As India gears up to honour its pravasis on January 9 to mark their contribution in the nation's development, rediff.com presents perspectives from eminent writers on the Diaspora. Kicking off the series is Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, who points out that the change of the Diaspora policy put in place by Rajiv Gandhi following the military coup in Fiji and his decision to stand by them, was the one defining moment in India's dealings with its overseas family.
Australian Olympic Committee Chief Executive Officer Matt Carroll said he had received reports from the CEOs of rugby and football, investigating reports of rowdy behaviour on a flight into Sydney last Friday.
A total of over 75 Heads of State and Foreign Ministers will be meeting with Modi, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan during the week across various platforms.
More than 3,71,500 babies were born worldwide on New Year's Day and India is estimated to have recorded the highest number of births at around 60,000, according to the United Nations' children's agency.
The 18 new members were elected by absolute majority through a secret ballot.
A release issued by the MEA said the meeting was attended by the heads of delegations of Fiji, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of Nauru, Republic of Palau, Independent State of Papua New Guinea, The Independent State of Samoa, Solomon Islands, Kingdom of Tonga, Tuvalu and Republic of Vanuatu.
The Invictus Games, founded by Harry, is an international paralympic-style event for military personnel wounded in action.
India has climbed two places up to be placed 132nd in the latest FIFA rankings released on Wednesday.
World leaders thanked India for its help and support in combating the coronavirus pandemic through "early and meaningful" shipments of COVID-19 vaccine doses, as they addressed the high-level UN General Assembly session this year.
Johnnie Walker Classic has attracted star players like Colin Montgomerie, Adam Scott and Vijay Singh in its debut edition in India.
Images from the soccer matches played across Europe on Saturday.
Till December 2015, the prime minister has flown abroad 19 times, but the bills have been processed only for 2014 till now
A group of envoys including those from several Europe Union countries and a few Organisation of Islamic Countries (OIC) member states began a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday to take a first-hand account of the situation in newly-carved union territory, especially after the recently-concluded local body elections.
MasterChef Australia Season 13 winner Justin Narayan speaks about his Indian roots.
The Indian men's hockey team's biggest gain this year was the emergence of some talented fresh faces.
After going two games without a goal and being booed off the field by their own fans, the Brazilian men's soccer team found their scoring touch at the Rio Olympics on Wednesday with a 4-0 win over Denmark that sealed their place in the next round.
The fresh batch of diplomats also includes EU representatives, and their participation assumes significance as the EU Parliament recently initiated to bring a joint draft resolution on the Citizenship Amendment Act and Kashmir, the vote on which was later deferred.
Ahead of next month's annual Indo-Russia summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met Russian Premier Dmitry Medvedev who said India is a "close and valued" partner for his country.
Five inspiring women who travelled thousands of miles to Hyderabad recently to grow their business and skills share their tales of global entrepreneurship. Vaihayasi Pande Daniel listened in.
From Brian Lara to Virat Kohli, Ben Stokes to Steve Smith, the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup has never fallen short of showcasing cricket's brightest young stars. More than 30 years have passed since the world's top talents first announced themselves on the big stage, with the 1988 Youth Cricket World Cup a ground-breaking step in bringing ability to the fore.
The data gathered by activist Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra through his RTI application, show that till June 2016, Indian Air Force aircraft were used for the prime minister's visits to 11 countries -- Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Qatar, Australia, Pakistan, Russia, Iran, Fiji and Singapore.
There is growing alarm at the inexorable rise of China, both of its military prowess and its aggressive bullying of other countries plus its subjugation of whole portions of its own population.
This was Apurvi's second ISSF World Cup gold of the year followed by a world record score in New Delhi in February.
Modi and Najib also invited each other to visit their countries.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) may reconsider golf's place on the programme due to the growing number of big-name withdrawals from the Rio Games, former Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie has said.
Cricket greats Rahul Dravid, Michael Atherton and Graeme Smith are looking forward to the ICC U-19 World Cup, saying the tournament gives the young players the chance to test themselves against the best in their age group. The 11th edition of the tournament will be played across four cities in Bangladesh from January 27 to February 14 and features nine Test-playing nations and seven Associate and Affiliate Members - Afghanistan, Canada, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal, Ireland and Scotland. Dravid, a veteran of 164 Tests and 344 one-day internationals with more than 10,000 runs in both forms, lauded the tournament even though he himself never participated in one. He was 15 when the inaugural event was held in 1988 and had already become a Test cricketer when it was next played in 1998. "It is a great opportunity for young players to be able to get exposure to the demands of international cricket," said Dravid, who will coach the India Colts side at the tournament.
The drone photography community Dronestagram released a collection of their favourite drone photography of the year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday met Myanmar's President U Thein Sein to begin a string of bilateral meetings with over 40 world leaders during his 10-day three-nation tour on the margins of key multilateral summits in Myanmar and in Australia and a visit to Fiji.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday made his Instagram debut, sharing a picture from the venue of the ASEAN summit.
Modi, who will be addressing the General Debate for the first time in five years, has a packed bilateral and multilateral agenda beginning September 23 till September 27.
.jpg)
Russia, Ukraine, Brazil, UAE, Jordan, Kenya, Fiji, Finland, Australia, South Korea, Singapore, Mauritius, Mexico, Norway, Oman and Philippines are among the countries which have got the e-visa facility in the first phase.
As India seeks to deepen its engagement with the 10-nation bloc of small and medium economies, Modi said both India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are keen to enhance their cooperation in advancing balance, peace and stability in the region.
The decks were cleared for India's return to the Olympic fold after a 14-month suspension with Indian Olympic Association conducting its polls with N Ramachandran being elected as the president.
Modi is among the first set of speakers at the Summit's opening ceremony, a highly significant gesture given that only those heads of state, government and ministers are invited to speak at the summit who will have any "positive development" to announce on climate action.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday night left for Australia on the second leg of his three-nation tour during which he will attend the annual summit of the Group of 20 of the world's developed and emerging economies.
"I think surfing in itself is more of an art form and an expression so I think the Olympic banner doesn't really suit the sport of surfing."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday had his first meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, who said that China is looking forward to the Indian leader's maiden visit to Beijing.
'Ne Win kept good relations with the Nehru family even though he did nothing to do business with India. When Indira Gandhi was assassinated, Ne Win took off to an undisclosed destination, leading to rumours that he had gone to India. But we had no knowledge of his visit and days later, we were told that he was so struck with grief that he went into meditation on an island.' Ambassador T P Sreenivasan delves into Rajiv Bhatia's new book on mysterious Myanmar.
From planning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign trips to playing a key role in the Jammu and Kashmir elections, former RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav is become increasingly important in the BJP
