The Agniveer passing out parade was as much about family celebration as it was a military event. Alongside the pomp, pageantry and discipline of the parade were the personal stories of families, their struggles and how far they had come.
'...Cliffy with utter disregard to his personal safety, charged through the fire zone, closed in on the enemy, threw hand grenades inside their bunkers and killed six enemy soldiers!' '...He was hit by a volley of bullets. Even before breathing his last, Cliffy killed a Pakistani soldier in hand-to-hand combat...' Captain Keishing Clifford Nongrum, who was just 24, received the Mahavir Chakra posthumously for his superhuman act of valour in the Kargil War just 18 months after he joined the Indian Army. Archana Masih/Rediff.com remembers one of India's Bravest Of The Brave as the nation salutes the 527 soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice for the Motherland on Vijay Diwas.
The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to apprise an 83-year-old mother quarterly about the steps taken to trace her son, Captain Sanjit Bhattacharjee, who has been missing in action and is said to be lodged in a jail in Pakistan for over 25 years.
Pakistani authorities have arrested the main facilitator of the gruesome attack on Bacha Khan University that killed 21 people, mostly students, while he was trying to slip across the border to Afghanistan, a media report said on Wednesday.
Unless Punjab has a chief minister who is able to look beyond community/vote bank politics, carry all sections of society, stop appeasing while addressing genuine concerns and break the stranglehold of the SGPC over Sikh affairs, my beloved home state is bound to die and conversions will be rampant, warns Sanjeev Nayaar.
'The simultaneous fire from so many guns rained down on the enemy and pulverised them, a sight I can never forget till my last breath.'
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that there are 83 missing defence personnel including 62 prisoners of the war of 1965 and 1971 for whom India is seeking their release and repatriation from Pakistan through diplomatic and other available channels.
Colonel Ajay Kothiyal, Kirti Chakra, Shaurya Chakra, is one of the most decorated soldiers to join politics. He still has two bullets lodged inside his body sustained in a gun battle with terrorists in J&K.
Amarinder Singh failed spectacularly in these assembly elections -- his new party failed to open its account, his ally BJP fell flat and he failed to even win his own constituency.
'Imagine for a soldier -- first you conquer territory after fighting a fierce battle, suffer casualties and then you are ordered to come back to your side of the International Border in India.'
The father of late Colonel Santosh Babu on Monday said he was 'not 100 per cent satisfied' with the Mahavir Chakra posthumously awarded to him for his acts of gallantry against the Chinese attack in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh in June 2020, and that he should have been honoured with the Param Vir Chakra.
'In the 1971 War my battalion suffered 4 casualties after fighting for 14 days.' 'In Operation Blue Star, I lost 19 men in just one hour.'
Asian Games gold medallist Manjit Singh, who doesn't have a regular job, on Tuesday requested the sports ministry to include him in the Target Olympic Podium (TOP) scheme to prepare for the upcoming big events like the 2020 Tokyo Games
Foot-tapping music and soulful classical renditions rent the air as Republic Day celebrations culminated with the Beating Retreat ceremony in New Delhi where President Pranab Mukherjee rode the ceremonial buggy down the Raisina Hill on Sunday for the last time during his tenure.
'Landmark developments herald the end of two decades of stagnation in the army's modernisation plans,' notes Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Tunes by Indian musicians, foot-tapping drumbeats and calming chimes reverberated the air as the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan lit up at sunset marking the end of the 66th Republic Day celebrations with 'Beating Retreat' ceremony at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Thursday.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that One Rank-One Pension (OROP) in Armed forces is a policy decision and suffers from no constitutional infirmity.
The Chinese navy's growing aggression in the Western Pacific is bringing together a range of allies.
The mortal remains of the nine Siachen bravehearts, who were buried alive on February 3 in an avalanche in the world's highest battlefield, were on Monday brought to New Delhi.
The government has decided to observe January 23 as 'Parakram Diwas' to commemorate the birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel said on Tuesday.
The military preparations underway show that the PLA may undertake operations this summer to achieve whatever objectives they could not achieve last May, asserts Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
When Rediff.com's Archana Masih and Rajesh Karkera set course from the foothills of the Himalayas to the Arabian Sea, they could not think of a better place to begin their journey than the stately campus that has given India some of its greatest military heroes.
During the freedom struggle, Shah had launched revolts in the Awadh region. He made the local mosque, Masjid Sarai, located in Chowk area of Faizabad his headquarters. As he liberated Faizabad and larger part of Awadh region, he used the premises of this mosque to hold meetings with rebel leaders.
'If I talk about my parents' sacrifices, this conversation will never end,' says Lieutenant Loveneet Singh.
Marking the culmination of the 67th Republic Day celebrations, the military on Friday held the beating retreat ceremony at Vijay Chowk in Delhi with patriotic fervour.
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a plea filed by the mother of an Army officer seeking direction to the Centre to take immediate steps through diplomatic channel for repatriation of her son, who is lodged in jail in Pakistan for last over 23 years.
Silverline seems symptomatic of how Kerala -- its claimed education, awareness and all -- overlooks its real problems, notes Shyam G Menon.
Tawang wears its history -- and also its present -- with ease. The flourishing town, with restaurants selling everything from noodles to dosas and locals returning home to new business prospects, shows little sign of the tension building up at the border about 40 km away to the north.
The army chief deflected a question about whether there was tension along the Line of Control, saying people were facing trouble because of Tuesday's earthquake in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Nine army men have been awarded Shaurya Chakra, the third highest peacetime gallantry award.
Kaleidoscopic lights replace incandescent glory this year.
'Although Hong Kong weathered many a storm and displayed a remarkable resilience to bounce back, the developments in the territory have raised question marks with regard to its future stability and prosperity.' A revealing excerpt from Rup Narayan Das's Hong Kong Conundrum: Pangs of Transition.
Glimpses of the colourful parade we will see on Rajpath in New Delhi on Thursday.
He also assured the nation that the borders are fully secured.
'I was no one. I am here today because I am a proud soldier of the Indian Army,' says Captain Mohammed Quamrul Zaman.
Colonel Santosh Babu who hailed from Suryapet district in Telangana, was serving in the 16 Bihar regiment as Commanding Officer.
After Muneer's release, Pakistan did not respond to extradition requests by the Indian government.
The UAE is the second country after France to send its troops to participate in the Republic-Day parade of India, a tradition started last year.
Launching the scheme, Modi said during the nationwide lockdown, the talent from cities returned to villages and it will now give a boost to development of rural areas. The 'Garib Kalyan Rozgar Abhiyaan' will be implemented on a mission mode in 125 days in 116 districts of six states -- Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Odisha -- that received the maximum numbers of migrant workers back.
'100 Fayazs will bring a change in Kashmir, that's why they don't want a Fayaz.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances