The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'
No country has grown without educating its people. India's shameful lag in primary and secondary education has persisted for several decades, and the crisis in higher education is now threatening a social and political calamity, says Ashoka Mody.
'Whichever option India chooses, it should be clear to the government that the China-Pakistan nexus poses a clear and present danger to national security,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Everything was sacrosanct when the BJP was led by Vajpayee and Advani.' 'That was a different culture. But with Modi and Amit Shah nothing is sacrosanct.'
'The government has sent a clear message to Pakistan: It is no longer business as usual.' 'The rules of the game have changed and a new game is at play,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'Koi Sardar hai? Goli se maar dalenge...' 'The only sardars who were spared in the train were the six with us. And the credit goes to the innate goodness of the passengers in our coach.' Payal Singh Mohanka remembers that horrifying train journey in the aftermath of Indira Gandhi's assassination.
It is regrettable that the IB has tried to devalue the expertise available both within the concerned ministry and in the scientific community by its allegations. Governments and NGOs in many western nations have not been accused of being 'anti-national' when they put their foot down on questionable practices by cash rich agri-business companies, says Rashme Sehgal.
'It is a diamond which has a very long competitive history.'
With 32 people being killed in Assam, the Centre on Sunday said it is determined to curb attacks on minorities as the violence there was aimed at starting a "full-fledged communal conflagration".
Twenty years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, India is in rebirth mode. Whether there is a Babri Masjid or a Ram temple or not in Ayodhya, India will go on. And it will see many tomorrows, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
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After becoming the first Indian to reach the final of a major ranking event, it was a sad end to Aditya Mehta's winning streak at the Indian Open World Snooker Championship, as he went down tamely to China's Ding Junhui in the summit clash in Delhi on Friday night.
The stage on which the Jammu and Kashmir flood disaster played out is littered with protagonists, most of whom did not receive the attention they deserve, says Ajai Shukla
Tarun Vijay, MP, salutes the General whom he adored as a great friend.
In insight into PNS Ghazi, the Pakistan Navy's prized submarine that now lies embedded in the Vizag seabed about 1.5 nautical miles from the breakwaters.
Eager to make a comeback to the Indian Test team, Punjab skipper Harbhajan Singh claimed a sensational six-wicket haul to skittle out Odisha for 205 in their first innings on the opening day of a Group A Ranji Trophy match in Mohali.
The last seven Indian sailors held hostage by Somali pirates were released October 30. Chirag Bahri, Indian coordinator for the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme that aids piracy survivors and their families, speaks to Vaihayasi Pande Daniel/Rediff.com on how the near-impossible was achieved.
Imagine being a part of a country, but being discriminated against by the majority community and atrocities being committed against you by the state. This is the deplorable conditions that the Rohingyas of Myanmar live in where they are cut off from their livelihoods and sources of income, unable to access markets, hospitals and schools, and have little or no access to relief aid. In order to understand the situation and the genesis of the tragedy unfolding, Rediff.com's Archana Masih speaks to Ambassador Vijay Nambiar, the United Nations' Chef de Cabinet (Chief of Staff), who had served a long stint with the UN in New York on the issue.
Indian intelligence agencies have often claimed that left-wing extremists are trying to make inroads in the militancy-hit regions of north-east to foment further unrest. But Jaideep Saikia, noted terrorism and conflict analyst, claims, "People who speak of Maoism taking roots in the north-east have not read history".
Vinita Bisht and Vinita Kamte lost their husbands -- one an NSG commando, the other an IPS officer -- in the 26/11 terror attack. Six years later, Archana Masih/Rediff.com meets them to discover that closure is one of the hardest things to find.
