Sanjeev Dayal is new Mumbai police commissioner
Commissioner of Mumbai police D Sivanandan has been appointed the Maharashtra's new police chief. He will take over from A N Roy, who retires on Monday. Pix: Israel pounds Gaza aid flotilla, 16 killed
At least 16 people have been killed and 30 injured after Israeli troops stormed a convoy of six ships carrying activists and aid supplies to Gaza. According to reports, the confrontation took place in international waters 80 miles off the Gaza coast when armed forces boarded the vessels overnight and clashed with some of the 600 protesters on board. A Guardian report says top writer Henning Mankell and many journalists were there when the attack happened. Images: Youngest Indian atop Mount Everest
Delhi boy Arjun Vajpai, 16, created history on May 22, 2010 as he became the youngest Indian to step atop world's highest peak, 8,848 metre high Mount Everest via the traditional South Col route in Nepal. WB civic polls: All wait for 'semi-final' results
Barring stray incidents of violence, West Bengal's civic polls went off smoothly, with 65 per cent turn-out. Pritish Nandy is back, and how!
Pritish Nandy, the poet-turned-journalist-turned-talk show host-turned-film maker-turned-politician-turned-painter-turned-poet-again, has returned to his first love after a hiatus of 25 years. Video: Mamata visits train accident victims
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday visited the victims of the accident in West Midnapore in West Bengal, in which at least 75 people were killed. Pix: Jagan Yatra stopped, violence in AP
Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy was on Friday forced to abandon his tour of Telangana region after he was taken into preventive custody at a railway station in Nalgonda district following violence and police firing that left 16 people injured. 'Please help me find my son-in-law '
G M Rao is looking for his son-in-law, who was in the S-3 compartment of the ill-fated Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express, which derailed near Jhargram in West Midnapore district in West Bengal on Friday morning. Survivors' tales: 'All of us have escaped death'
Mangled heaps of bogies lying off the tracks, passengers in bandages and plasters and a row of hearse vans lined up -- the scene at the site of the derailment of the Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express near Jhargram virtually resembled a war zone. Image: 8-year-old rescued from train accident site
An eight-year old boy was rescued from the accident site in West Midnapore on Friday. Images: 100 killed in Naxal train attack in WB
At least 120 passengers were feared killed and Hundred passengers were killed and 160 injured after suspected Maoists derailed 13 coaches of Mumbai-bound Gyaneshwari Express leading to a collision with a goods train in West Midnapore district early on Friday. Video: Part of rail track missing, fishplates open
There have been contradictory reports on the cause of accident. Video: Trains smash into each other in West Bengal
The accident site in West Midnapore, West Bengal, has been strewn with mutilated bodies and belongings of passengers of the ill-fated Gyaneshwari Express. Video: Rescue teams search through mangled bogies
Rescue teams look for the dead and injured passengers inside the mangled bogies of Gyaneshwari Express on Friday. Is Sammad a bait to catch Pune blast mastermind?
The manner in which the probe on 26/11 attacks and Pune blast suspect Abdul Sammad is progressing, gives one the indication that he is being used just as a bait to reach Yaseen Bhatkal -- Sammad's step-brother -- and the prime accused in the Pune blast. Reports Vicky Nanjappa: President Patil's Chinese soujourn begins
India has sought China's support for its bid for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council during a meeting between President Pratibha Patil and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Bejing. Patil, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday on a six-day visit to China, was welcomed warmly by Wen at the Purple Light Pavilion. Video: Indian-Americans protest against visa rules
Various Indian-American organisations on Wednesday organised a rally in New York protesting against a host of new visa rules -- what they describe as completely unfair -- imposed on Indians in the United States. 'I don't believe monarchy has ended in Nepal'
Breaking his silence for the first time after he was deposed two years ago, Nepal's former king Gyanendra has suggested that he was "betrayed" by the political parties, but did not rule out some role for himself in the future. Massive reception awaits Arjun Vajpai
A massive reception is being planned in New Delhi for Arjun Vajpai, who is returning home after he became the youngest Indian to scale the Mount Everest. Russia: Blast kills four women, injures 20
An explosion near a concert hall killed four people and injured 20 others in the southern Russian city of Stavropol on Wednesday, with authorities saying they were probing the possibility of a terror angle into the blast. Pix: Gangsters take over Jamaica, over 50 killed
Over 50 people have been killed in Jamaica after sleuths stormed a drug gangster's bastion, emerging reports said. The violence has already spread to capital Kingstons, leaving more than 50 people hurt. Bigwigs dont have the 'heart' for jail
