On April 13, 1984 the Indian Army launched a daring operation at Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, to gain control over the glacier in the eastern Karakoram range in the Himalayas. In the days to follow, Operation Meghdoot -- named after Kalidas's Sanskrit masterpiece -- secured the glacier and adjoining heights from Pakistani aggression. This operation has continued over the last 30 years with Pakistan making numerous failed attempts to dislodge the Indians from the Saltoro ridge along the western periphery of the glacier. Nitin Gokhale's book, Beyond NJ 9842: The Siachen Saga is the first of its kind, narrating the history of Operation Meghdoot. Rediff.com presents exclusive excerpts from the book.
'None of our critics have spoken about JNU's positive contributions. Instead, we are being labelled anti-national. A whole host of BJP leaders are products of JNU including Nirmala Sitharaman.'
The government will soon issue guidelines for regulation of OTT (over the top) platforms that will address issues such as sensitive content, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
'Philosophy, politics and practicality cross paths in Mohalla Assi's ambitious premise.' 'Except it is directed in such an unwieldy fashion that instead of rich satire, what emerges is a lumbering flab of incoherence and opinion glut,' notes Sukanya Verma.
On Shashi Kapoor's 83rd birth anniversary, Subhash K Jha looks at his top five productions.
Patnaik, 89, passed away at Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences in the temple city
Yamini has superpowers that help her intercept souls headed to heaven or the afterworld or for reincarnation and spirits them away, on another course, to those in need.
"Your Google has started now, but our Google started a long time back. Narad Muni was the epitome of information. He could reach anywhere and transfer a message from one place to another by saying 'Narayana' three times," he said.
'The Congress has indeed become overly dependent on the RJD.' 'A few Congress leaders have successfully convinced the national leadership about the benefits of maintaining ties with the RJD.'
Sukanya Verma looks at the recent spate of book-to-screen adaptations.
Nearly 100 world leaders including President Pranab Mukherjee and US President Barack Obama came together in an unprecedented act of homage to Nelson Mandela describing him as a "giant of history".
The country has its own triangular flag with an emblem of Paramashiva and Nandi and is called the 'Rishabha Dhvaja'.
All Pakistani moves towards peace will be seen as tactical compromises, to be abandoned when the situation changes, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
"Progressively, you can imagine that it becomes that much more difficult, with each passing hour, the available power on the battery gets drained out, and there won't be anything left for it to power and operate", an ISRO official said.
Arvind Kejriwal accused Robert Vadra of participating in questionable land deals. Those were just allegations, but so are the crimes supposedly committed by Gurunath Meiyappan. But one is a businessman's son-in-law and the other is a politician's son-in-law. And so, predictably, they were treated differently by the politicians, says T V R Shenoy.
A few glimpses of the event that was a reminiscent of 'Howdy, Modi' that was held in Houston in September.
It is time to reset expectations as government will move with alacrity on social policy, not on economic reforms.
Twitter users flooded the social network with messages against the move, making #StopHindiImposition and #TNAgainstHindiImposition the top trends on platform.
Cities, roads, stations rechristened in the time of Modi.
'They are our go-to men, our trouble-shooters.' 'They draw their strength from remaining low-key and accessible only to our workers.'
Modi, dressed in a white-coloured T-shirt and trousers along with a scarf, did the yoga asanas with ease, as he is a regular practitioner of the ancient form of exercise.
As India celebrates Navratri (nine nights in Sanskrit) with great pomp and splendour, we bring you glimpses of festivities in Mumbai.
The last time a prime minister attended an event at AMU was Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964. Before him, then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had visited the AMU four times.
There is a deep-seated sense of rejection that the new generation Tamil youth have felt for a decade and more now, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The visit to this temple town is his first since he won the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat with a huge margin of 4.79 lakh votes, nearly 1 lakh votes more since 2014.
For the first time a 'sounding' rocket designed by students of the Indian Space Research Organisation-sponsored Indian Institute of Space Technology has been launched successfully in Thiruvananthapuram.
The going is not going to be easy for the DMK and its allies in Elections 2024. Despite the seats sweepstake in the 2021 assembly polls, the vote-share difference of 5.6% (DMK's 45.38% versus AIADMK-BJP's 39.72%) is not insurmountable on a bad day, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
We asked you to send in your unusual travel pictures -- something out of the ordinary that you spotted and caught it on camera. Here's the fresh set of responses!
Ignoring threats and entrenched interests, the admired and controversial T N Seshan helped clean up India's elections. T E Narasimhan meets the changemaker in retirement
A Muslim boy from humble background, Sarfaraz Hussain, has topped Class X exams from a school backed by Sangh Parivar in Betkuchi near Guwahati in Assam.
On the 106th birth anniversary of this great partiot, the least we -- a generation of Indians who enjoy our freedom without really valuing it -- can do is remember men like him who paid with their lives to achieve that freedom.
As Pranab Mukherjee looks increasing likely to be the next incumbent of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, he seems relaxed and humbled. So how will he be as the next President? 'Only time will tell,' he says. Sheela Bhatt reports from New Delhi
If these pictures are any indication, the ace singer-songwriter had one helluva time while at the headquarters too!
Several PE managers now prefer Sanskrit names for their funds over typical foreign names
Here are some significant facts about Akshaya Tritiya and options available to buy gold.
'It was the Mughals who first established standard units of measurement and maintained offices of meticulous record keepers and auditors, departing from the more haphazard methods of earlier regimes.' 'By the end of the 16th century, their revenue and judicial administrations exhibited an obsessive preoccupation with order, the efficient management of time, and a spirit of rational self-control -- all of them characteristics of early modernity,' point out Sheldon Pollock and Benjamin Ellman.
Teachers Day will be celebrated across India on September 5. Share stories of your favourite, most inspirational teachers with us.
The Calcutta high court on Thursday stayed the Centre's notice asking a Polish student to leave India for allegedly participating in a protest rally against the Citizenship Amendment Act in the city. Justice Sabyasachi Bhattacharyya restrained the government from giving effect to the notice till March 18, when the court will pass an order on the student's petition.
Armed forces all over the world have deep-rooted martial music traditions. Martial music is one of the many forms of music particularly composed to create 'Veer Rasa'. The essential qualities of martial music have been described in great detail by Bharat in his Sanskrit treatise on music titled 'Natyashastra'.
'The government wants farmers to diversify from rice and wheat, and create another green revolution. Cannabis can play a big part in that'
