The nine meetings offer an interesting window into Shafi Armar's efforts to try and group together what after all were excitable keyboard warriors into an actual terror group, capable of handling weapons, organising recruits, cooking homegrown explosives, selecting safe training areas, safe houses and finally, committing strikes against Indian targets.
Wheeling round, a look of utter shock on its face, a marmot jumps in fright after a young fox sneaks up behind it. The split-second encounter between prey and predator -- called the Moment -- has won the man who captured it the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year. He was chosen from a longlist of various category winners, all of whom managed to record the oddities, rivalries and beauty of the natural world. Scroll down for some of the winners.
For a PM who hasn't completed even one term yet, the ability to spark a publishing trend single-handed is a remarkable achievement, writes Kanika Datta.
'This proved that whatever was growing in the mosquito's gut was a parasite -- it was almost certainly the malarial parasite.'
'Any conventional conflict could trigger a nuclear war with results that neither India nor Pakistan could survive easily.' >A revealing excerpt from Shuja Nawaz's The Battle For Pakistan: The Bitter US Friendship And A Tough Neighbourhood.
Nikita Puri lists the best shows and films to watch online as you ace social distancing.
At a time when the Kashmir valley has been shut down, it is perhaps appropriate that we remember Lal Ded, Kashmir's best known spiritual and literary figure, someone remembered with divine adoration both by Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir. A fascinating excerpt from Sandhya Mulchandani's For The Love Of God: Women Poet Saints Of The Bhakti Movement.
Another book on Hinduism by American indologist Wendy Doniger has come under attack from the same Delhi-based group which had compelled the publishers of an earlier work by her to withdraw the title.
'Both Abdul Hamid and the enemy tank place each other in their sights and shoot. Both shells hit their targets. There is a loud blast, fire and smoke.' 'Hamid doesn't get time to jump off. A deafening blast follows and then there is complete silence.' 'Abdul Hamid is dead. He has destroyed a total of seven enemy tanks, many more than what an armoured formation could take on.'
Why South Africa is such a popular vacation spot among Indian celebs?
Long before he launched Paytm, Vijay Shankar Sharma, a 32 year old from Aligarh, embarked on his ambitious entrepreneurial journey.
The attendee had to call into the conference call and say a few initial pleasantries to establish his/her presence, but could then leave the app to handle the rest once the Senior Company Bore began his monologue... A rib-tickling excerpt from Sanjeev Sanyal's Life Over Two Beers.
How a bus conductor named Shivaji Gaekwad became the mega-phenomenon called Rajinikanth.
'I do not think that we are showing Hindu humanity and humaneness in the process of the National Register of Citizens.'
The fruitless pursuit, which tore the Talwars' lives and reputations to shreds, means that Aarushi's killers have not only got away but may never be found, says Sunil Sethi.
Kamal Nath argued that Modi had 'overexposed himself': By constantly pushing his own image on social media and on TV, attaching his name to multiple promises, Modi had become the face rivals could easily blame for India's chronic dysfunction.
From yacht cruise to jet skiing, get a taste of adventure this summer.
'He totally gets the Gandhis...' 'If anything, he pays too much attention to the Gandhis.' 'I feel that in places like UP, where the Congress doesn't matter, he often spends time blasting the Gandhis.'
Intrapreneurs are more diverse in their skill sets and backgrounds, more digitally native, more networked and connected, and more ambitious to do bigger things. A fascinating excerpt from Simone Ahuja's Jugaad 3.0: Hacking The Corporation To Make It Fast, Fluid And Frugal.
'Local legend has it the West Indians were plied with copious amounts of Ireland's favourite Guinness whisky the night before the match in 1969, though no one is willing to go on record about it!' says Gulu Ezekiel.
'The macro-economic stresses -- high interest rates, rupee depreciation and capital flows -- have receded now.' 'Interest rates have come down, inflation is down and the rupee has bounced back.' 'If oil prices continue at this level, there will be no vulnerability.' 'Growth is a different story.'
'Captain Haneef-ud-din, pulling his sinewy body forward, crawled, rifle in hand, in the snow on 6 June 1999. He died on this craggy mountainside exactly two years after he had passed out of the IMA...'
Sir Mark Tully on the magic of Indian elections. A fascinating excerpt from The Great March of Democracy: Seven Decades of India's Elections.
Love has made me a poet, Rahul thought. He could think about her all day long. Sometimes, she entertained his dreams. He did not wish to wait until after Ganesh Visarjan to see her again.
'I have grown up in an environment where the dominant narrative of Indian sporting achievement was -- We can't.' 'These achievers have fought hard, built on each other's body of work and knowledge, and have today changed the script to -- We can,' notes Rahul Dravid,cricketing legend.
Till recently there was no monument to the Maratha victory or the great Maratha General Mahadji Shinde. It was a defeat, such as never suffered by the British in India.
Celebs share their Christmas celebration pictures!
Shehla doesn't and has never shied away from talking the tough talk and walking the tough walk, says Gurmehar Kaur.
When Deepak Singh first started working as a salesman in the US, he was ashamed of the fall in status this signalled, says Vikram Johri.
The deal did not include the FT Group's 50 per cent stake in The Economist magazine.
With her various overtures and right noises at the right time, Mamata is once again trying to reshape her image from being a regional leader to one with national appeal and acceptability. After all, the charge of building a Federal Front may also bring to the fore Mamata's chances to become prime minister in 2019.
'Galbraith had a powerful ally in Washington -- not as blunt and direct as the ambassador -- but committed to see Krishna Menon go.' 'This was President Kennedy himself.'
Delhi is a year-round health hazard that visitors shun like the plague, says Sunil Sethi.
Generations of Indians don't quite grasp that there would barely be an India had it not been for the Sardar whose steadfastness and guile stitched together that which had been united only in philosophy and spirituality and sometimes not even then -- for thousands of years. A fascinating excerpt from Hindol Sengupta's The Man Who Saved India, Sardar Patel and His Idea of India.
Recounts challenges faced in setting up various channels, hopes new management will always put journalism first.
The great pity is that Mr Siddiqui has a remarkable, even inspiring, story to tell, feels Sunil Sethi.
Indira Kannan picks Made in Bangladesh, Greed, Moothon.
Mallya understood, astutely, that the Dhingras were very keen to acquire Berger Paints. He upped his asking price. The figure Vijay asked for was found to be much more than what Kuldip and Gurbachan had anticipated. A fascinating excerpt from Sonu Bhasin's Unstoppable: Kuldip Singh Dhingra And The Rise Of Berger Paints.
The Indian economy was on an impressive growth path through the first decade of this century till it was brought to an abrupt halt by the policy inertia during UPA2 and the Modi government's inability to restore economic and financial momentum. Fascinating glimpses of what went wrong from Puja Mehra's must-read book The Lost Decade: How India's Growth Story Devolved Into Growth Without A Story.
One cricketer made all the difference when the first All India cricket team toured England in 1911. Baloo Palwankar startled the English with his guile and genius.
