'Crores are spent on Martyrs Day and on lighting candles, but people don't respect living soldiers who are heroes.'
'Nobody can control Kashmir and what happens here.' 'Even a government with a full sweeping majority and strong mandate hasn't been able to control the state.'
'Both have a very nationalistic view of foreign policy.' 'They think they are shrewd and clever diplomats.'
'It was a privilege to work for the country.'
'Even if the government does not implement an all-India NRC before 2024, it will be part of the party's long-term project.'
'He has dealt with such tremendous odds that he understands things at a level that not many people do.'
'Non-separation of religion from politics is India's most daunting challenge'
'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister, Safiya Abdullah Khan.
'The Ladakh Scouts are a fantastic mountain troops suited to this terrain.' 'Other troops have to first get acclimatised, but these men are tough mountain people.'
'He is psychologically preparing the PLA and the Chinese public to avoid a loss of face.'
Basil George led an amazing rescue mission so that a helicopter could land and rescue people. In an admirable community effort, his team swam through strong currents, broken walls and floating snakes to help those who needed it most.
'A drought is like a fire. It licks everything in its wake - crop, trees, animals, humans...' The plains of the Ganga in Bihar have a raw, unmatched, beauty, but also bear the anguish of its farmers.
Rai Mamta Kumari's first shot at politics ended before it could begin. She had gone to file her nomination with a procession of 56 four wheelers and distributed 1,800 food packets. But then something went wrong.
'An unsung hero is fine, but an insulted one is not.'
'The Bharat Ratna should have been given a long time ago. Not just to irk the Chinese, but to recognise His Holiness for what he is and how we have benefited immensely from his presence in India.' 'I don't think there's been a better ambassador for India's philosophical and cultural past than the Dalai Lama.'
'Crucial intelligence was obtained by a R&AW operative from a couple of moles inside the camps four days before the Balakot operation.'
'The Chinese are only about 160-170 km behind.' 'It will not take much time for them to bring their troops back, considering that they have better infrastructure -- and the weather is now favourable.' 'They can move in much faster as the terrain favours them.'
'The use of military power to settle disputes is not always preferred and is the last preferred option, but it certainly remains an option.'
Tim Pigott-Smith hated the natives in The Jewel in the Crown, but went back a lover of India at the end of the four-month shoot. India not only gave him a career-defining role but touched him in many different ways. Documentary filmmaker Siddharth Kak -- who acted with the classy actor in the beloved television series -- shares his memories with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
With his name or without, Jim Corbett continues to live on in his home in Uttarakahand's Kaladunghi and in the jungles he loved.
'We are trying to empower teachers in the entire country because online teaching is very, very, complicated.'
'When we go to war, we also take our families.' 'It's not just fighting the war ourselves, but our families are doing that too. And that's the biggest sacrifice.'
'If Pinarayi Vijayan gets another term, Kerala will be a state where everybody has a house.'
Two years after Major Akshay Girish sacrificed his life fighting terrorists in J&K, his mother wonders why his valour wasn't duly recognised.
'The unusual aspect of this election is that this time there is a triangular fight.' 'Previously, the fight used to be between two parties.'
'The Chinese fault lines are tremendous and we need to exploit them.'
'Times will be tough, but we will get by and by the grace of Lord Balaji.'
On the warpath over the appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman, students of the premier institute on Monday threatened to launch a hunger strike for his ouster as the fast by a faculty member for "immediate resolution" of the crisis entered its third day on Monday.
'We must be careful because China has not given its design in Eastern Ladakh.'
'An officer had to command the regiment for the Republic Day parade -- and that officer happened to me.' 'It should not be viewed on the basis of gender,' says Captain Preeti Choudhary, the only woman officer to from the Indian Army to be part of a contingent at the Republic Day Parade 2021.
In a journey of Marco Polo-esque proportions, Meenakshi Arvind and Mookambika Rathinam drove through 24 countries and two continents over 72 days. Meenakshi and Mookambika tell Rediff.com's Archana Masih about their incredible, unforgettable, journey and the desperation for Gandhi in a dark corner of the world.
'But an overthrow of the Afghan government would really embolden regional militant groups in a big way.' 'LeT and JeM could be emboldened, and prompted to replicate in Kashmir what the Taliban did in Afghanistan.'
'It is a miracle how a soldier handles the lack of oxygen, stands his post and also confronts the Chinese at 14,000 feet where survival itself is a challenge.'
Nitin Singh, tourist guide, spent 75 minutes with Donald and Melania Trump at the Taj Mahal. 'They were very down to earth and listening to me intently as I told them the story of the Taj and the Mughals.'
'They have done in Eastern Ladakh what we did in Dokalam in 2017.'
'It's waging an offensive with no seeming precedent.' 'The fact that it's now entering cities, as opposed to remaining massed around their perimeters, is a game changer.'
'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'
'When incidents of stone pelting at the aircraft occurred, the boys were careful that they continued with the rescue because finally we had to save lives.' A senior Indian Air Force officer, who is a veteran of flood rescue ops in Uttarakhand, Bihar, Gujarat and the Bombay deluge, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com about the rescue operations in Kashmir, one of the first such efforts in a densely populated and urban area.
At 42, Dizezny D'Souza trained with teenagers at a school ground to get back into running. She won silver and bronze for India in China.
'I chose the army over glamour,' says Major Sheena, who feels no other profession elicits the kind of respect like the army does.
