Tokyo -- the songs Japan, Love In Tokyo and Sayonara from the 1966 Hindi film automatically pop up in the mind -- is buzzing and crowded like any other metropolis, discovers Deepa Gahlot. The modern apartment blocks are built cheek by jowl, so close together that one can open the window and borrow sugar from the neighbour in the next building. One of the fears of the Indian traveller is the unavailability of vegetarian food. Every city and town in Japan has an array of Indian restaurants that serve every variety of cuisine, right from Gujarati to Punjabi to Andhra and Kerala meals.
The village in Maharashtra has continuously sent soldiers to the Army since World War I. Every other person you meet is a soldier or a retired soldier or is aspiring to be a soldier.
Poland, which has long been critical of Lukashenko and harboured many activists from Belarus, has granted her and her husband humanitarian visas.
'There is only one common feature between Gorbachev and Putin.' 'They are both patriots, and both try to save Russia and make it great.' 'But in very, very, different ways.'
Borat being Borat, a girl juggling between suitors, a kid making a trip to the moon, a father and daughter spying over the latter's husband, Sukanya Verma makes her recommendations on the OTT for this week.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the fatalities in Turkey alone have passed 8,500.
The Kashmir Files has done a commendable job in highlighting the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, but has dealt only with the local factors. The cover-up has multiple reasons and it is time that a debate is begun to unmask the culprits who hid the truth, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Air Chief Marshal said his force is ready for a full spectrum operation but added that any decision on surgical strike involving the IAF has to be taken by the government.
Sohail Khan sets the record straight.
'What would we feel if we found the world behaving the way it has?' 'Forced to fight our own prolonged battle; nobody from outside really demanding that the war end or actively working to make it end, and above all, a completely toothless United Nations reduced to pleading for a halt to the violence,' notes Shyam G Menon, exactly a month after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine.
'Instead of writing NAM's obituary, India should reinvent it,' suggests Dr Rup Narayan Das.
'I recall an encounter I had with a US Congressman of Cuban origin, who was hostile to India because of our continuing goodwill for Cuba.' 'He asked me why India was still friendly with Cuba and I gave him an honest answer that it was rooted in historical and friendly ties.' 'He took it as an affront and spread the word that an Indian diplomat had defended Fidel Castro in his chamber!'
'Our record and our actions and stances is fairly clear and by criticising it repeatedly, it doesn't make us less credible'
Charmesh Sharma said he had on March 10 informed the Indian authorities about five students stranded in that country, after which three of them were brought back.
'Doklam was almost like a trailer to what is happening in Ladakh today.' 'Modi failed to take note and failed to act,' observes Harishchandra Dighe.
Outwardly, Sooraj Barjatya and Salman Khan seem to have rediscovered their mutual love and respect but insiders say there is growing dissent between the two.
'India-US relations seem to have soured when the US expected India to not only balance China in the Asia-Pacific, but also make concessions to Pakistan as a price for US technological help,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
As we mark the 34th death anniversary of Shankar -- of the legendary Shankar-Jaikishan duo -- Subhash K Jha selects five evergreen songs from their greatest hits.
Norway's Carlsen wins World Chess Championship for fourth time
'It was a machinery of death. A large number of Hindus were first converted and then persecuted from 1560 all the way to 1812!' says novelist Richard Zimler.
'My adrenalin kicked in and the happiness returned! It was time to go in for the kill again.' IAF Veterans Group Captain Dilip Kumar Dass tells Air Commodore Nitin Sathe about how the IAF decimated tanks in the famous Battle of Longewala.
Obama and Putin discussed the necessity of countering the Islamic State and the situation in Ukraine, the White House said.
The Nuclear Security Summit is being hosted by US President Barack Obama on March 31 and April 1.
DRDO's latest test towards developing an anti-ballistic missile shield, to protect Indian targets against nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles fired from Pakistan or China will provide a technology that is akin to striking a bullet with a bullet, say Ajai Shukla
Warning India of "unbearable damage" in case of a war, Pakistan's army chief General Raheel Sharif has said his troops are ready to tackle any long or short misadventure by the "enemy".
The main Opposition BNP of former premier Khaleda Zia, 78, who is under house arrest, is boycotting the elections amidst violence.
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US President Barack Obama is likely to make a historic visit to Cuba next month, the first sitting American president to go to the island nation in 80 years, as the two cold war-era foes make efforts to normalise their ties, a media report has said.
'This is in its own interest.' 'Only the State must have the monopoly of power in the country.'
'Militias have no place in democracies,' says Shuja Nawaz, Distinguished Fellow at the Atlantic Council, the Washington, DC-based think-tank.
China said on Monday that no 'exclusive cliques' should be formed as it accused some countries of trying to 'drive a wedge' among regional nations citing the 'China threat' and asserted that they will 'end up nowhere'.
Beijing will be intently watching Washington's response for any hint of weakness. Xi Jinping, who feels China has a limited window of strategic opportunity, will be emboldened to take additional initiatives in the Indo-Pacific and specifically against India and Taiwan, warns Jayadeva Ranade, the former senior RA&W officer and China expert.
'The China Pakistan Economic Corridor is Pakistan's number one preoccupation today -- and tensions with India and the $46 billion projects simply do not go together,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Transformation of Ukraine into some kind of permanent strategic challenger, which Russia would have to contain and deter, spend a significant part of political and strategic resources on it.'
The leaders of the two countries "discussed the main aspects of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on current regional topics, including developments in South Asia," said a brief statement issued by the Russian President's office - Kremlin.
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Deepa Gahlot lists some 2023 movies that you need to watch if you haven't already.
Wang said that the situation in Ukraine has changed rapidly and that China laments the outbreak of the conflict between Ukraine and Russia and is 'extremely concerned' with the harm to civilians, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
'If you invest your entire capital in talks, you cannot abruptly change gear and decide on war.'
Newly-elected Conservative Party leader and prime minister in waiting Liz Truss is among the senior British politicians known for championing deeper India-UK strategic and economic ties, describing them as a "sweet spot" of global trade dynamics.
Maybe, the need for secrecy may have tied the government's hand from sharing details in Parliament. Still, it should consider the need of sharing the utmost within any consultative committee, so that relative secrecy is still maintained. But such a course should involve the prime minister or home minister, as it is much more serious than is being made out to be, argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
