Villages are flooded, roads have washed away and railway tracks have submerged under the rising waters.
The prime minister also accused the Congress of "distorting history" as part of a conspiracy to divide the society.
Taking advantage of the indifference of passengers, the Indian Railways routinely indulges in several unfair trade practices, says S Pushpavanam.
Amid heart-rending scenes, the mortal remains of five army jawans killed by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control were on Thursday consigned to flames with full military honours in their respective villages in Bihar and Maharashtra.
'The arrests of Sanatan Sanstha members for committing murder and stockpiling explosives with the alleged intent of committing mass murder must be embarrassing to a majoritarian government,' notes Devangshu Datta.
Simultaneous activation of both Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal low-pressure systems has led to the state receiving an excess 65 per cent rainfall.
'As I went around Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Mannar, my mind went back to my visit in January 1990 at the fag end of the IPKFs mission in Sri Lanka,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In all the noise surrounding the Dok La confrontation, Claude Arpi focuses on a crucial issue that has hardly been covered -- the construction of roads for the armed forces and the local population to reach the most remote border posts.
Ex-servicemen say the government's award ignores five out of seven demands they had made and only partially meets the other two.
In fact, given the current tensions and massed troops on both sides, there is a danger that the LAC will become more like the Line of Control with Pakistan, a heavily fortified and strongly defended border where weapon fire exchanges regularly occur. Indeed, Stratfor Worldview research has listed a sharp increase in new Chinese facilities along the LAC in 2019-20.
The condition of over two dozen people who were admitted to the hospital in Kathmandu is said to be serious.
Naga rebel groups remain divided over the pact. Moreover, secrecy on accord creates apprehension in the society. K Anurag reports
Alabama Senator Sessions, who was among the first Senator to support Trump in the early part of his campaign and had served was the head of his national security team has been offered the position of US Attorney General, Fox News said.
'The project of a united Europe has constantly been made and remade.' 'The national borders have changed many, many times and so have the languages.' 'Britain's exit is only the latest episode in this long history,' says Aakar Patel.
Images of the events that shaped the world last week.
The Indian contingent of more than 300 navy personnel was assisting in the relief, with divers searching the brackish waters and medical teams seeing patients in makeshift tents set up at shelters.
Just 21 then, a young air force officer looks back at the 1971 war, which was like a baptism by fire in the fauj.
'Modi's decision to hold out an olive branch to Sharif within 48 hours of the 'surgical strikes' has been a timely move as it helps tensions to 'de-escalate',' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
China is distributing millions of controversial updated maps to its military in the first upgrade in 30 years, reportedly reinforcing its claims over Arunachal Pradesh.
Baba Ramdev's brand is pivoting away from franchise outlets and expanding its retail presence through the tried-and-tested channel distribution route of FMCG companies. Arnab Dutta reports.
Images of the events that shaped the world in March.
An ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh will be given per person to the next of kin of those killed in the floods.
Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar, mingles with the unceasing flow of people outside Rajaji Hall in Cjhennai, that come for one last look at J Jayalalithaa.
The Congress chief, however, said he was not expecting any cooperation from the prime minister and the BJP-led central government for the development of Wayanad and Kerala.
'Amid the frequent cries that the defence budget falls short of what is needed, we tend to ignore the reality that any enhancement in the allocation is just not possible, and the armed forces have no option but to operate within this constraint.' 'So, unless deadwood -- especially manpower -- is identified and eliminated, we simply cannot have a modern military of the type that India needs,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
Seven persons had been arrested in connection with the blasts.
Pakistan's former president Asif Ali Zardari has returned to the country, ending his 18-month-long self-imposed exile, amidst speculations about his future role in the Pakistan Peoples Party, which has threatened a major protest against the Nawaz Sharif government.
His death puts the species on the very edge of extinction.
The Dhaka to Kathmandu US-Bangla Airlines flight, with 67 passengers and four crew members on board, caught fire after it careened off the runway and ploughed into a football ground near the Tribhuvan International Airport on Monday.
At least 155 people have lost their lives and over 80 lakh people affected in fresh floods due to excessive rains in worst-affected Gujarat, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Odisha.
'It is the government's most important duty to ensure that when war breaks out, the armed forces are absolutely ready to face the adversary -- well equipped, well trained and in high spirits,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Heavy rains in the last three days triggered flash floods in parts of Bihar, where 41 people have died so far, and inundated large areas in Assam and North Bengal, paralysing normal life and snapping rail link to the Northeast from the rest of the country.
Slain Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghayth was on Tuesday sentenced to life in prison for conspiring to kill US nationals and providing material support to terrorists.
'How can a State, which claims to be a responsible power, unilaterally grab a "disputed" area to build a road on it?' asks Claude Arpi.
Kashmir was indeed in need of a messiah that summer; 70 per cent of its population aged below 31 were up in arms against the Indian State. Every nook and corner of the land brought forth stories of youngsters with crushed bodies and an unfaltering spirit.
'To all those then who talk about ending Brahminical hegemony, my advice is: Get the Brahmins on your side,' says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world
Curtains will fall on the Rim of the Pacific 2016, the world's largest international maritime exercise, on August 4.
Why did Chennai go under in the recent rains? R Ramasubramanian paints a familiar picture of dismal urban town planning, civic short-sightedness, and rampant development that caused the recent nightmare.
Lionel Messi scored twice as Argentina beat Nigeria 3-2 in another entertaining World Cup match on Wednesday.
