The election campaign finally ended on Friday, May 17. Arindam Majumder reveals what he discovered on the election front on a long rail journey.
The unrest in the hills has led to the tea sector losing its entire second flush, and Rs 200 crore of its annual earnings.
Very few today realise that without Brigadier John Dalvi's courage, we would never have known what really happened during those tragic days of October/November 1962, reveals Claude Arpi.
Defence ministry says the focus was on suitability and merit for the selection of the new Army chief.
The Trinamool Congress won 211 seats.
'He deserved to be field marshal because he carried the air force and navy with him in '71. Remember we were fighting on two fronts -- east and west. He stood out.'
Naomi Mihara reports from Bungamati, which used to be one of the prettiest parts of the Kathmandu valley before the quake.
He was a member of Azamgarh (Sanjarmur) module of the IM and was based in Nepal where he was teaching at a school.
The 25-year-old survivor from Sikkim, the wife of an army personnel, was trafficked to Delhi.
The death toll in the devastating earthquake that has rocked Nepal climbed to over 4,350 on Tuesday with more than 8,000 others injured, as Prime Minister Sushil Koirala admitted that the rescue and relief operations have not been effective.
Rescue teams from India and 33 other countries were on Saturday asked by Nepal to leave as it prepared to launch massive operations to rehabilitate millions of uprooted victims of the devastating temblor that has killed at least 7,365 people, including 41 Indians.
Colonel M N Rai's supreme sacrifice highlights that the Indian Army continues to be led from the front by its officers.
'Reduce the perks and privileges of MPs, but let there be no reduction in the money spent on the education of martyrs' children,' says former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
Two people, one legally assisting the affected people because of their exclusion from the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and another whose relative has been declared a 'foreigner' by the quasi-judicial Foreigners' Tribunal (FT), talk to Rediff.com about the issues on the ground that people excluded from the NRC are facing and how it can turn into a long-drawn legal process.
Being a victim of recurring political unrest over three decades, low productivity and escalating production cost, the Darjeeling tea industry has not been in good financial health over a long time.
'Gujaratis need not be ashamed of the lack of martial tradition.' 'They contribute to their country in other ways.' 'And, of course, they can also claim that while they may not have produced many martyrs, they produced the greatest one: Gandhi.'
Claude Arpi salutes Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand Bakshi, India's most decorated general, who passed into the ages recently.
He was arrested after a 'brief exchange of fire'.
The Congress plans to ensure that even if its candidates fail to register a win in the Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal, the benefit should go to the Left Front and not to friend-turned-foe Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress. Renu Mittal reports.
Left with nothing, many survivors staying at a relief camp in UP, recount the horror of Saturday's earthquake.
The Army, in its statement, has vowed to give a befitting reply to Pakistan "in the same language".
Jaswant Singh may have fallen to political designs within his party. But his lack of connect with his voters is bound to make the Barmer contest tougher for him to win.
Pitted against Bharatiya Janata Party's S S Ahluwalia who has the backing of the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha, Trinamool Congress nominee Baichung Bhutia said the real issue in Darjeeling hills was not a separate state, but lack of development.
Brigadier M P Bajwa (retd), commander of the troops that captured Tiger Hill, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih how a band of young soldiers won the Kargil War's most famous battle with their blood and grit.
Widening 'Operation Maitri', the Indian Army on Monday moved its rescue mission outside Nepal's capital into the epicentre of the devastating earthquake.
Chaos prevailed at Nepal's only international airport with hundreds waiting to be evacuated from the earthquake-ravaged country.
Tempers ran high over Gorkhaland issue in the Lok Sabha on Thursday with a Trinamool Congress member attacking senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Jaswant Singh for making a strong plea for a political solution to the issue but later expressed regret.
At the Battle of Malegaon, Muslim soldiers in the Maratha army defied the British army for a full month when they had no hope of victory as the Chhatrapati and Peshwa had already surrendered.
Lt Gen Bakshi announced 'full support' to the new chief and made it clear that he won't resign.
During a war, there are just four possibilities a soldier faces. One: Victorious and safe. Two: Wounded. Three: Killed in action. Four: Prisoner of War. It was my fate to face the fourth, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) on the year spent as a prisoner of war in Pakistan during the 1971 War.
Tunes by Indian musicians, foot-tapping drumbeats and calming chimes reverberated the air as the imposing Rashtrapati Bhavan lit up at sunset marking the end of the 66th Republic Day celebrations with 'Beating Retreat' ceremony at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on Thursday.
It would perhaps have been better for Lieutenant General Dalbir Singh to have been elevated to the top post by the new government, notes R S Chauhan.
Rejecting the allegation of adopting "big brotherly" approach towards Nepal, India on said it respects its sovereignty and wants to see the crisis resolved through consensus.
Sam Manekshaw led the Indian Army to its greatest military victory this month 46 years ago. Lieutenant Colonel A K Shinde (retd), the field marshal's doctor for 35 years, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih about the charming man behind the soldier's uniform.
President Ram Nath Kovind presents the President's Colours to the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre today, August 21. These are normally presented to units that distinguish themselves consistently over decades. The Ladakh Scouts became a regular army regiment only in June 2001 after its stunning performance in the Kargil conflict, notes Ajai Shukla.
'If the nub of India's sensitivity over the Chinese presence in Doklam is the enhanced threat to the Siliguri Corridor, a vital link to the northeast, does it serve the national purpose to have the districts along it, and then much of the tribal northeast, in turmoil?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
The President has approved award of 398 gallantry and other defence decorations to armed forces personnel and others on the eve of the 68th Republic Day Celebrations.
The two districts which are the part of Nepal's Bagmati Zone have suffered extensively in the April 25 earthquake which left a trail of death and destruction.
The scenic mountainous valley, which earlier bustled with presence of foreign tourists, now wear a deserted look. Kunal Dutt reports