Bigwigs dont have the 'heart' for jail Images: Around the world in 277 days
An Indian Navy commander, Dilip Donde, and his beloved boat Mhadei covered over 25,000 nautical miles (40,000 km) and crossed the Equator twice during their voyage. Pix: Ministers who give the PM a headache
Rediff.com takes a look at illustrious ministers who believe in saying, doing, and implementing whatever they fancy, accountability and collective responsibility be damned. Images: The youngest Indian who scaled Everest
Climbing the Mount Everest is no child's play. Yet, Arjun Vajpayee, just 16 years old, does not agree. He need not because he has just climbed the world's tallest peak, becoming the youngest Indian to do so. UK's new govt to forge 'enhanced ties with India'
Britain's new Conservative- Liberal Democrat coalition government in its first policy pronouncement on Tuesday promised to "enhanced partnership" with India, but said that restrictions will be imposed on the entry of non-European Union immigrants. China's dams on the Brahmaputra
One can understand what is going to happen to India and Bangladesh when one looks at the fate of the Mekong river. Nikki Haley denies affair with blogger
A political blogger has claimed he had an 'inappropriate physical relationship several years ago' with South Carolina State Representative Nikki (Randhawa) Haley, the front runner in the Republican primary for the South Carolina governor's post. These little AIDS orphans have a reason to smile
For little orphans, who are inflicted with HIV+, life in itself is no less than an obstacle. But thanks to people like Dr Manorama, who has been selflessly working for their welfare for a more than a decade now, hope blooms in those insecure hearts. Rediff.com's visits Dr Manorama's newly created home for these little angels -- Ananda Illam. 'Does Mr Chidambaram believe in democracy?'
'He may be good on a corporate board but he certainly does not make a good home minister in this situation,' says Professor Nandini Sundar, a leading thinker on the Maoist debate. I have unfinished tasks: PM on retirement
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday described the first year of the second term of the United Progressive Alliance as one of 'reasonable achievement', but said his government could have done more. Images: The day after disaster struck
In the worst air crash in India in the last decade, an Air India flight from Dubai overshot the runway and crashed at the Mangalore airport on Saturday morning, killing 158 passengers. Pix: Grieving relatives throng Mangalore hospitals
Hospitals in Mangalore on Sunday struggled to cope with scores of grieving family members who turned up to collect the bodies of their loved ones. Touching scenes of grief and disbelief were witnessed at Wenlock Hospital and others, where the bodies of the Air India plane crash victims were kept after the tragedy. Images: They died in line of duty
The family members of Sujata Surveshi, a senior crew member with Air India, who died in the tragic air crash near Mangalore on Saturday morning, still cannot believe that she is no more. Survivor: 'Can I recover in time to join my job?'
The first thing Omar Farook asked the doctors treating him how long it will take for him to recover. He was keen to join his first job that he had landed in Dubai before he took the ill-fated Air India Express flight to Mangalore on Saturday. Video: Crash survivors recount miraculous escape
Survivors of Air India Express passenger plane from Dubai that crashed outside the Video: Why landing at Mangalore airport is scary
Vicky Nanjappa reports that: The Mangalore airport is considered to be one of the toughest to land since it is located on top of a hill and the runway landing approaches extreme edges on the sides of the hill and hence it is called table-top. Video: Air India flight crashes in Mangalore
At least 158 people are feared dead after an Air India Express aircraft from Dubai, carrying 173 passengers, overshot the runway while landing at the Mangalore airport in Karnataka on Saturday morning. Pix: Mangalore crash site resembled a war zone
As many as 163 persons were feared dead when an Air India Express flight from Dubai with 173 on board crashed and caught fire on Saturday as it overshot the newly-built runway while landing at the Mangalore airport. There were seven survivors who are being treated in various hospitals in the city. Pix: Plane crashed 10 kms from airport
A major tragedy struck at Mangalore on Saturday morning when an Air India Express flight, rom Dubai crashed when it was about to land. Karnataka Home Minister V S Acharya said that when he last got the information, 160 persons were feared dead in the crash. Images: NASA's satellite captures cyclone Laila
Coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh which bore the brunt of cyclone Laila received an average of about two inches of rainfall per hour, according to data collected by a NASA satellite. I have to launch myself politically: Musharraf
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf unveiled his plans for a comeback in Pakistani politics. We present excerpts from Musharraf's interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer. 'Does Mr Chidambaram believe in democracy?'
