These are the news stories you loved reading on Rediff.com in 2017.

Donald Trump, Hardik Patel, Kangana Ranuat... The year 2017 wouldn't have been the same if it weren't for these personalities and many more. As we herald in 2018, here's a look at the faces and stories which left an indelible mark on us.

It's the time of snowball fights and snowmen in Srinagar as the Kashmiri capital witnessed its season's first snowfall on Tuesday. Check out these stunning photos of Srinagar all wrapped up in a snowy blanket.

The Gujarat polls are drawing to an end with Tuesday being the final phase of campaigning before the state goes for polling in the second phase on December 14. Results for the 182-seat assembly will be announced on December 18. Ahead of the polling, here's everything you need to know about the candidates.

With the Gujarat going to the polls, name calling has peaked this election season with words like neech and Babar bhakt being flung around.

The high-octane campaign for the first phase of the crucial Gujarat elections, viewed as a prestige battle for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a litmus test for the leadership of soon-to-be Congress president Rahul Gandhi, will come to an end on Thursday. Here's everything you need to know about the polls -- from candidates to the constituencies.

In Assam, the police took the unusual route of using elephants to evict hundreds of people living illegally in a protected forest area in the country's remote north-east.

Indian naval personnel observed the 46th Navy Day on Monday with various parades across the country. On the occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovindand many others extended their greetings to the Indian Navy with a feeling of utmost happiness and pride.

As Britain's Prince Harry follows in his brother's footsteps and is all set to marry a commoner -- American actress Meghan Markle -- early next year, here's some of the well-known commoners who became royalty through marriage.

Flowers from Bangkok in Thailand, Indonesia and Bengaluru, a nizami feast and a rose petal shower await United States President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump as she heads to Hyderabad on November 28 for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit. The US First Daughter will be accorded the royal treatment at Taj Falaknuma where she will be joining Prime Minister Narendra Modi for dinner on November 28.

The chief of America's Federal Communications Commission is not a fan of net neutrality. So what's his vision of communications and digital policy in these times?

On his second day of the visit, Modi visited the International Rice Research Institute in Los Banos, an urban locality situated at a distance of around 65 km from Manila -- the capital of the Philippines -- and then visited the Mahaveer Philippine Foundation, that provides free Indian-made prosthesis 'Jaipur Foot' to needy amputees. Here are images from Modi's second day in the Philippines.

Pollution levels spiked to severe levels in Delhi with thick haze blanketing the city on Tuesday, reducing visibility drastically and affecting flights and trains, prompting Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to describe the national capital as a "gas chamber".

This extremism is no victory or progress for those who call themselves Hindus. The motto 'Truth alone triumphs' being replaced by 'might is right' will make savages of us all.

The decision announced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis provoked massive criticism with many questioning why defence resources were being used for civilian works.

The episode occurred when she took a supportive stand on the Delhi firecrackers ban.

Hurricane Irma hopscotched up Florida's west coast making two landfalls and driving a wall of water and winds that submerged Miami. Here are some of the most telling images from the ground from Irma's path.

Here are the best moments from Abe's visit on Day 1.

Data shows at least 67 journalists were killed on the job in the past 25 years in the country.

Social media helps #RainHosts come to the rescue of those stuck in every part of the island city.