"For years I had been the cynosure of all eyes in my residential complex -- 'the lady with the full-time maid!'"
Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat, 21, received the Mahavir Chakra in the 1962 War with China. Such was his valour that a temple and museum stands on the land he died defending in the icy valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
Finally to end the dispute, Sharma threatened to show her shoes. Pasbola declared regally that he would like to forgo that particular honour. Sharma ignored him. Instead, she bent down, took off her shoe and triumphantly held her prize aloft, and said delightedly, "Yeh dekhiye! (Have a look!)"
Here's what went down in the curtain raiser episode.
With neither the Bharatiya Janata Party nor the Shiv Sena willing to yield ground on the number of Assembly seats they want to contest, the alliance between them seems to be on the brink.
Every general election since 2004 has been seeing the foray of one or two new parties into the political battlefield in Andhra Pradesh.
The battle against militants fighting for separation of China's volatile Xinjiang province, bordering PoK and Afghanistan, is getting "tougher, fiercer and crueler than ever" due to the revival of pan-Islamic extremist groups, top Chinese leaders from the province said.
Reaffirming his commitment to destroy the Islamic State, United States President Barack Obama said America will destroy any militant organisation that tried to harm its people but ruled out sending large scale troops on the ground as done in the case of Afghanistan and Iraq.
'If the US-Pakistan relationship continues to suffer, Pakistan may feel it has less to lose and decide that it need not keep a leash on LeT in order to appease America.' 'A tougher US policy toward Pakistan could lead to an emboldened and strengthened LeT and JeM, resulting in more terrorist attacks in India.'
'Disgruntled, disillusioned, Muslim youth -- of whom there is no dearth, given the Muslim world's sorry state -- are ready to take on the might of the West and attack it in any way they can.' 'For them, it is their faith, and not the reasoning of Newton or Descartes that has stayed with them, sustained them through the misery their world had sunk into,' says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Amongst those who heard the message of the Bihar results would be Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, whose realm is simultaneously the country's most complex and -- when something goes wrong -- the most emotive, says Ajai Shukla.
National interest today demands that Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party seriously think of forming a coalition government -- based on a common minimum programme -- after the next general elections, filmstar-turned-politician Shatrughan Sinha has said.
'The Congress has become two distinct parties, one of the durbar, the other of the field and if they keep drifting apart, death is a certainty,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'Both Abdul Hamid and the enemy tank place each other in their sights and shoot. Both shells hit their targets. There is a loud blast, fire and smoke.' 'Hamid doesn't get time to jump off. A deafening blast follows and then there is complete silence.' 'Abdul Hamid is dead. He has destroyed a total of seven enemy tanks, many more than what an armoured formation could take on.'
'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.'
'Their failure to take Siachen is an embarrassment to the Pakistan army -- and let them live with it. Our army's shoulders are broad enough to endure the challenge.'
Describing the protests as a "mutiny against Pakistan", the government on Tuesday turned to Parliament for support as demonstrators continued to put pressure on a defiant Nawaz Sharif to quit as prime minister.
Investors can take heart from the first Cabinet meeting in the second innings.
The much talked about dinner with Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal at Bangalore on Saturday had around 200 people attending it. While the event, according to the AAP, was a fund raiser, many felt that it was an extended version of Kejriwal's speech which they have been hearing all these days.
Fearing defeat in the upcoming high-pressure polls, state Congress chiefs are reluctant to fight from their constituencies, eye a shift. Anita Katyal reports
If viewed as a part of the Al Qaeda's radicalisation effort to produce jihadists out of discontented Muslim youth in India, the call could well have a much larger dimension, both in the near as well as long term, directly impacting on national security, says Bibhu Prasad Routray.
'Bajirao Mastani is going to be one of those films people won't forget for a very long time.'
Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon died on Saturday at a hospital near Tel Aviv after being in a comatose state for the past eight years following a stroke. He was 85.
Admiral Sam Locklear heads the US Pacific Command, making him the most powerful military commander on earth. With 60 per cent of the US Navy under him, PACOM oversees 52 per cent of the planet. Locklear is America's military pointsman for 36 countries, including India and China.
The bravado of NDA ministers may have undone the gains made in cross-border security cooperation over the past several years.
Did the human drama provoked by the Japanese invasion of Burma and the Indian exodus from Rangoon inspire director Vishal Bhardwaj's forthcoming epic?
A soldier cannot justifiably demand faster, easier promotions based on frequent field tenures
The mortal remains of the nine Siachen bravehearts, who were buried alive on February 3 in an avalanche in the world's highest battlefield, were on Monday brought to New Delhi.
Arvind Kejriwal's challenge is unlikely to even cause Narendra Modi to change his schedule. The only person it will embarrass, likely, is Kejriwal, says Mihir S Sharma
If Afghanistan is going to make any gains through democratic reforms, the newly elected president must start with addressing corruption at all levels of government and developing a comprehensive government financing plan independent of American support.
We must repeal AFSPA to begin to heal Kashmir, and to enhance India's moral stature and that of the army, says Ajai Shukla
'This is the first time the US has formally recognised the threat India faces from terrorist organisations based in Pakistan.'
Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party's three top women leaders were arrested on the second day of the 'democracy march' on Monday, as clashes erupted inside the supreme court premises between pro- and anti-government lawyers.
'The era of conventional wars is almost over in the Indian context.' 'In such a scenario, special forces could play a decisive strategic role in the spectrum of conflict.'
Pakistan's hawkish Army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, who did little to change the force's India-centric stance, will leave the world's sixth-largest army grappling with a host of security challenges when he steps down on Friday.
'The Indian military has rightly advised the government not to fall for the rather spurious Pakistani demand to demilitarise Siachen,' says Nitin Gokhale in an interview about his new book Beyond NJ9842: The Siachen Saga.
The market could be influenced by events elsewhere in the world and regardless of what happens to India's economy
'IAF is expanding at a rapid pace'
In Tamil Nadu politics J Jayalalithaa is the queen of all she surveys today, But there are some ground realities that may still dent her high ambition. Rediff.com's Sheela Bhatt's fascinating new column where she reveals the ground realities in the Battle for India.
The vituperative campaign against the BJP by the Shiv Sena does not make for an easy post-poll tie-up should either of the two be forced to come together to cobble the numbers. Either must get a clear 145 seats to avoid a forced remarriage to the same political spouse. Any one going with Congress or the NCP only means the platter serves up a goulash, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
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