Bhutan to speard awareness about UNICEF Handwash initiative.
China, which is building numerous villages in Tibet close to its borders with India and Bhutan, has held several celebratory events to mark its takeover of Tibet in the new border villages with a mix of border troops and the local population, the official media in Beijing reported.
The single-engine helicopter was on its way from Khirmu in Arunanchal Pradesh to Yonphula in Bhutan.
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera takes in the best of Bhutan, a beautiful little kingdom that has bundles and bundles of goodness to offer.
This is prime minister's second visit to Bhutan and the first since his re-election.
He was received by his Bhutanese counterpart Tandi Dorji on his arrival in country.
After a few exciting days in Nepal, a land of alluring stupas, Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera, on a tri-nation drive, heads east via India into mysterious Bhutan.
According to the CJI, once someone has a sense of faith in his/her intentions and abilities, it is easier not to obsess over outcomes but to value the process and the journey towards those outcomes.
Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay and Prime Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth are set to be invited to Modi's swearing-in ceremony.
She provided no evidence for the claim, which is at the complete variance with Bhutan's stated position.
Buddhist Lamas from Bhutan perform the Zhanag or Black Hat dance, one of the sacred cham dances which is done without a mask, during the annual puja at the Bhutan temple in Bodhgaya.
Engagement with neighbours is a strategic imperative, and not an option, asserts Rup Narayan Das.
India on Friday said Bhutan and its security is "intricately interlinked" and it is important for the two neighbours to be sensitive to each other's concerns, as President Pranab Mukherjee held wide-ranging talks with the Bhutanese leadership.
Getahead reader Jyotika visited Bhutan last year with her husband Rohit Gupta. She shares with us her experiences.
India has managed to move a smaller share of its working-age population away from farm-related work than many of its neighbours. Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Nepal managed to shift a bigger share of jobs to non-agricultural work than India, shows data from the year 2000 to 2023 the compiled from the World Bank's April South Asia Development Update report. Only Pakistan and the Maldives show a lower shift among South Asian peers.
A five-time Olympic shooter, Randhir Singh was the lone eligible candidate for the OCA president's post.
Withdrawing a blanket ban on overseas shipments of non-basmati white rice, the government on Saturday imposed a floor price of $490 per tonne and exempted the commodity from export duty. Exports of non-basmati white rice have been banned since July 20, 2023 to boost domestic supply. "The export policy for non-basmati white rice (semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or gazed) ...is amended from prohibited to free, subject to MEP (minimum export price) of $490 per tonne with immediate effect and until further orders," the directorate general of foreign trade (DGFT) said in a notification.
'When democracy first came to Bhutan people had no idea and they were like 'What is that?' Oh it's that thing they have in India where the leaders are always fighting and arguing.' When I screened the film to Bhutan's film committee, they thought my film was good but they were concerned about that line. They wanted me to change that line. They said, 'We don't want to offend India.' I tried to tell them that Indians have a great ability to laugh at themselves but they insisted I change it.'
The fundamental construct of India's neighbourhood policy still needs to be what Vajpayee postulated, Manmohan Singh embraced, and Modi energised. It's just that we need to junk domestic politics and excessive religiosity, while acquiring much humility and a renewed respectfulness towards our neighbours, recommends Shekhar Gupta.
He further opined that though as public functionaries, courts were vested with the responsibility to give effect to equity, these judicial bodies were not directly in charge of the manner in which resources were to be distributed.
The visit by Gen Rawat, Ajit Doval and Vijay Gokhale was the first such high-level trip from India to Bhutan after the Doklam standoff.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Bhutanese King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and the two discussed an entire gamut of ties to cement the "unique and special" bilateral relationship.
'The Chinese forces in the narrow Chumbi Valley are currently in the line of sight and fire of Indian forces poised on the ridges along the Sikkim-Tibet border.' 'Aware of this vulnerability, the Chinese have been eyeing the Doklam plateau,' explains national security expert Nitin A Gokhale.
How to discover beautiful destinations in true-blue filmi style (which simply means you look fabulous as you do so:))!
Addressing the students of the Royal University of Bhutan in Thimphu, Modi asked them to work hard and take the Himalayan nation to great heights.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
'China did not expect India to show such strategic resolve in defending its territorial integrity.'
A group of 100 men entered the Guinness Record by planting around 50,000 tree saplings in flat one hour
The previous democratically-elected government in Bhutan sought to get cosy with China. Will the new Tshering Tobgay dispensation mend the fences with India? Shubha Singh examines
Terming his just-concluded state visit to Bhutan as very successful and his "most memorable", President Pranab Mukherjee hoped that bilateral relations between the two countries would continue to grow from strength to strength.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances