Former Uttarakhand Chief Minister B C Khanduri on Thursday asked the Centre to learn lessons from the recent natural calamity in the hill state and demanded a separate ministry for the Himalayan region to preserve its fragile ecology.
After 2 years of lull, sale of winter products like heaters and woollens grow in double-digit
Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera made an 11-day road voyage across some of South Asia's most deserted, challenging, terrain, always under the gaze of the sacred, dazzling Himalaya.
'The Chinese media was beside itself with rage that how can a country with one-fifth of its economic power and maybe one-third of its military power stand up to them.'
The Alams saw the magical spot while on a drive to the hills. A few years later they set up home and a small hand woven shawl business, hiring local weavers, using local wool and natural colours made of root, stem and flower.
A forest safari is the best way to observe animals in their natural habitat.
The famous Manikarnika Temple on the banks of Bhagirathi was swept away by the swirling waters of the river in the wee hours on Friday even as fresh attempts were launched to trace Almora Sub-Divisional Magistrate Ajay Arora, who slipped off a makeshift bridge and fell into the Mandakini river.
'For lakhs of people in the flood-afflicted state, battling against the elements is taking a huge toll. This is the time of the year that apples ripen, rice starts being harvested and preparations start in full swing to put aside some of the food stocks for the long winter months ahead. At this moment, though, people there believe if they can succeed in coming out of this calamity in one piece they will have won the war,' says Rashme Sehgal.
What makes the film scary is the way it plays with your fears and your anxieties, says Prasanna D Zore.
Giving economic aid to Kashmir is like giving TB medicine to a patient suffering from cancer and expecting it to work, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'The one aspect which no Indian military thinker would wish to see emerge is a LoC type of posture at the LAC.' 'The LoC is manned for 750 km and terrorist infiltration has led to the creation of a virtual fortress along its entire length.' 'Something mirroring this at the LAC is going to be expensive although deployment everywhere is not warranted there.' 'However, given the complete trust deficit, there appear few alternatives,' notes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
China on Friday inaugurated its second railway line in Tibet, built at a cost of $2.16 billion, close to Indian border in Sikkim, enhancing mobility of its military in the remote and strategic Himalayan region.
'The lush green of Kashmir was exactly like the postcards and posters I had seen growing up.'
Stepping up the war of words with Narendra Modi, Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said his promise to bestow a special status on Bihar along with a special package was nothing but a 'ploy' to win votes by 'befooling' people.
Having already assured a quarter-final berth, Indian team will be aiming to top their pool when they square off against a spirited Nepal in the final group league encounter of the ICC U-19 World Cup, on Monday. Rahul Dravid's boys have steamrolled their earlier opponents beating Ireland by 79 runs and New Zealand by a whopping 120-run margin. With Nepal also having qualified for the quarterfinals, tomorrow's match will decide which team will top Group D. The group champion will face either Namibia or Bangladesh in the quarter-final after defending champions South Africa crashed out on Sunday. On paper, an India versus Nepal cricketing contest should have been declared as a mismatch but the teenagers from the Himalayan nation have been the 'surprise package' of the tournament so far, defeating New Zealand and Ireland with minimum fuss.
The valley is under the iron grip of the armed forces and Pakistan does not have the military power or political support to change the status quo, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), after a recent visit to Kashmir.
'The road from Zhangmu via Nyalam to Tingri is everything a Himalayan drive should be. With tall peaks as the backdrop, switchbacks yielding to roads that stretched into eternity, passing by some of the most scenic views on the planet.'
For people living in Kathmandu, the destruction of the iconic Dharhara Tower, was not just a physical loss, but also loss of the nation's tangible cultural history, robbing it of its architectural jewels.
She lived for two-thirds of her life in India, adopted its national cause and customs, and took an Indian passport. She served a prison sentence in Lahore as part of Gandhi's protests against an Imperial power which happened to be her motherland. Freda Bedi delighted in confounding accepted definitions of identity.
Salvage operations in the earthquake-hit Himalayan country is becoming a 'time consuming' affair
A special relief camp has also been set up in Gorakhpur.
Nepal's new Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli on Friday said that the blockade of key border points with India is 'more inhuman than a war' as he criticised New Delhi for raking up alleged rights abuse in Nepal at the UNHRC.
World record holder David Rudisha of Kenya and Ethiopia's defending champion Mohammed Aman cruised through the heats for the 800 metres on a hot and humid opening morning at the world athletics championships in Beijing on Saturday.
China has ordered all Buddhist monasteries in Tibet to display China's national flag as part of its efforts to maintain social stability in the restive Himalayan province, which experienced self-immolation protests against the Communist party rule.
'Isn't it in India's long-term interests that Tibet-related issues do not remain a point of discord in Sino-Indian relations?' asks Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
FC Goa beat FC Pune City 4-2 in a high-scoring match to climb back to the top of the Indian Super League football standings, in Margao, on Sunday.
Swollen waters of the Bhagirathi following incessant overnight rains washed away a famous Shiva temple in Uttarkashi on Friday even as the state government set September 11 as the date for resumption of regular prayers at Kedarnath temple,which were suspended after the June calamity.
Govt announces slew of schemes for rural India
The rains have so far been four per cent below normal.
Experts say the treaty needs a review to address the ongoing and the likely impact of climate change on river-flow
Xi and Modi met soon after their arrival at a summit of the BRICS group of emerging powers. Xi said the two countries should join hands in setting global rules and suggested he attend the November meeting of the 21-nation APEC in Beijing, as well as take part in Chinese-led regional initiatives.
When people say the two-day visit was been successful in taking back the bilateral relationship to the political plane, essentially the reference (mostly left unsaid) is to the wresting of initiative from the intelligence 'agencies', whose meddling had hurt bilateral ties, says the distinguished editor Kanak Mani Dixit.
'So we had Akshay Kumar dressed up like Robert Vadra on his offday, and trying to not look fan-struck...'
India on Tuesday pressed six more teams of National Disaster Response Force personnel into its relief and rescue operations in Nepal.
Short trips can be made to interesting places at 15-20 per cent lower prices.
India's ambassador to China is on a rare visit to Tibet to make preparations for the opening of a new route through Sikkim for Indian pilgrims to travel to the holy site of Kailash-Manasarovar which was agreed during last month's visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India.
'The need of the hour is to build on the positives and control the negatives,' says Colonel (Dr) Anil A Athale (retd).
Meanwhile, India has cancelled all visas issued to foreign nationals coming from China as it stepped up efforts to combat the spread of novel coronavirus after 150 passengers were identified with symptoms of the deadly virus and sent to isolation units.
Samdong Rimpoche's visit to China materialised against the backdrop of strained India-China relations consequent to the face-off between Indian and Chinese troops at Doklam, says former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
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