Magsaysay Award winner Sonam Wangchuk speaks to Claude Arpi about his journey, his fights, his hopes and how he became an inspiration for the Bollywood blockbuster.
'There is a point near the hill where you kill the engine and park your vehicle in neutral.' 'The vehicle automatically slides a few inches, which the locals believe is due to the magnetic power of the hill.'
The damage caused by Cyclone Hudhud in Visakhapatnam underlines the need for the government to follow some basic disaster management and environmental rules.
As defence minister, Singh's most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
'Given the first-time healthcare emergency of this nature and scale, we don't have enough experienced hands to deal with the situation.' 'The models, policies and protocols keep changing everyday depending upon the evolving situation.' 'We are all in trial-and-error mode where we do some right things as well as wrong things.' 'We cannot have an ideal environment to fight this pandemic.'
Creation of new state entails long drawn administrative process, could take as much as a decade
What better way to know a place than to learn its cuisine? Learn the art of working with terracotta and stoneware clay... ...If it's textiles that turn you on, a holiday in Jaipur could be just the thing for you.... ...Add an extra dimension to a holiday in spiritual Dharamsala by immersing yourself in Tibetan art...
Two mysterious objects seem to have fallen from the sky -- one in a paddy field and one in an engineering college, killing one person.
'So we had Akshay Kumar dressed up like Robert Vadra on his offday, and trying to not look fan-struck...'
He also said that the Obama Administration has not expressed any objection to the recent signing of a pact by India and Iran to develop the Chabahar port, despite some concerns expressed by a few Senators.
'General J S Aurora, the commander of the Indian forces in the East, asked General Sagat Singh to withdraw his troops who were on the move to Dacca -- but he refused.' 'He said, "Jaggi, over my dead body".' 'Therefore, I say the creator of Bangladesh was General Sagat Singh.'
While corruption destroys the moral fibre of a nation, its society and people, secularism as espoused in this country is cynical secularism, a sham perpetrated during election time and communalism is a spectre, a bogey raised by these great champions of Indian secularism to secure and perpetuate their vote bank, says Maneck Davar.
Two major hydel projects being built by construction majors GVK and L&T have suffered severe damages in the floods which hit Uttarakhand last week.
The world-famous Darjeeling tea is losing its flavour even as it struggles with falling production, says Avishek Rakshit.
We take a look at the world's quirky, colourful - and downright bizarre - events.
The election campaign finally ended on Friday, May 17. Arindam Majumder reveals what he discovered on the election front on a long rail journey.
However, the woman told police that she was not keen to visit the shrine and admitted that she had come to Pamba following pressure from her husband.
The two countries also signed memoranda of understanding in education and health sectors after visiting External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Lankan counterpart Mangala Samaraweera co-chaired the 9th Indo-Lanka Joint Commission meeting in Colombo.
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.
Damu Nagar -- a shanty colony built around a hillock in Mumbai's northern suburb of Kandivali, abutting the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, was engulfed in an inferno Monday, December 7, that left more than 2,000 homes gutted and thousands homeless. Residents displayed exemplary courage, camaraderie and chutzpah as they grappled with ways and means to overcome their personal catastrophes when Rediff.com visited them.
Bhilar, a strawberry farming hub in Maharashtra, has been transformed into India's first 'books village'.
Following is the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the 73rd Independence Day.
The news of the week gone by that shaped the world
'The Chinese mindset and approach to India is far different from that in Pakistan.' 'This reality makes it possible for us to follow an engagement policy with one, while militating against engagement with the other.'
'In being dismissive of Naveen, his colleagues showed incredible naivety.' 'On the few occasions that he put his foot down, the overconfident party leaders, who believed they were using him and not the other way around, failed to read the signs of what was to come.'
In less than one minute, Yash Pal's life took a drastic turn as a mountain came crashing down devouring this hamlet following torrential rains and buried his family of six.
'Glaciers are melting all across the region.'
A month after the worst natural calamity in Uttarakhand, the state government, which is grappling with a myriad of daunting tasks, on Tuesday started distributing compensation to the next of the kin of those killed in the devastating floods.
'NO child deserves a life without hope for the future.'
Sanjeev Nayar offers some ideas on how Indians can help in improving the lives of those living in border areas and in the process help the Indian Army.
'Obama probably thinks, "He is quite a guy!" Americans on Capitol Hill think, "He has guts. He is a big player".' An Indian official explains the importance of the Modi visit to Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
The polytechnic graduate is on the front line of our war to establish a vibrant manufacturing sector in India, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Ahead of the crucial talks between President Barack Obama and his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani, the United States has indicated flexibility in its troop drawdown schedule from war-torn Afghanistan to help it fight the Taliban and other insurgent groups.
'The tiger is the epitome of evolution.' 'Every tiger has a stripe pattern that is unique. Each tiger is unique.' 'Tigers are very elusive. It is said a tiger sees you nine times when you see it once.'
Shuvajit was confident of making a huge difference in the lives of people in rural India.
Shriya Rangarajan has come a long way from the comforts of the western world.
The State must stand as a solid tower of confidence to provide a guarantee of safety to its citizens and instill fear in the hearts of offenders. But where is that State, asks Tarun Vijay
'Any new technology, either before or soon after its release, will face severe criticism by one or the other segment of society. It is only after seeing the benefits of new technology for themselves that our farmers accept it.' 'The arable land in India is not increasing and currently hovers at around 140, 145 million hectares.' 'Today, Indian agriculture has to work towards achieving nutritional security.'
'When the United States and India make common cause there's really no challenge that we can't tackle, there's no mission that we can't overcome,' believes senior US official Nisha Desai Biswal
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