Satinder Singh Sandhu, a supervisor with 108 Emergency Services, recounts the horrific scenes and his biggest regret from the AI-171 plane crash in Ahmedabad, which claimed 260 lives.
Dr Subhash Kashyap not only enhanced Parliament's image in India and abroad, but also the position of Lok Sabha secretary-general which succeeding secretary-generals have upheld thorough neutrality, objectivity and high degree of professionalism, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The Supreme Court has revoked the wrongful termination of a former Indian Air Force official, restoring his honour after more than three decades, in a case involving alleged criminal force against a junior colleague.
Hina Munawar, a police officer with a strong background in security and operations, has been named as the first female team manager for the Pakistan men's cricket team ahead of the Champions Trophy.
The Supreme Court of India has issued a series of directives aimed at safeguarding lawyer-client privilege, restricting the ability of investigative agencies to arbitrarily summon lawyers for providing advice. The court's decision came in response to concerns about the Enforcement Directorate summoning lawyers in money laundering probes.
After Operation Sindoor, the Army and Navy now view the IAF as not a supporting arm, but the spearhead of India's warfighting capability, capable of decisive outcomes across domains, explains Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd).
Rupal Shah Palanki was officially sworn in as a judge of the superior court of Connecticut, United States recently.
India has allocated Rs 1.72 trillion, or 27.67 per cent of the total defence budget to cater to modernisation of the country's arsenal. Modern militaries spend up to 50 to 60 per cent of their total defence budget so that they go into combat with superior weaponry and equipment.
'The Indian private sector knows how to build and run educational organisations, what is needed is a large dose of removal of restrictions.' 'Government restrictions hold back universities in India from launching medical schools,' argue Ajay Shah and Vijay Kelkar.
Long-term macro trends indicate growth in demand for air travel. Trends from the ticketing website MakeMyTrip indicate a likely annual growth of between 11-17 per cent in Indian air travel demand over FY24-30. Through that period, InterGlobe Aviation or IndiGo may continue to make gains in market share in both domestic and international travel, aided by large fleet additions. IndiGo is the largest global customer of Airbus by far with 950 aircraft orders outstanding.
Sundays are generally quiet days for air travel, but this Sunday was a tad different. There was quite an excitement at Gate 28 of Mumbai airport's Terminal 1 as Akasa Air, India's newest airline, prepared to take to the skies on Day 1. With a new fuel-efficient Boeing 737 Max aircraft and soft cushioned seats equipped with USB ports, Akasa Air hopes to bring freshness to the flying experience.
Citing complaints against Rajshekhar for 'running an extortion racket and demanding protection money', Delhi vigilance minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on May 13 ordered withdrawing all work assigned to the officer with immediate effect.
'How was it possible for Singh to have got a government job, and that too one involving the handling of guns, had he been insane?'
'Why should we disclose classified information to satisfy those who doubt our Hydrogen Bomb capability?'
'We should have calmed down the child. We will do an internal analysis on that.'
'I have saluted thousands of senior officers during my 26 years of service, but saluting my own daughter made me very happy.'
India's voting pattern in the United Nations with regard to the Israel-Palestine conflict is lately marked by a calibrated distancing from Israel, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The next war will be fought by China-Pakistan against India and we have to fully be prepared. We must read the writing on the wall.'
A court in Canada has ordered the seizure of amounts collected by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on behalf of Air India and the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Separate orders were passed on November 24 and December 21 on pleas by shareholders of Devas Multimedia Private Limited who have filed multiple petitions to enforce arbitration awards against the Indian government. According to a Devas spokesperson, more than $30 million has been seized to date under the IATA action.
Why did the department and his colleagues not stop this 'rogue' officer from implicating an innocent man while the entire nation was watching for weeks? The answer is they either approved, or disapproved and refused to intervene or they didn't care, notes Aakar Patel.
The government employees could lose their job after 20 years of service if they failed to come up to the expectations of their superiors under a new system of assessment suggested on Friday.
Tuition classes: Saviours or demons, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
A United States court has asked a Sikh rights group to serve summons on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by June 18 or face dismissal of a case of alleged human rights violations against him.
In a record time of 13 years, the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier Vikrant is now ready for formal induction into the Indian Navy.
If the Modi government is to keep its promise of change, it must bring in fresh faces.
The Bengaluru skies dazzled with somersaults and stunts by metal birds.
UPSC toppers -- Ira Singhal, Nidhi Gupta, Vandana Rao and Suharsha Bhagat -- tell Rediff.com how they cracked the tough national exam.
After rectifying battery glitches, Air India has inducted 6 aircraft so far
The Indian State has low operational capabilities. Individuals will have concerns about material that flows through the government, on questions of purity, perfection of the cold chain, and correctness of procedures at the frontline. Even if a government programme is able to solve all these problems, it will be limited in scale-up. The passion, management capabilities, and response to local conditions, which will be found with tens of thousands of ground-level initiatives, Individuals will have concerns about material that flows through the government, on questions of purity, perfection of the cold chain, and correctness of procedures. Even if a government programme is able to solve all these problems, it will be limited in scale-up, argues Ajay Shah.
'There are some castes that grab power, then pass on the benefits to those who belong to their own caste.'
Former chief information commissioner Satyananda Mishra says the Supreme Court order to frame guidelines for civil servants to insulate them from political interference is a mere elaboration of reports of committees constituted by the central government.
'We flew all missions in the first part of the war at low levels; that is at 300 to 500 feet above the ground.' 'These sorties were no doubt stressful since the pilots and crew had to look out for birds and obstructions as well as enemy gunfire.'
It is important to approach the belief of people in ancient India's achievements with a sense of proportion, balance and empathy, argues B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'Even though he knew full well that the manipulation went against the facts as he knew them, Pillai nonchalantly contented himself with stating that since the file came from the minister himself, he just passed it on as it was,' says B S Raghavan.
The 7th CPC places the Indian Police Service (and, almost in passing, the Indian Forest Service) on a level with the Indian Administrative Service, leaving the military out in the cold.
In July, IRS officers in Mumbai held an incendiary meeting where they criticised the alleged interference in 'operational matters' by the department of revenue.
'Do we not all exhibit a sense of entitlement every day,' asks Savera R Someshwar.
'Given his stint in Beijing, as India's longest serving ambassador there and that too through some challenging and interesting times, Jaishankar ought to have been appointed as foreign secretary in 2013 itself,' says Sanjaya Baru.
'Ex-servicemen engineers and technicians are true professionals worthy of being 'Make in India' agents. They can be trusted to bring long term dividends -- it is in their character to be long term loyalists!' says Air Marshal P V Athawale (Retd).
Captain Indu Nair, joined a private airline after her tenure as a pilot in the Indian Air Force ended five years ago. Among the first batches of women pilots in the IAF, she flew during the Kargil conflict. As a commercial airline pilot, one of her best experiences, she says, is when she takes off with an all woman crew - in the cockpit and the cabin.
