As India celebrates its 67th Republic Day, Rediff.com takes a look at some brave men who stood their ground to protect their country from those who sought to bleed it.
Following are the names of some high-profile people who have been put behind the bars
India's 572 athletes hope to return home with an overflowing treasure chest of medals.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sumitra Mahajan will be the Speaker of the 16th Lok Sabha with senior leaders from all parties, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, moving motions on Thursday proposing her name for the high office.
Officials said while two commandos, identified as constables Linju N and Fateh Singh had succumbed to their bullet injuries on Thursday, their collegaue Lakshman Singh died on Friday.
The saffron party which has a lot at stake in the last two phases of polling scheduled for March 4 and 8 has moved its war room to Varanasi, entrusting Union ministers and senior leaders with the task of strengthening the campaign with the prime minister in the vanguard.
Four junior ministers - Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Sanjiv Kumar Balyan, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey - have resigned ahead of the rejig.
'Hundreds of engineers have complained that they are being threatened by criminals for allotment of contracts and extortion.'
The agency said it searched a Mumbai-based operator who was running 700 shell companies with 20 dummy directors and had "converted Rs 46.7 crore for Chaggan Bhujbal", the jailed ex-Maharashtra deputy chief minister.
In the wake of forthcoming assembly polls in Haryana, retired bureaucrats and police officers are in the fray to test political waters in the 'jat' heartland which goes to polls on October 15.
Grand alliance leaders accuse their rivals of having engineered electoral tactics to confuse its voters.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday inaugurated its controversial yatra from Ayodhya amidst a massive crackdown launched by the Uttar Pradesh administration which has arrested senior VHP leaders Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia, and over 500 people.
Star India shuttlers P V Sindhu and Kidambi Srikanth notched up comfortable victories but it was young Mumbai player Harsheel Dani who hogged the limelight at the Syed Modi Grand Prix Gold when he stunned H S Prannoy in straight games to storm into the quarter-finals in Lucknow on Thursday.
Modi, 68, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by President Ram Nath Kovind at a glittering ceremony at the forecourt of majestic Rashtraparti Bhavan.
She said no government can declare anyone dead without proof and her government does not believe in the theory of 'missing, believed to be killed'.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will retain DoPT, Atomic Energy as well as all important policy issues and portfolios not allocated.
Former India cricket captain Bishen Singh Bedi said the appointment "defies all logic".
'You can never say never in politics.' 'We may still see the return of AAP, but hopefully not of the same abusive politics again,' says Shekhar Gupta.
The Payment of Gratuity (Amendment) Bill and The Specific Relief (Amendment) Bill passed amid din.
'It will cause problems for people who deal in small amounts of cash.' 'I hope it does not cause law and order problems.'
'Like 2014, 2017 was also Modi's election.' 'Every voter you met, apart from those who are BJP cadres, everybody said they would vote for Modi, not the BJP.' 'The one and only factor is the Modi juggernaut. He is the one who turned the tide.' 'The wave which he created in 2014, and to maintain it for three years, is a huge task in itself.'
Janakrosh, hunkar and khabardar rallies will be brought out by the Communist Party of India, Bharatiya Janata Party and Communist Party of India-(Marxist-Leninist) in Patna in the next few days. M I Khan reports
Full list of the rejigged Union Council of Ministers
CRPF DG K Durga Prasad said the terrorists were clean shaven and that "shows" that they were fidayeen attackers.
The strong Modi wave, disillusionment with the Akhilesh Yadav-led government in the state and the division of the anti-Modi vote will help the BJP leader edge closer to the PM's chair, observes Sharat Pradhan.
From President Pranab Mukherjee's son Abhijit to Rahul and Varun Gandhi, at least 50 parliamentary constituencies will be contested by 'sons and daughters' of politicians of various parties during the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The theme of the reshuffle is to fulfill Modi's earlier promise of 'maximum governance, minimum government.' Some key ministries are likely to be merged.
Hours after 21 ministers took the oath of office and became a part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ministry, speculation began on which minister would be handed which portfolio. However, all speculation ended after the list was announced.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
The twin towns of Ayodhya and Faizabad were on the edge on Saturday as tension mounted on the eve of VHP's yatra with the UP government cracking down on the saffron outfit arresting some of its leaders and over 350 activists.
Behind the BJP's astounding electoral success is a small army of dedicated lieutenants marshalled by Amit Shah.
Apart from Smriti, Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ananth Kumar took over as law and parliamentary affairs ministers respectively.
No BJP president is powerful when the party is in power. Amit Shah is completely dependent on Narendra Modi's clout. He has a protective political immunity and everyone knows its source, says Bharat Bhushan
Parliament on Wednesday saw a washout as the Opposition aggressively pressed for ouster of Sushma Swaraj, Vasundhara Raje and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, rejecting the government's offer for a debate.
Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan came down heavily on Congress leaders for "persistently and willfully obstructing the House" and suspended them for 5 days. The members who have been punished include a president's son, ex-chief ministers' sons and an ex-CM's grandson. Rediff.com brings you the complete list.
Incidents of arson, firing and vandalism were reported from Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Punjab as protesters agitated against the dilution of the SC/ST Act.