'He may be good on a corporate board but he certainly does not make a good home minister in this situation,' says Professor Nandini Sundar, a leading thinker on the Maoist debate. US: Three Indian Americans in solicitor race
Three Indian Americans, led by principal deputy solicitor general Neal Katyal, are among the top five contenders to replace United States Solicitor General Elena Kagan -- nominated by President Barack Obama to the Supreme Court -- if she is confirmed by the Senate in July, highly placed sources told India Abroad. Images: AP struggles to stay afloat in Laila fury
Cyclone Laila batters Andhra Pradesh. Images. Cyclone Laila may hit again; WB, Orissa on alert
The Indian Meteorological Department said though Cyclone Laila has weakened, the danger is not over yet as there were signs of it re-emerging in northern Bay of Bengal over the weekend. Deoband's fatwas on women do more harm than good
The fatwas issued by the Dar ul-Uloom Deoband not only greatly restrict Indian Muslim women's access to employment but also effectively debar them from quality higher education. What it will take to change the Indian Police
As far as the states are concerned, the acceptance of the seven directives of the Supreme Court to reform policing has been uneven at best or, at worst, ignored completely. Explained: Why Bangkok is burning
Just what is happening in Thailand? The current violence is the culmination of a political strife that has been brewing ever since the then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown in a military coup in September 2006. P Chidambaram on Naxals, Kasab and Hindu extremism
Home Minister P Chidambaram talks about the Naxal menace, Kasab's death sentence, the role of Hindu right-wing organisations in orchestrating blasts and his impending visit to Pakistan. The good life begins at 50, say scientists
For many, the age of 50 may be the beginning of the end, but a group of scientists claim the good life begins only when people reach their fifties. Pakistan's cancer needs urgent surgery
What needs to be understood is that not one, but three cancers afflict Pakistan 'SL killed thousands of civilians in no fire zone'
The International Crisis Group, an advocacy group based in Brussels and Washington, said despite its promises to protect civilians and aid workers, the Sri Lankan government had bombed relentlessly in areas where it knew unarmed people were present. ICR said it has reasons to believe that senior government and military officials were aware of the attacks, but failed to protect the civilians. 'The Maoists want to destroy the State'
'Revolution is the target. They will organise the people and ask them to revolt against the State,' says Satnam who has interacted with the Maoists. Kabul: Attack targets NATO convoy; 20 killed
A suicide car bomb attack near a hospital and army recruitment centre killed at least 20 civilians in Kabul on Tuesday morning, and injured scores of others.According to reports, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's troops were the target of the attack that took place during rush hour in the western part of the Afghan capital. A NATO convoy was passing the area at the time of the attack, said reports.No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. Pix: Dawood, Osama among Most Wanted Fugitives
Underworld don and India's most wanted fugitive Dawood Ibrahim, mastermind of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, figures third on the Forbes' Most Wanted Fugitives list. New ideas, no empty rhetoric: CPC's new code
China's Communist party, which has ruled the world's most populous nation uninterrupted for six decades, has asked its officials to shun rhetoric to create a much-needed connect with the people, in an apparent makeover. India's youth connected, says Obama's Muslim envoy
Srinagar-born Farah Pandith, President Barack Obama's special representative to Muslim communities worldwide, recently made her first trip to India after her high-level appointment. She had 'a great trip,' she told rediff.com, and 'was very humbled to be able to go back.' 'Pakistan is experiencing many Mumbais everyday'
Pakistan People's Party leader Sherry Rehman was a close friend of Benazir Bhutto and was in Bhutto's vehicle when she was assassinated. After the PPP won the elections, Rehman became a minister. She quit months later but remains a member of the party. Excerpts from an interview with Jyoti Malhotra. 'Plants can't help cool earth if CO2 is in excess'
Contrary to the belief that plants could help cool land, scientists have found that plants will directly warm the land surface when there is excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Bangkok: Red Shirts general succumbs to injuries
Rogue military leader and Red Shirt supporter Gen Khattiya Sawasdiphol, also known as 'Seh Daeng,' was pronounced dead on Monday. Parliament disruptions cost taxpayer Rs180,000,000
A graphical look at the performance of our MPs in both Houses of Parliament during the Budget session. Chinese find Pakistan better ally than India
Majority of Indians regard China as a friend and partner in sharp contrast to feeling among Chinese who consider Pakistan a better partner, and place India next only to the United States and Japan in the list of nations that threatened their country the most, according to a new survey. Six people killed in fresh violence in Bangkok
