Recently, Hindu religious seers had threatened to boycott the ceremonial Kumbh snan if the Ganga was not clean.
President Pranab Mukherjee condoled the death of personnel of the IAF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and National Disaster Response Force in a helicopter crash during rescue operations at Kedarnath in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.
The Uttar Pradesh government suspended two policemen in Muzaffarnagar and Bijnor districts on Tuesdayand issued warning to others for getting into border disputes over bodies of Uttarakhand flood victims recovered from the River Ganga, a senior official said in Lucknow.
'The Mughals became completely Indian in every sense and united the vast Indian subcontinent, not only territorially, but also the hearts and minds of people with multiple religio-cultural, linguistic and ethnic diversities' 'The Mughals, arguably, made India an enviable superpower in the then world.' 'Are the Hindutva rulers of today scared of acknowledging Mughal accomplishments?' asks Mohammad Sajjad.
Commotion broke out today at the venue of a rally at Gaya in Bihar shortly before Bharatiya Janata Party prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi was to address it prompting police to resort to a mild lathicharge.
The Travel Photographer of The Year Awards winners have been chosen and they're a stunning selection celebrating the beauty of our planet and all its inhabitants. Photographers from 142 countries submitted over 20,000 jaw-dropping pictures that were shot on everything from high-end professional cameras to mobile phones, in categories including 'faces, people, cultures'; the natural world and the beauty of light. The winning images can be seen at the TPOTY exhibition, which is free, and will be on show at LondonBridgeCity next Spring. Rediff.com was kindly granted permission to publish 25 of the 150 winning and shortlisted images. Scroll down to see our picks of the bunch.
Three eyewitnesses, who saw deaths around them, as terrorists pumped bullets into a bus (GJ09Z9976) carrying 56 tourists heading to Katra from Srinagar, recount their horrors.
Sidhu said that the corridor would promote peace and erase "enmity" between India and Pakistan and create infinite possibilities between them, including the resumption of cricket ties.
'The army is using its might to teach them a lesson'
The situation in Kashmir remains fluid as protests continued in many localities over the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Muzaffar Wani.
A police constable of Tamil Nadu police was killed and a sub-inspector was seriously injured in an encounter between suspected terrorists and a police team in Puttur town, located near the Tamil Nadu border, in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.
In his first speech after touching down in the city of Krakow, the pontiff said the way to "overcome fear" was to welcome people fleeing conflict and hardship.
The national capital received heavy precipitation resulting in waterlogging on several roads and traffic jams at various intersections.
At least 56 seminaries and facilities being run by JuD and its wing FIF in Pakistan's southern Sindh province have been taken over by authorities.
Earlier, Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma called Kashmir the pride of the nation and appealed to all stakeholders to invest in the tourism sector in the state.
A round-up of our favourite photographs of the week gone by.
Police arrested four people for the assault on Wednesday.
The announcement comes days after senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari was shot dead in Srinagar.
'The signals were clear. December 6 would not witness another show of "Hindu" strength staged periodically in Ayodhya. Something grave was afoot.' Radhika Ramaseshan's personal recollection of the events of December 6, 1992.
An overcast sky and low visibility at places on Wednesday did not come in the way of air rescue operations in rain-hit Uttarakhand, even though a thin veil of early morning fog briefly delayed flight of choppers from Sahasradhara helipad and Jollygrant airport.
'Rich Indians don't give cash, they give gold. Why?' 'Because cash is spent by temples on prasad or doing some charitable work.' 'Gold remains intact with god,' says Aakar Patel.
It is often alleged that half the Indian Army is based in J&K. It is bewildering why there has been no rebuttal or clarification of this issue from the central or state governments, or from the army itself, wonders Ajai Shukla.
The temples committee has already posted a request to devotees on its website to contribute towards the rebuilding.
Charges against eight Muslim youths accused in the 2006 Malegaon bomb blasts case were on Monday dropped by a special court in Mumbai due to lack of evidence against them.
However, not an inch of movement has taken place on the implementation of the 'Agenda of Alliance', the manifesto of the PDP-BJP coalition government. Unless the BJP plays ball, the PDP will be in serious trouble, warns Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs.
Bereaved families on how they are coping with their tragedies after terrorists gunned down seven tourists from Gujarat and Maharashtra on July 10 in Kashmir
India has maintained there is no scope for a third party mediation.
The statements made by the opposition parties after the preemptive air strike on terror camps have made only people of Pakistan happy, he claimed.
"On martyrdom day, I pay my respects to Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru who sacrificed their life for the nation," PM said in a statement.
India on Monday did some plain-speaking with China over its blocking of the Indian bid to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN and warned the global community of "serious consequences" if it continues to adopt "double standards" in dealing with terrorism.
'As long as Pakistan exists, the situation will not stabilise and violence is bound to erupt from time to time.' 'Though not a final solution, a step that could help localise the abscess -- trifurcate Jammu and Kashmir state into three parts: Jammu, Ladakh and the Valley.'
'There is a remarkable link between the eating of beef (or at the very least, tolerating the eating of beef) and India being a superpower.' 'In India, whenever an empire was strong, religion took a back seat.' 'Alternatively, whenever religion asserted itself, the main empire of India crumbled...'
'His past as a cricketer makes it difficult for the BJP to question his nationalism.' 'He gets away by ridiculing Modi while something similar from most Congress leaders does not resonate as much.'
'The Himalayan people may not represent a large or politically influential section of the population, but India's security depends on them.' 'Let us hope Sikkim remains a beacon of stability,' says Claude Arpi after a recent visit to the picturesque north eastern state.
Separatists and their wide network must be neutralized for peace in the Valley
Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world
'He is still compulsively an operations man. Just a whiff of a live operation, and he is back in the field, at least in his mind. That is why the immediate decision to send the NSG to Pathankot.' 'But there is a difference between classical intelligence or counter-terror operation and dealing with a larger threat to a place as sensitive and sprawling as an air force base. This is what led to confusion and mix-ups,' says Shekhar Gupta.
At Sabarmati Ashram that very hot summer evening, some had come to see and feel the place where Bapu lived. Some had come to be alone on the lawns after a disappointing Class 12 result...
'As a governor, I have every right to speak my mind if I feel the security of my country is at stake.' 'Why is it that we would have to shed tears when Muslims are killed or tortured, but have to keep mum when the Hindus receive the same treatment?'
'Is Rahul turning the Congress' covert soft-Hindutva support into overt support now?' 'And if so, following in the BJP's footsteps, is the Congress going to abandon Indian Muslims and Muslim causes altogether?' asks Dr Najid Hussain whose father-in-law former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri was killed during the Gujarat riots.
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