'It was the Mughals who first established standard units of measurement and maintained offices of meticulous record keepers and auditors, departing from the more haphazard methods of earlier regimes.' 'By the end of the 16th century, their revenue and judicial administrations exhibited an obsessive preoccupation with order, the efficient management of time, and a spirit of rational self-control -- all of them characteristics of early modernity,' point out Sheldon Pollock and Benjamin Ellman.
A Few Good Men and the Angry Sea: 2004 Tsunami, the IAF Story, is the incredible story of survival, guts, resilience and indomitable spirit of the air warriors and their families, civilians and the government's efforts in rebuilding the strategically important military Car Nicobar air base.
How can brands reach consumers who travel on multiple roads of discovery? This will be the challenge of the future, says brand guru Ambi Parameswaran.
"I do not want India to be an economic superpower. I want India to be a happy country." - JRD Tata
'The creation of Pakistan was integral to Britain's grand strategy.' 'If they were to ever leave India, Britain's military planners had made it clear that they needed to retain a foothold in the NWFP and Baluchistan because that would provide the means to retain control of Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.'
Martin Guptill stroked a fluent century to help New Zealand edge past Bangladesh by three wickets with seven deliveries to spare, in the ICC World Cup Pool A match in Hamilton, on Friday.
In Martin Crowe's death, cricket has lost one of its most iconic figures in recent memory, says Shakya Mitra.
Chelsea exploited Manchester City's decision to field a weakened team by romping to a 5-1 win in the FA Cup fifth round on Sunday as they joined London rivals West Ham United and Crystal Palace in the quarter-finals.
Jules Bianchi's accident in Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix has prompted questions over whether the Formula One race should have been started earlier to beat deteriorating weather conditions.
'Pakistan is full of 'religious entrepreneurs' like Hafeez Saeed who poison the minds of the young so that they can be motivated to become terrorists. They work in concert with the rulers of Pakistan. It is a private-public partnership.'
'No, you don't require tantrums, or beating a tattoo on the helmet or rude and hostile gestures to make a point.' 'A true fast bowler lets the ball do the talking as it crashes into the stumps,' says veteran sports commentator Kishore Bhimani.
The man who threw stones at Rahul's vehicle has been detained.
Rights activist Kailash Satyarthi is the eight Indian to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Rediff.com takes a look at other Indians or Indian-origin people, who have been awarded the honour.
An angry India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Saturday lambasted the International Cricket Council's decision to impose a fine on all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja for his altercation with England's James Anderson during the first Test in Nottingham.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's sage advice remains as relevant today as it was during his lifetime, says Vivek Gumaste.
The Indian Army and more recently the Indian Navy have already set up dedicated intelligence branches. It is surprising indeed that the IAF, where real time and timely intelligence is most vital for effective and safe prosecution of the air war, has still not done so itself, says Group Capt (retd) P I Muralidharan.
Ravindra Jadeja stole the show while Umesh Yadav bowled his heart out.
'With Pakistan's 'first use doctrine' threatening the use of nuclear weapons early in a war with India, the S-400 will shield vulnerable targets like Delhi and Mumbai, complicating Pakistan's targeting calculations.'
It is an open secret that Manmohan Singh is not a popular figure in the Congress, but Sonia's presence, support and strategy are proving a blessing for the good doctor. When P V Narasimha Rao ran into rough times, Sonia remained indifferent and the Congress had left him to the wolves, says Rasheed Kidwai, author of books on Sonia Gandhi and the Congress party.
The end goal of defence procurement should be not import or indeginisation but securing the country through able and ready armed forces, says Air Marshal P V Athawale (retd)
'The ISI is bound to exploit narcoterrorism.'
Nitin Gokhale reports on how quick decisions saved a repeat of a Mumbai-like carnage at the key Punjab air force base.
Global health officials are racing to better understand the Zika virus behind a major outbreak that began in Brazil last year and has spread to many countries in the Americas.
'The US-India relationship is in a different league altogether,' Obama administration officials tell Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
Search ships on Tuesday failed to detect any more underwater pulses after signals possibly from the missing Malaysian jet were recorded over the weekend, even as investigators were racing against time to locate the black box of the ill-fated aircraft before its beacons fall silent.
With the threat of disease outbreak lurking in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, efforts have been initiated on a war-footing to provide medical staff and medicines even as rescue operations were slightly hampered on Sunday due to return of rains in the Valley.
Against the backdrop of growing Chinese assertion in the Asia-Pacific region, India on Thursday said it supports the "freedom of navigation" in international waters noting that any disputes or differences in the region must be resolved diplomatically.
'No one needs to lose sleep if a person with better operational credentials supersedes lesser endowed peers,' says Group Captain Murli Menon (retd).
The Modi government has not lived up to the muscularity the prime minister promised while campaigning, says Ajai Shukla
Star batsman Kevin Pietersen says he has no issues playing under England Test captain Alastair Cook and coach Peter Moores as he prepares for a national recall by resuming county cricket at Surrey.
In the light of India's increasingly 'darkening' threat environment and the convergence of strategic interests between China and Pakistan, the IAF's declining combat capabilities are a cause for concern, says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Modi has entered blunderland as he does not understand the army. He has actually meddled with the army, which is much more damaging than the ignorance of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh.' 'People had an impression that the BJP was different. Now it has been made very, very, plain that it is not.' 'Look at the contrast in the behaviour of the prime minister. When they burnt buses in Gujarat for an unjust demand, the prime minister addressed them in Gujarati while the army veterans were on relay hunger strike for the 74th day on that day, but no word on this from the PM.'
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
India and the United States discussed a host of issues, including the security situation in South Asia, East China Sea, anti-piracy operations and America's help in developing two new commands -- space and cyber, during a recent visit of Air Chief Marshal N A K Browne in Washington.
'We were firing at Patton tanks that were moving towards India.' 'Fighter aircraft are the biggest menace for tanks because they come at great speed, attack from a height and their rockets are lethal.' 'The Hunter travels at 400, 420 knots. One knot is 1.6 times a km, so it was at a speed of 700, 800 km/hr.' 'You come at great speed and when you see the tanks, you pull up because attacks are always done in a dive.' 'You go up to 3,000 to 4,000 feet and then dive on to the target and let off your rockets...'
Tottenham Hotspur's tenacious chase of leaders Chelsea continued as they claimed a 12th consecutive Premier League home win with a 4-0 rout of Bournemouth on Saturday to cut the gap to four points.
Jose Mourinho got the better of old adversary Arsene Wenger once again as Chelsea showed their strength-in-depth by reaching the League Cup quarter-finals with a 2-0 win over London rivals Arsenal on Tuesday.
If Modi and Shah did not project Adityanath as CM, it was out of expediency, says Radhika Ramaseshan.
With an aggressive Opposition and unyielding government, important legislation could be the biggest casualty, as details of the helicopter contract surface.
Full text of Kevin Pieterse's Pataudi Memorial Lecture in Bengaluru
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