Moved by three-year-old Aylan Kurdi's death, Vidhya Ramalingam has kick-started a crowd-funding campaign to buy a rescue ship for immediate action in the Mediterranean.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 16 images
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday hit back at Narendra Modi, comparing him to Hitler and said his desperate dream to unfurl national flag at Red Fort would remain unfulfilled.
The fire sent flames and huge clouds of grey smoke billowing into the Paris sky as stunned Parisians and tourists watched on in sheer horror.
PM Modi inaugurates the second phase of Rashtrapati Bhavan museum.
'In the run-up to the summit, Trump had indicated that he might strike a nuclear deal in the course of a single meeting or over several days, but as it transpired, Trump departed Singapore soon after the meeting.' 'This raises questions if his aspirations for an ambitious outcome had been scaled back,' says Rajaram Panda.
India's greatest contemporary architects Charles Correa died on Tuesday night at the age of 84. He was best known for his "open-to-sky" designs, which were reflected in some of his famous projects. Rediff.com takes a look at some popular buildings that got the Correa touch.
In anticipation of a verdict to be delivered by the International Tribunal of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague on Tuesday, China has orchestrated a worldwide campaign to defuse its findings.
Thirty years after the massacre at Tiananmen Square, coerced collective amnesia envelops the Chinese nation about that horrific event. Claude Arpi glances back at how the student uprising could have changed the Middle Kingdom forever had the Chinese Communist party not traveled on the route of martial law.
In embarking on building the world's tallest statue, Modi is hoping his stature will also rise - if not across India then at least in Gujarat, says Bharat Bhushan.
There are several other famous temples across India that disallow non-Hindus to enter their place of worship, Rediff.com lists some of them.
'Modi has also made mistakes and overpromised.' 'However, his cautious and careful approach have insulated him from criticism.'
Thailand's importance to India's Act East policy is too significant to be overlooked.
The Korean summit, laden with symbolism in everything from the choice of location to the mango mousse for dessert, could just be the first round in a continuing dialogue, says Dr Rajaram Panda.
'The Dancing Girl is only one of the many symbols they threaten today.' 'Our country is changing.' 'Elements that ought to have remained on the fringes have been handed power and control of a state on a platter.' 'With this, the party that persistently wooed us with its development agenda has arrogantly taken its mask off,' says Veenu Sandhu.
Former cricketers, including Sachin Tendulkar, among other sportspersons, lavished praise on the Indian cricket team after the defending champions beat arch-rivals Pakistan by 76 runs in their World Cup opener in Adelaide.
'The Mahabodhi temple is the only example in the world where a religion's most sacred place is controlled by people belonging to another religion.'
Is North Korea really dismantling its nuclear programme? Rajaram Panda explains the many challenges to denuclearise the Korean Peninsula.
A new book reproduces original Chinese maps that contradict Chinese propaganda. The book reveals Chinese intelligence admissions that Beijing never maintained any army base, customs office or other government function in the disputed area until 1983.
'Cultural property crimes have been linked, by the United Nations and others, to terrorism.' 'These links show the perpetrators to be associated with major criminal and terrorist networks like ISIS.
With a massive final push, which began mid-November, Syrian forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad took over the last remaining rebel strongholds in the historic city of Aleppo on the night of December 12. They only won a ruined city and ruined lives.
'Countries in possession of nuclear weapons have a heightened sense of power and it is logical for Kim to expect/demand to be treated as an equal at any bargaining table.' 'It is here that Trump ought to respect Kim as the leader of a sovereign power and not treat the North Korean leader as a subordinate,' says Dr Rajaram Panda.
'Animal populations are increasing. Human populations are increasing. So there is no way the man-animal conflict going to go away.'
The path-breaking Land Acquisition Bill, which seeks to provide just and fair compensation to farmers while ensuring that no land can be acquired forcibly, was passed by the Lok Sabha with overwhelming majority on Thursday.
'We have worked to create road blocks in the path of those who thought that there was space for conventional war despite Pakistan's nuclear weapons.' 'Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme is not open-ended and aligned with India only.' 'In this unstable regional environment, one nuclear power is trying to teach lessons to another nuclear power through the medium of small arms and mortar shells on the Line of Control, and bluster.' 'A historic opportunity of a lifetime beckons the leaderships of India and Pakistan to grasp, sit together and explore the possibilities of conflict resolution.'
She travels the world in a pink bikini and a shares a powerful message of a clean and green Earth.
She travels the world in a pink bikini and a shares a powerful message of a clean and green Earth.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday undertook a train journey through the 11-km long tunnel under the Pir Panjal mountain ranges along with school children most of whom travelled by rail for the first time.
'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.
Nitish Kumar has failed to curb communal forces and hoodlums across communities. And that is ominous for Bihar's present and future, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
What's it like for two people of the same sex to be in love Mumbai? Anita Aikara/Rediff.com finds out.
'The mobilisation is nothing but a political ploy -- a sort of a fixed match between Hindu and Muslim communal forces, towards polarisation, in a run-up to the next election,' argues Mohammad Sajjad.
National Geographic has announced the winning photos of its popular Travel Photographer of the Year 2018 photo contest. The grand prize was awarded to Japanese photographer Reiko Takahashi, who captured an underwater photo of a humpback whale calf's tail. The winning photo, titled "Mermaid," was selected from over 13,000 entries received this year. Describing the moment she captured the scene, she said: "It was a special scene for me, to be able to take a photo of the calf, completely relaxed in gentle waters." Scroll down to see the full selection of winners.
For all her achievements, says Bikash Mohapatra, Saina is yet to win either the Worlds, Olympics or All England, badminton's flagship events.
In an unprecedented show of solidarity, thousands of students along with scholars, academics and the intelligentsia on Thursday hit the streets of New Delhi decrying the arrest of JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar over charges of sedition and demanding his immediate release.
"Today, I have the information of 10 blasts. A total of 13 bombs were placed there. I will not go into details where they were kept and all. Two persons have been injured -- 50-year-old Dorji and Bala Sanga (30)," Shinde told media persons.
Industry demands the basic customs duty on all steel imports to be raised to 25%
Top moments from around the world in the week that was.
2,500 kg of sandalwood to Pashupatinath temple cost India Rs 1.9 crore, reports Nivedita Mookerji
The Indian-American was one of the real sheroes at the awards.
