From the Indian Army website:

The Param Vir Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.

*** Saluting our Heores – Flying Officer Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, PVC ***

A tribute to Fg Off Nirmal Jit Singh Sekhon, PVC
***
Early December 1971: The Indian Air Force has launched massive retaliatory strikes against Pakistan’s pre-emptive attacks on eleven cities in India on 3rd December. …

From the Indian Army website:
The Param Vir Chakra is awarded for most conspicuous bravery or some daring or pre-eminent act of valour or self sacrifice, in the presence of the enemy, whether on land, at sea, or in the air. The decoration may be awarded posthumously.
*** Saluting our Heores – 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal, PVC ***

A tribute to 2nd Lieutenant Arun Khetarpal who sacrificed his life on this date,  38 years ago.
Early December 1971, Shakargarh Sector: The war that began with outbreak of hostilities in Dacca between Paksitani armed forces …

Thanks to Sanjay for alerting me to this…
Pl. see below two versions of Google map of India: one as seen in India and the other as seen in China

Note in particular that Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin are both shown as “disputed” in the Indian version while the boundary is fully settled and neatly demarcated in the Chinese version.
Error, misunderstanding or double standards?

Related Post: Arunachal: Sleepwalking into a disaster

Try and guess the time and the place of this account:
OVER the rivers and down the highways and along countless jungle paths…an endless unorganized flow of refugees with a few tin kettles, cardboard boxes and ragged clothes piled on their heads, carrying their sick children and their old. They pad along barefooted, with the mud sucking at their heels in the wet parts. They are silent, except for a child whimpering now and then, but their faces tell the story. Many are sick and covered with sores. Others have cholera, …

Here is something to think about during the weekend: A stunning video from Dr HansRosling that looks at how the last 200 years changed the world.
Have a look…(it is about 5 mins long)

[ link ]
The interactive animations and corresponding documentation are freely available at GapMinder.
Two interesting (and important, I think) points:
1] Almost all of India’s growth has happened post independence (post 1940 – as you will notice from this chart – that also offers a fascinating perspective to compare different countries).
2] Although there is anecdotal evidence to suggest …

Last evening as I was trying to explain to my 14-year old why a possible US withdrawal from Afghanistan could be bad for India, I realised how hopeless the US case for continued involvement in Afghanistan looked.
In a statement that sounded pretty unconvincing, David Axelrod, Senior Advisor to President Obama said:
We have a different situation in Afghanistan. It is actually the place…where the folks who attacked us on 9/11 are holed up and plotting against us still…
It’s a threat that still exists. We have to deal with it and so …

While everyone from Shekhar Gupta to the PM (“Media blowing things out of proportion“) and most recently the Army chief, caution us not to get worried about China or get into the 1962 mindset (whatever that means) or not read too much into the incursions (because they are after all only a matter of perception), here comes this bit of news (Hat Tip: Sanjay) which appears to have received little media attention.
From “China strikes back on Arunachal“:
…Last month, in a development New Delhi has been quiet about, China won a …

Courtesy VigilOnline, these fascinating excerpts from a letter penned by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel to PM Jawaharlal Nehru (emphasis mine). I wonder the India that might have been had the Sardar lived longer.
*** Excerpts from Sardar Patel’s Letter to Nehru on China dt. 07 Nov, 1950 ***
My Dear Jawaharlal,
Ever since my return from Ahmedabad and after the Cabinet meeting the same day which I had to attend at practically 15 minutes notice and for which I regret I was not able to read all the papers,I thought I should share with you …

Excerpts from Pakistan’s fifth column by Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, National Post (emphasis mine)
…As the campaign (against Taliban in Swat) winds down, and local residents begin to return, significant questions remain about future counterinsurgency operations. For example, while Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari has asked Washington for his own armed Predator drones for use against the Taliban, regional newspaper Dawn reports that U. S. intelligence officers oppose this move — in part because several years ago “American officials gave Pakistan advance word of planned Predator attacks, but stopped the practice after …

Stumbled on this last week…
Excerpts from Why this silence on organised anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh? by Dr. Richard Benkin (July 23, ’09):
Reports began trickling out of Bangladesh this spring about an anti-Hindu violence in the heart of its capital carried out in three stages: March 30, April 17, and April 29. A community of approximately 400 Hindus was reportedly going about its business when “hundreds of Muslims” suddenly descended on them and demanded they quit the homes where they and their families had lived for the past 150 years. Witnesses …