Voicing deep concern over the situation in Thailand, where 16 people were killed in anti- government protests, the United States has appealed to both the authorities and agitators in the country to show restraint. "We are deeply concerned about the situation on the ground in Thailand. We continue to strongly encourage everyone involved, everyone engaged to show restraint, to find a way to work peacefully through these differences," State Department spokesman P J Crowley said. US' Afghan war costs escalate pass Iraq: Report
America's Afghan war costs are showing no signs of letting up. And now it has overtaken previous records of Iraq war. Politicians who should have shut up
Foot-in-the-mouth seems to be a common syndrome afflicting many politicians who find it too tough to be politically correct all the time. Bangkok crisis: Troops clash with protestors
One person was dead when Thai security forces and anti-government protestors called the 'Red-Shirts' clashed overnight in Bangkok on Friday, BBC reported. Hyderabad turns into a furnace at 45 degrees
Hyderabad recorded the highest temperature in last 20 years of 45 degrees on Thursday. Andhra Pradesh has been in the grip of heat wave for the last three days. Images: Obama, Karzai get 'real', patch up
United States President Barack Obama endorsed all the praise showered on Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai a day earlier by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Images: Fire at Mumbai's Dadar station
The roof of platform No 1 of Dadar railway station's western line caught fire on Wednesday evening. No casualties were reported. Images: Plane crash kills over 100 in Libya
A passenger flight from has crashed in Libya, killing 104 people on board, news reports say. A child has survived the crash, another report said 'People on their deathbeds indulge in politics'
'It is so invigorating, nobody gets tired of it,' says Minister of State for Chemical and Fertilisers Srikant Jena. US may name TTP as terrorist outfit by May end
The designation of the Pakistani Taliban, also known as the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and lumping it with the likes of other Pakistan-based terrorist outfits such as the Jaish-e-Muhammad and Lashkar-e-Tayiba, 'is a no brainer,' and will likely happen before the month is out, senior Obama administration officials told rediff.com. Images: Chandigarh is cleanest of them all
Chandigarh has emerged as the cleanest city in India, with a rating of 73.48 points for sanitation, as per a study conducted by ministry of urban development. US Ambassador blasts a six in Mumbai
US Ambassador to India, Timothy Roemer, was in Mumbai this week to pay tribute to 26/11 victims and to lay out a path for future US-India relations. 'Rahul Gandhi is not particularly intelligent'
Author and historian Dr Ramachandra Guha speaks of Nehru's legacy, what the Congress means for India today and what could lurk in the future and the importance of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi's future. Pix: Tourists swarm disputed Jesus Tomb in Kashmir
The old debate or controversy resurfaced after Rozabal shrine of Sufi saint Yuz Asaf at Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir banned visitors and believers alike from entering the sanctum sanctorum. It was at the Rozabal shrine, many believe, Jesus was laid to rest. Unlike 26/11, Mumbai train blast trial bogged down
The 'record speed' in which the 26/11 probe was conducted may have set a precedent for future terror cases, but why does one forget the July 2006 train blasts which killed 187 innocenct persons travelling in the local trains of Mumbai? US in denial over Clinton's warning to Pak
The Pentagon leadership has strongly denied reports that it has pressurised Pakistani army chief General Ashfaq Kayani to extend the military's anti-Taliban operations into North Waziristan, in the wake of the botched Times Square bombing attempt by Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad, who received terror training in that region. Images: Hard leaders, soft names
President Goodluck Jonathan, head of the world's eighth most populous country, perhaps the most powerful man on the entire African continent? The name may be hard to believe, but it's 100 per cent true. Indian American winners at the Ellis Island Awards
Indian American winners at the Ellis Island Awards Ban peacock feathers' trade, proposes Ramesh
Union Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh on Monday announced a proposal to ban trade of peacock feathers to protect the national bird from illegal poaching and killing. Pix: Russia, US celebrate victory over Nazis
For the first time in history, troops from World War II's western allies matched steps with the Russians on the historic Red Square, marching together to mark the 65th anniversary of their victory over Nazi Germany. Kandahar awaits another bloody summer
Springtime always brings in an influx of Taliban fighters to the district of Zhari, in Kandahar province of Afghanistan, where the thick cover provided by the grapevines and the orchards prevent North Atlantic Treaty Organisations's hi-tech thermal imaging cameras to see the insurgents hiding within, a report in the Guardian states. Some Pak officials know where Laden is: Clinton
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said some people in the Pakistani government are aware of the whereabouts of elusive Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and Afghan Taliban chief Mullah Omar. Brown refuses to give in; may talk to Lib Dems
