A day after high drama over the 'kidnapping' of ex-Maharashtra minister Tanaji Sawant's son, traced on a Bangkok-bound chartered flight which was diverted to Pune, the Sawant junior claimed he kept his 'business trip' secret to avoid his family's wrath.
Standing near the noose, he recited a couplet in which he said he wished nothing but to sacrifice his life for the motherland. Utkarsh Mishra remembers Ram Prasad Bismil on the revolutionary leader's 128th birth anniversary.
'The Andamans are strategic territory for India.' 'We need at least three full-length, 10,000-feet airfields here.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to the memory of freedom fighter V D Savarkar in Marseille, France, where Savarkar had attempted a daring escape from British custody in 1910. Modi also inaugurated a new Indian Consulate in the city, marking a significant step in strengthening India-France ties. The prime minister's visit includes a series of engagements with French President Emmanuel Macron, including a visit to the Mazargues War Cemetery to honor Indian soldiers who died in the World Wars. They will also tour the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) project.
The three accused were taken to the Police Line by the special investigation team headed by IPS officer Monika Bhardwaj for a joint interrogation.
'Many tourists are keen to break the law and see the tribals. But what difference would it make? They are humans like us. We do not like intruders, neither do they. Very little of their homes is left, so we might as well let them be,' says Chintan Purohit.
Ms Jonas has zoomed off to the Andamans to shoot The Sky Is Pink.
The legislation is aimed at streamlining various services related to immigration and foreigners, including their entry, exit and stay in India.
Nataraj and Desinghu are tipped to become the best male and female athletes of the Games.
The police registered a case earlier this month after the chief judicial magistrate of Port Blair ordered its filing based on a petition by the young woman.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf offers a ready reckoner on Javed Akhtar's great great grandfather Fazl e Haq Khairabadi who fought the British empire during the 1857 Mutiny and was imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair.
Rediff reader Puspen Haldar shared these photographs from his travel.
India is proposing a new law that would impose a jail term of up to seven years and a fine of Rs 10 lakh on anyone found using a forged passport or visa to enter, stay, or exit the country. The Immigration and Foreigners Bill, 2025, also mandates reporting of foreign visitors by hotels, universities, and hospitals to track overstaying individuals. The bill aims to simplify laws, ease business, and strengthen national security while promoting economic growth and tourism.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new schemes and increased the subsidised Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loan limit to Rs 7 lakh from Rs 5 lakh, targeting everything from unemployment to crop productivity enhancement across the country. Presenting her eighth budget speech in Parliament, Sitharaman positioned agriculture as "the first engine of growth" and unveiled the Prime Minister Dhan-Dhaanya Krishi Yojana, a flagship program targeting 100 agri-districts grappling with low productivity, moderate crop intensity, and below-average credit parameters.
'Leaders of the Indian community in Hong Kong had broached the idea of developing the Andaman and Nicobar islands for investment and setting up manufacturing units,' points out Rup Narayan Das.
Naib Subedar Chunni Lal is the only soldier awarded the Ashok Chakra, Vir Chakra and Sena Medal.
The Delhi government is embroiled in multiple litigations with the Lieutenant Governor in the Supreme Court including its plea challenging the Centre's law establishing pre-eminence of the LG over the elected dispensation in controlling services in the national capital.
The chartered flight, operated by a private firm, carrying Rishiraj Sawant (32) and his two friends returned to Pune airport between 8 pm and 8.30 pm on Monday, abruptly cutting short a trip to the Thailand capital which was not disclosed to the former minister, who is leader of the ruling Shiv Sena, and his family.
In a significant policy shift aimed at boosting agri-productivity and rural prosperity, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced six new agricultural schemes while increasing the subsidised Kisan Credit Card loan limit to Rs 5 lakh from the existing Rs 3 lakh, benefiting 7.7 crore farmers, fishermen, and dairy farmers.
Aditi Mistry has entered the Bigg Boss 18 house as a wild card contestant along with Yamini Malhotra and Edin Rose.
Hyderabad will host the final rounds of the 78th National Football Championship for the Santosh Trophy for the first time in 57 years, the All India Football Federation (AIFF) announced on Wednesday.
In her first engagement in Port Blair, the President laid a wreath at the Martyrs Column and visited the Cellular Jail complex and museum. She also witnessed the light and sound show at the Cellular Jail.
Eight Jarawa girls were rescued from two remote creeks in Andaman and Nicobar Islands after they were kidnapped by a group of men from a Jarawa Reserve Zone last week, the police said on Wednesday.
The Union Budget 2025-26 on Saturday allocated Rs 2,33,210.68 crore to the Ministry of Home Affairs with the majority of the fund -- Rs 1,60,391.06 crore -- being given to central police forces like Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) which are responsible for internal security, border guarding and security of vital installations.
The quake, with a magnitude of 5.9 on the Richter Scale, hit south Andaman region at 01:21 hours, the India Meteorological Department said in New Delhi.
Heavy overnight rains have disrupted normal life in the island with a flood-like situation in north and middle Andamans.
If as critics point out, the environmental impact assessment study was commissioned only after the auction process got underway with not all the stakeholders getting to know of it, then the government has already compromised the trust it could have enjoyed with Kerala's public including its coastal communities, points out Shyam G Menon.
A moderate intensity earthquake measuring 5.2 on the Richter Scale hit Andaman Islands on Tuesday, the Meteorological Department said. The epicentre of the quake that struck at approximately 7.09 am at the depth of 10 kilometres was centred at 11.7 degree North latitude and 95.0 degree East longitude in the Andaman Islands region. There were no immediate reports of damage and no tsunami alert had been issued.
'We have not even used 0.1% of the available resources.'
In its first sporting event after the tsunami, a charity football match was held at Port Blair.
Launching a scathing attack on the Congress, Shiv Sena MP Shrikant Shinde wondered whether Indira Gandhi was also anti-Constitution as she had praised Savarkar as a "remarkable son of India".
14 years after losing her family in the tsunami, Meghana Rajsekhar finally tasted her mother's rasam when her childhood cook invited her for a meal.
Tsunami disaster has a taken heavy toll on the tourism industry of Andaman and Nicobar islands.
The only family Meghana lived with after losing her parents and brother in the tsunami was her dog, Alex. When Alex died after 13 years, she took her ashes to where her own family lay under the ocean. "I wanted her to join the rest of my family and that is one of the best things I have done."
With the tribes together accounting for less than 1,000 people, largely disconnected from the rest of the world and having very low immunity levels, anthropologists fear they could get extinct should the pandemic spreads its tentacles across the islands.
Anita Aikara/Rediff.com shares pics from her travel to the Andaman Islands.
At least 21 persons died on Sunday when the tourist boat carrying them capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, official sources said. The boat carrying 45 people -- tourists from Kanchi Puram district of Tamil Nadu and Mumbai, and crewmembers -- sank on its way from Ross Island to North Bay.
A moderate earthquake hit the Andaman Islands on Friday, the Met department said in New Delhi. The tremor measuring 5.3 on the Richter Scale shook the islands at 0110 hrs. There was no immediate report of any damage due to the quake, met officials said. This is the third earthquake in this week to hit the Andaman Islands.
Earlier in the day, the prime minister inaugurated a slew of development projects and laid foundation stones of several others related to energy, connectivity, education, tourism and health sectors.
