Rediff.com's Rajesh Karkera made an 11-day road voyage across some of South Asia's most deserted, challenging, terrain, always under the gaze of the sacred, dazzling Himalaya.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
After Pyongyang tests a missile potentially capable of reaching the US, Dr Rajaram Panda explores the realistic -- and peaceful -- options before Donald Trump and the international community at large.
Having endured the frustration of a long lay-off due to injury, Chris Woakes felt "incredible" after realising his "boyhood dream" of scoring a Test hundred at the 'Home Of Cricket'.
All through Moothon, you can sense Mohandas trying hard to empathise with her characters; I just wish she was interested in them, declares Sreehari Nair.
Till high school, his medium of learning was Marathi. Later, he completed his doctorate under Neil Armstrong's guidance. He has travelled to close to 50 countries, sold $350 billion worth of aircraft. Anjuli Bhargava meets Boeing SVP Dinesh Keskar.
From Kutch to Itanagar, Kashmir to Kanyakumari, there is only one emotion, it seems. Fear. Of coronavirus.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
As reports filtered in about the United States and the United Kingdom finalising plans for a limited military strike in Syria, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said India is not in favour of an external intervention but would go along with the decision of the United Nations.
Siva Sankar looks at S P Balasubrahmanyam's fantastic repertoire.
So far, major emitters are far from curbs on emissions on a scale outlined by the IPCC.
'Both Japan and China face a common challenge: How to deal with Trump.' 'The trade war with the US seems to have facilitated/hastened Abe's China visit, the first by a Japanese prime minister since 2011,' points out Dr Rajaram Panda.
Colonel Sonam Wangchuk was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra, India's second highest honour for courage, for wresting the first victory of the Kargil War. Leading 40 men, his unit evicted 135 Pakistani troops in a three day battle fought in two feet snow and minus 6 degrees.
'Despite much hype of optimism, everyone went home empty-handed without a clear picture where they are heading in the future,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
The magical land of Changthang in Ladakh is the stuff of dreams, though it might be losing its pristine beauty to the onslaught of tourists and campers.
An uneasy 72-hour ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the Palestinian militant groups began on Tuesday morning after a month of fighting, with Hamas firing a salvo of long-range rockets minutes before the truce, calling them revenge for Israel's "massacres".
Israel on Sunday resumed its military offensive on Gaza after Hamas militants continued to fire rockets rejecting a 24-hour humanitarian truce requested by the UN as the 20-day conflict killed 1,050 Palestinians and 46 Israelis, including an Indian-origin soldier.
India made a spirited fightback in the second half but failed to earn a direct berth in next year's hockey World Cup as they lost the high-scoring summit clash 3-4 to defending champions South Korea, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Monday.
In his latest book, Fly Me To The Moon, former member of Parliament Prafull Goradia provides interesting insights into the man who is India's prime minister.
'We have 200 million families. Parents have the responsibility to make their children righteous -- where there is righteousness in the heart, there is beauty in the character.' 'Only three people can give a good citizen before s/he turns 17. Father, mother, the spiritual environment and the primary school teacher.' President A P J Kalam on India becoming a developed country by 2020-2022, the heroes he admired; how 90 per cent of India's space programme is intended for the people and the individual's potential to become unique.
With more than one million people affected by the current Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the World Health Organisation has warned that there is "no early end in sight" to the severe health crisis and called for "extraordinary measures" to stop the transmission of the disease.
The long-neglected fruit may finally get the recognition it deserves.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Israel on Tuesday bombed several mosques, a hospital and a stadium in Hamas-ruled Gaza even as international efforts intensified to broker a ceasefire to end the 15-day conflict that has killed 620 Palestinians and 29 Israelis.
Experts identify two major advantages in building solar plants atop canals: efficient and cheap land use, and reduced water evaporation from the channels underneath
'People on both sides of the Hindutva debate need to read and understand the texts first,' Bibek Debroy, translator of the unabridged Mahabharata, tells Kanika Datta as he gets started on a similar project for the Ramayana.
'The real test will be in defence-related deals, for instance the Javelin anti-tank missile: Is the US willing to co-develop something with India, on terms that will support the 'Make in India' initiative? Is there defence technology transfer? Or will it dump old junk on India?' asks Rajeev Srinivasan.
'That Mad Men is currently the best-written show and quite unlike anything else out there is an understatement.'
It's a wrap! Rediff.com presents a roundup of the World Gymnastics Championships, Glasgow, which were held from October 23 to November 1.
'In 2015 I watched films in so many places. I attended several film festivals around the world -- Berlin, Tribeca (New York), Telluride, Toronto, Zurich, Mumbai, Dharamsala and Goa,' says Aseem Chhabra, author of a forthcoming book on Shashi Kapoor.
How many of these will you include in your travel list for 2016?
How many of these have you tried already?
The inspiring story of Birubala Rabha who will go to any lengths to protect the 'witches'!
What is Change really like in Bihar? Once seen as India's basket-case, what is its turnaround story like?
What is Change really like in Bihar? Once seen as India's basket-case, what is its turnaround story like? Archana Masih reports from India's other most talked about state.
Rediff.com reproduces the 1997 feature about Laxman, his passion for crows, and of course, his genius.
'Kejriwal has taken a leaf out of Modi's campaign of 2014 and improved upon it.' 'That suit will haunt Modi till he exits politics.' 'Of all the factors that favoured Kejriwal, the biggest was the arrogance and over-confidence of the Modi-Shah led BJP.' 'What the Congress could not do in the last two decades in Gujarat, Kejriwal did it in no time in Delhi.' 'The BJP has behaved exactly like the Congress in decoding Kejriwal's politics.'