British Premier Gordon Brown, whose Labour lost to the Tories in general election, on Friday appeared to be not conceding defeat and would like to discuss with the Liberal Democrats the chance of the two parties coming together to form a government, if power-sharing talks between the Conservatives and Lib Dems fail. Pix: Cameron makes 'big' offer to king-maker Clegg
Conservative leader David Cameron, whose party has secured the largest number of seats and highest percentage of votes, is expected to form the next government in Britain that is set for an India-style coalition politics after no party won an overall majority. Obama takes tuitions on terror
This Tuesday, the class is likely to have focused on Faisal Shehzad's plan to create havoc in New York City's Times Square. Girls from Maoist-affected Chhattisgarh join CRPF
A month after the Dantewada massacre, young girls from the Maoist-affected region of Chhattisgarh will begin a 9-month training programme to become CRPF constables. It was just another day at Omble's house
As Ajmal Kasab is sentenced to death, Tukaram Omble's family is still coming to terms with the loss. Abhishek Mande On Kasab's judgment day, CST recounts horror
It's just another day for Mumbai's commuters, who travel via the megacity's iconic Chatrapatti Shivaji Terminus, before they hear the breaking news of Pakistani gunman Kasab's death sentence being announced. Writes Nithya Ramani Kasab judgment: Out of court drama in pictures
Rediff.com provides a round up of the happenings outside Mumbais' special court in photographs. Kasab deserved death, say martyred cop's family
"I am happy with the verdict of death being given to Kasab," said Eknath Omble, brother of assistant police sub-inspector Tukaram Omble, who died while trying to capture Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab, on the dreaded night of November 26, 2008. Kasab gets death for 'waging war' against India
Judge M L Tahaliyani on Thursday awarded the death sentence to Ajmal Kasab, the lone terrorist arrested during the terror siege on the city in November 2008, for the carnage that had claimed 166 lives. The baby born in a hail of Kasab's bullets
As Ajmal Kasab's trial comes to a close we catch up with 'Goli' Chauhan born just as the terrorists created havoc at Mumbai's Cama Hospital. Images: The richest MPs in the Rajya Sabha
The richest MPs in the Rajya Sabha CRPF dug its own grave in Dantewada: Report
In the deadliest attack on security forces, Maoists trapped and gunned down 76 security personnel during Operation Green Hunt, an offensive against the Left-wing extremists, on Tuesday morning in the thick forests of Mukrana in Dantewada district of Chattisgarh. Indian-American to lead prosecution of Shahzad
India-born US Federal Attorney Preet Bharara, spearheading the prosecution of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, now has another high-profile terrorism case in his hands -- the Times Square bombing plot involving Pakistani-American Faisal Shahzad. How NY bomb plot gets clearer, murkier
Faisal Shahzad, the Pakistani-American arrested in connection with the failed Times Square car bomb attack, has admitted he had attended a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said. Jeffrey Archer on his Indian love story
English author Jeffrey Archer was in Mumbai to launch his latest collection of stories, And Thereby Hangs a Tale. Kasab put a gun to his head, stole his car
Sharan Arasa was probably the only person to come away alive after encountering Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail that fateful November night. Pix: Mumbai commuters hit hard by motormen's stir
The strike by Mumbai's railway motormen may have been called off, but while it lasted it shook the city's office-going public to the core, so dependent is the city on its lifeline. Presenting a range of reactions from commuters affected by the strike Mumbai train strike ends, normalcy in two days
Over 65 lakh people in the metropolis have been hit by the strike by nearly 1,100 motormen. At Cama hospital, Kasab is a bad word
On the day of Ajmal Kasab's trial verdict, rediff.com's Nithya Ramani and Abhishek Mande visit the ill-fated hospitals and discover how staff members are coming to terms with 26/11 How Times Square 'humiliates' terrorism
While it is still not clear who was behind the attempt to bomb New York on Sunday, some tourists and other gawkers are particularly glad to add a dash of adventure to their trip. The crowds are back in strength, drawn by the parades in town, the vague whiff of danger, or both. Notes rediff.com's P Rajendran. Pix: US police foils terror attack at Times Square
The New York police on Sunday defused a car bomb in the heart of New York's famous tourist hub of Times Square after evacuating thousands of visitors, residents and theatre-goers from the area, averting what could have been a "very deadly event" in the US. Politics rules on Maharashtra Day
Maharashtra Governor K Sankarnarayanan salutes the marching police personnel during the Maharashtra Day parade at Shivaji Park, Dadar, on Saturday. This year marked the 50th anniversary of the state's formation. Politics is next on actress Khushboo's agenda
"I am silently involved in lot of social work including in the areas of HIV/AIDS, transgenders and cancer. But being in politics gives a larger platform and to work better," she says in an interview in Chennai. April 2010 | March 2010 | February 2010