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.
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. In this five-part series, rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
In a forceful statement in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj rejected allegations that she misled the country.
As armed forces prepare to showcase 'Nari Shakti' (women's power) at the Republic Day parade on January 26, the Navy is working on a policy to allow women officers on-board warships in the next few years.
General Surindar Bhaskar served as the 17th chief of the US Army Dental Corps.
Ajit Balakrishnan decodes the angst-ridden discourse of the day.
'It is for the first time in 70 years that the US has come out totally in India's favour on the Kashmir issue,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Where is the analysis that we need to spend at least Rs 4 trillion to keep India safe?'
The Indian economy can grow if it is delinked from the slow growth in the West and the deceleration in China, says Ashok K Lahiri.
'Human trafficking from Bangladesh is a regular phenomenon and those people come here to work or in search of greener pastures. They are all over the country. We are giving them legal recognition and making them citizens so that they don't have to live in fear,' says R Nataraj, AIADMK MLA from Tamil Nadu.
'General Sam Manekshaw looked from left to right and said, "Gentlemen, I have come to have a look at you. I am taking a good look at your faces. When I come back after the war is over, some faces may not be here".'
'For so long as the rulers of Pakistan remain committed to confronting and vanquishing India, they will sustain delusions, breed terrorists, and export them.'
Top 20 images of all the events of the week that was.
Images from across Europe and parts of Asia show hot and bothered people dunking their feet in buckets of ice and wading into the sea as sweltering temperatures put some areas on red alert.
'India will want a lot of help from the US, but it's not going to want US troops.'
The death toll in the US due to coronavirus on Sunday crossed 9,500, which is three times more than the number of people who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Had the slain Indian-American engineer stayed in India, he would have earned less but his life might have been spared, Sunanda K Datta-Ray says, pondering the question of where one belongs.
Technology infrastructure solves many problems, but it cannot build roads or bridges and provide clean water. However, such activities are essential for human progress, and their creation provides jobs, says R Gopalakrishnan.
'China would want to take a tougher stance against India forming those strategic partnerships and prevent Quad from becoming a military alliance.'
The attacker believed that 'all disabled people needed to be killed'.
Former world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali died on Friday, aged 74. Following are some of the immediate reactions to the news:
A British website, set up to catalogue the last days of Subhas Chandra Bose, has released the evidence given by a Taiwanese official who claimed to have prepared Netaji's body for cremation after his death in a plane crash in 1945.
... 'is long lives are generally the norm today,' says Rahul Jacob.
Beijing will be intently watching Washington's response for any hint of weakness. Xi Jinping, who feels China has a limited window of strategic opportunity, will be emboldened to take additional initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and specifically against India and Taiwan, warns Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
Iqbal wanted to land the smuggled goods by helicopter on the Andaman Islands. DK asked, 'Iqbal, a helicopter will bring the consignment to the island, drop it there and then return. Won't radars detect it?' 'No.' 'How?' 'Radars can't detect aircraft that fly at a low altitude. Our helicopter, after entering India's air space, will dive and fly at four feet above the sea level.' 'For that, I have a German pilot in mind. He was an ace aviator in the last world war.' An enthralling excerpt from Aabid Surti's Sufi: The Invisible Man Of The Underground.
At war, the Jalashwa can carry and launch a full infantry battalion in a single wave. At peace, the Jalashwa can evacuate 1,000 people in a single trip. Ajai Shukla explains why the Indian Navy's new tender for more ships like the Jalashwa must be treated with special urgency.
With a rich political and personal legacy, George Herbert Walker Bush left no shortage of memorable photos from his time both in and out of office. Bush died at the age of 94. The 41st US president, congressman, Central Intelligence Agency director and oil tycoon was also father to the 43rd president -- George W Bush. The younger Bush in a statement remembered his father as "a man of the highest character and the best dad a son or daughter could ask for." Delving into archives here are the US former president's most memorable days.
While Smriti Irani might bristle with faux indignation at the 'malicious' newspaper report, it is very clear that just as Teacher's Day was hijacked by her boss and a day of celebration became an assignment, the first attack on Christmas as a holiday has been made in the war on India's cosmopolitan way of life, says the Mango Indian.
'Many sepoys fought with distinction, winning some of the first Victoria Crosses to be awarded to Indians; and indeed, as in any army fighting under such inhumane conditions -- standing in the freezing sludge, with shrapnel tearing through bodies and being subjected to gas attacks -- some buckled under pressure.'
'The response to savagery and mass injustice is never a persistent howl.' 'There will be, among the victims, those who choose to forget the scars, those who go on living, those who challenge the overall environment of sentimentality.' 'And the more effort you put into including these other voices, into assimilating these spoilsports, the more balanced your depiction of the tragedy in question will be,' observes Sreehari Nair.
With 75 per cent of votes counted, the ND party was leading with 39.6 per cent of total votes heading towards a majority in the 300-member Greek Parliament, while Tsipras' leftist Syriza was behind with 31.6 per cent of total votes, CNN reported.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The deal would allow Japan to export nuclear technology to India.
Relying on the private sector to undertake infrastructure investment may not be a realistic proposition.
'Now is the time for India to course correct and for the government also to course correct,' says businessman Mangesh Khatri.
'It was Dhanush's idea to have the meditation beats when we first see him as a character.' 'So giving him a flavour made him very unique.'
'When you look at the content of Modi's speeches, the word 'Modi' is what he pronounces the most by far, which is not a healthy sign.'
'We are talking about history, about things that transpired.' 'If we don't know our history, we will never be able to evolve as individuals.'
The Turbo boasts of new design, hardware and, most importantly, strong build.
'The reason why we have reached such depths is because of the breakdown of the rule of law, and not the political atmosphere.' 'Yes, the political atmosphere has aggravated the situation.'
