Agnipath may be an exercise to address the genuine needs of the armed forces. But overall, it betrays the tendency to use the military and paramilitary for employment generation and shaping a national character, instead of treating them as the professional services they are, notes Shyam G Menon.
Rediff readers share their best travel memories.
There is disquiet and discomfort in the citizenry that can be touched and felt. No one is talking, but then, the Indian voter has not talked much -- with the conviction that all that goes up has to come down, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'There are times when you give an audition and it doesn't even reach the director.' 'In such a scenario, what can I do? 'More than nepotism, it's about favouritism.'
The drug controlling authority in Chhattisgarh on Thursday raided and sealed a unit of an antibiotic manufacturing company, whose product was used in sterilisation camps in Bilaspur district where 13 women died and several others fell ill.
Eight women died and 52 others have been hospitalised due to botched surgeries at a government-organised sterilisation camp in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district.
The body of one of the jawans was recovered, but there was no trace of five others.
The bench expressed displeasure over the trend of filing of sedition cases just after senior advocate F S Nariman made opening submissions on behalf of Singh, saying 'the gentleman has served as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and was acting as the Director of the Police Academy and now the proceedings under section 124A (sedition) of the IPC have been initiated against him'.
The Railway Minister Lalu Prasad on Saturday proposed to start 46 new trains in the Rail Budget for 2005-06.
The family of a 25-year-old man, who died after his tractor overturned at Central Delhi's ITO during the protesting farmers' tractor parade on the Republic Day, moved the Delhi Court on Wednesday seeking a court-monitored SIT probe into the incident.
A one-day statewide bandh called by the Congress to protest against the Kanker rapes involving minor inmates of a government-run tribal girls' hostel was a complete success across Chhattisgarh on Wednesday.
The Indian Medical Association and the Chhattisgarh Medical Officers' Association on Monday came out in support of a surgeon who has been sacked from service and arrested for his alleged "dereliction of duty" while conducting sterilisation procedures in Pendari village in the state on November 8 which claimed lives of 12 women.
'After the 2002 riots when the media and other political parties started blaming Modiji, thousands of people like us -- now, it must be crores of us -- started becoming staunch supporters of Modiji. The more you blamed him the more of our support he gained.' Pramod Singh of Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh is one of Narendra Modi's biggest fans and a member of Modi's India272 Web initiative, spreading the leader's message on social media and the Internet.
During the first phase of voting on November 12 for 18 seats in the Naxal-affected areas of the state, a total of 76.42 per cent polling was recorded.
Title contenders Delhi comfortably made it to the knock-out stages of the Vijay Hazare Trophy by defeating Services courtesy VJD method in their final North Zone leg encounter at the Lohnu ground in Bilaspur.
Former Punjab Member of Legislative Assembly Malkit Singh Keetu on Monday died after he was shot at allegedly by his nephew in Moga district over a property dispute, a senior police official said.
Here's a glimpse of flood situation across north and northeast India.
Delhi comfortably beat Haryana by 66 runs to register their second win in the North Zone leg of the Vijay Hazare National One Day Championship and in the process put one foot in the knock-out rounds in Bilaspur.
Maoists detained the Tata-Bilaspur passenger train near Posaita Station in Saranda forest in Jharkhand and hung a one-kg can bomb in front of the engine before engaging security personnel in an encounter, the police said.
The Chhattisgarh High Court on Thursday sought a detailed report, to be tabled within the next ten days, from the state government on the botched sterilisation surgeries in Bilaspur district, after it took suo motu cognisance of the incident, which left 11 women dead and many critical.
During his address after flagging off the train via video-conferencing, Modi said his government's policies are clear and intentions transparent in reforming the agriculture sector.
Twelve persons were killed and ten injured on Saturday when a train ran over them at a railway crossing in Bilaspur district, Chattisgarh, a senior railway police official said. The victims were crossing the tracks when the mishap took place at a spot near Tarbahar area of the town on the Mumbai-Howrah rail route, Inspector General (Railway) R K Devangan said. The gates of the crossing were closed as two trains were approaching the spot on parallel tracks, he said.
Congress masterstroke foiled by Vajpayee niece's failure. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com.
Suspected Naxals on Thursday night blew up a railway track in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district, railway sources said.Eight bogies of the Tata-Bilaspur passenger train were derailed between Gelkera and Manoharpur stations in the incident.Three bogies were badly damaged and nearly 50 people were injured in the incident, said sources.
Actor-turned-politician Raj Babbar and two nominated members took oath on Thursday in the Lok Sabha. The two nominated Anglo-Indian members are Ingrid Mcleod, a 42-year-old social worker from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh -- this being his second term-- and Charles Dias, 59, president of the Kerala Anglo-Indian Associations' Union and a former official of the state electricity board.
If the bribe-for-PPE-supply controversy in Himachal escalates, the BJP could have a lot to lose.
The Congress wants the 28 seats it won in 2012 plus 20 seats where the party was runner-up plus 57 seats where it was ahead of the SP in 2012.
The death toll in the blast at coal mines of the South Eastern Coalfield Limited in Chhattisgarh's Koria district has risen to six.
The Union Minister of Railways, Lalu Prasad while presenting the Interim Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Friday, announced the introduction of 43 new trains which include four Garib Raths.
One of the biggest impediments to the social acceptance of the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgenders (LGBT) is not so much laws and moral codes, but socio-cultural attitudes as institutionalised within language and jokes, which become the currency of the daily transaction of violence against them.
The train accident, which killed two and injured 55 others, was culmination of series of similar attempts by the Maoists in the past that were foiled, the police said.
Maoists on Friday exploded a bomb in Meghatpur mine and planted another at Kiribur, both run by public sector Steel Authority of India Limited along the Orissa-Jharkhand border. The attack comes hours after the Maoists blasted rail tracks in Jharkhand's West Singhbhum district that derailed the Tata-Bilaspur passenger train leaving two passengers dead.
The first chief minister of Chhattisgarh, was known in the political circles as someone who never gave up despite defeats, controversies and debilitating health issues.
Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi's vehicle was attacked on Thursday morning by unidentified persons near Girwar village in Marwahi constituency, police said.The assailants pelted stones on the vehicle when Jogi was traveling through his assembly constituency in Bilaspur district, they said.Though the vehicle was damaged, Jogi was unhurt, police said.
The government has identified eight corridors to raise speed of existing trains.
Area manager, Bondamunda Railway Yard, H K Padhee, who escorted the injured passengers, said that of the 55 injured, 32 were discharged after first aid, while the rest were admitted to the Ispat General Hospital and Government Hospital in Rourkela. He said two engines of the train had derailed while two bogies completely toppled over and three had tilted.
A former MP from Janjgir Lok Sabha constituency, Shukla left the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of assembly polls in 2013 and joined the Congress next year, alleging that she was sidelined by the state BJP leadership.
Against the background of growing political uncertainty, the Centre is planning two Ordinances to fast-track the creation of eight new Indian Institutes of Technology and 16 central universities.
Swine flu claimed four more lives, two of them in Chhattisgarh, taking the total number of casualties to 26, even as the government decided to issue new guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of suspected patients to calm fear among the people.
In an embarrassment to the ruling party, two of its sitting ministers lost and six were trailing.
