State Tourism Minister Bratya Basu said that Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had directed the Tourism Department to go ahead with the setting up the board.

The magnetism of a yo-yo... two friends getting estranged over a game shooting incident that saves lives... A short story by Ashwath Nityanandan.

Assam Environment and Forest Minister Rakibul Hussain has said that as many as 193 one-horned rhinos have been killed in various protected forest areas in Assam between 2001 and August 3, 2014.

Rules for mining, roads, power and irrigation projects relaxed.

The population in Gaza has, for almost a decade, been facing Israel-created 'blockage' from the rest of the world. The isolation has given rise to tunnel phenomenon, an underground route for the procurement of essentials, says Ajey Lele

One hundred years on, World War I resonates across Belgium in countless monuments and cemeteries along with relics of long-abandoned bunkers and trenches that dot the landscape. These relics are a constant reminder of what happened on Flanders Fields 100 years ago when life was about trenches, the protection of a bunker, a muddy battlefield and destroyed villages.

Most of the American military aid to Islamabad for counterinsurgency has gone into buying equipment to fight India, a former US diplomat has told lawmakers as he described Pakistan as a country which is "on the edge in many ways of being a failed state".

Stepping up its offensive, Israeli military killed 26 Palestinians, including eight members of a family, in overnight raids on the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, taking the death toll to more than 300 in the 12-day long conflict that has displaced thousands.

In the first high-level bilateral engagement after the installation of the NDA government, India on Thursday assured Bangladesh that efforts were on to evolve a national consensus on the contentious Teesta river water sharing deal even as it announced easing of visa norms for certain categories of visitors from Bangladesh.

The Great Himalayan National Park Conservation Area, a rich biodiversity in Himachal Pradesh and home to several rare and threatened species of flora and fauna, was on Monday approved for inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

The long-term plans for Varanasi will take time to materialise but what has changed is the mood, says Aditi Phadnis

The Pakistan army on Monday launched an all-out offensive using jets and tanks in the restive North Waziristan, killing nearly 184 Taliban fighters including foreigners, while six soldiers were killed in an IED blast, the first military casualties in the operation.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he will not allow Pakistan to become a "sanctuary of terrorists" and asserted that the military operation against the Taliban in North Waziristan tribal region would continue until militants are eliminated.

The Pakistan army killed at least 120 suspected terrorists in the North Waziristan tribal region during the Zarb-e-Azb operation.

The Pakistani Taliban on Monday warned all international organisations and individuals to leave the country or face violence as it was in a "state of war". Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Shahidullah Shahid said that Pakistan had buried the desire of its people for peace in the North Waziristan tribal region and launched a military operation to make its western backers happy.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a decidedly darker, deeper follow-up to the original, says Sukanya Verma.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday held talks with Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai during which they discussed ways to enhance cooperation in key areas and the recent attack on the Indian consulate in Herat that the Afghan leader maintains was carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba.

Terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba is behind the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday.

If you want to escape the sweltering Delhi summers, these are the places to visit.

The Goa Foundation started filing writ petitions before the Bombay High Court from 1992 onwards against several mining companies.

Mining companies will now have to cap mining activities in Goa.

Despite the bleak landscape, there is something quite alluring about Bhuj says Anita Rao Kashi.

Congress candidate from Rajasthan's Tonk-Sawaimadhopur constituency Mohammed Azharuddin tells rediff.com's PB Chandra about the tough battle ahead, his plans for the region and his view on statehood to Telangana.

It took six years, but the co-founder of the Indian Mujahideen was finally trapped after he made a rare mistake.

It might have taken several years, but the intelligence and security agencies in several states recently tracked down and arrested dreaded terrorists involved in creating havoc in the country. It began with the arrest of Zabbiuddin Ansari, an accused in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, then came the arrest of Indian Mujahideen co-founder Yasin Bhatkal followed by Lashkar-e-Tayiba bomb maker Abdul Karim Tunda, Zaveri Bazaar bomber Waqas Ahmed and now IM chief Tehsin Akthar. In a five-part series, Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa describes how each of these terrorists were painstakingly tracked by the Intelligence Bureau and arrested by the security agencies.

A survey conducted by Business Standard reveals that a majority of the country's states are still firmly against the move, while a few are open to considering only conditionally.

With a sleek new school in Haryana, Virender Sehwag starts his new innings as an education entrepreneur.

Conversion of outstandings into equity even partially should be a strict no-no says Chatered Accountant S Murlidharan

We should be prepared for a phase of increased tensions in India-Pakistan relationship thanks to the evolving situation in Afghanistan, says Shyam Saran.

'For the first time in 66 years, here is a leader who democratically dares to take on the establishment by raising the right kind of questions. When will the poor get justice? For how many years will the migration of the poor to cities like Mumbai continue? How long will the poor sleep on the pavements and when will all this end?'

The Guruvaayoorappan temple in Morganville, New Jersey, which is the biggest of its kind in North America, has now turned into a Vrindavan of sorts with the grand opening of a cow sanctuary On the premises.

Olympic chiefs tried to ease concern about the fate of stray dogs in Sochi on Wednesday, saying only sick and dying animals were being destroyed before the city hosts the Winter Games.

The thought of playing a long match in the extreme Melbourne heat resulted in a sleepless night for Serena Williams, but the World No 1 need not have worried as she strode swiftly into the Australian Open third round on Wednesday.

We invited you, dear readers, to share your BEST photographs of 2013. Check out these amazing photographs!

"Many people in America see animals, particularly cows, as meat...animals have a soul, personality, they interact," says Sankar Sastri, who runs the Lakshmi Cow Sanctuary in Pennsylvania, USA.

Readers share their best photographs of 2013. Amazing images from all over India.

'India could help in Afghanistan, but if it does too much, it will stoke Pakistan's paranoia and risk making the situation worse,' Michael O'Hanlon, one of America's leading experts on international security, tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa.

Rediff.com's Manu Shankar had the privilege to visit the Mandela House in 2010. He recollects his experience.

It's winter and there couldn't be a better time than now to head out into the wild. Lakshmi Sharath has some suggestions.

Wildlife enthusiasts and nature lovers have started flocking to Assam's two principal habitats of one-horned rhinoceros, Kaziranga National Park and Pabitora Wildlife sanctuary, which have been declared open for tourists for the winter till April-end.