Delhi's power circles can expect a surprise when a not-so-known officer is appointed to head the CBI.
"When the people of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) talk of Article 370, they talk of technical integration. We have to make them understand that we also want that Jammu and Kashmir should fully integrate with India emotionally," she said.
The Pakistani military may shortly give Imran Khan the boot, substituting him with another puppet, predicts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd).
There is growing alarm at the inexorable rise of China, both of its military prowess and its aggressive bullying of other countries plus its subjugation of whole portions of its own population.
All the apprehended are being handed over to National Investigation Agency for further investigation.
Describing the boundary talks with China as "positive", National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday said India has inalienable positions and the government will protect vital national interests.
Not everyone in Jammu and Kashmir is optimistic about the alliance between the Peoples Democratic Party and Bhartaiya Janata Party. Upasna Pandey/Rediff.com spoke to Kashmiri pandit organisations to find out how they view the new coalition politics in the valley.
'As I set course for the Helicopter Training School this morning,' notes IAF Helicopter Veteran Air Commodore Nitin Sathe, 'I bow my head in respect for the institution which made me the man I am.' 'I also salute the Chetak which taught me much more than flying.' 'Both these institutions, in their own right, justify the crest and motto of the School: Achievement through Knowledge.'
For two decades the US paid in blood and blood money for dependence on Pakistan to carry out one president's boast. Now, having been defeated by its proxies, another president will go into Rawalpindi's embrace to satisfy his constituents, predicts Shekhar Gupta.
It is time we pre-empt Pakistan and the separatists by fast tracking normalcy, advises Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Even if your soldiers are Sunny Deol and Vicky Kaushal, Pakistanis are no Johnny Walkers.' 'The one lot who never takes them lightly is India's professional soldiers.' 'That's why they keep winning the real wars,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'No other Communist leader after Lenin had such an internationalist vision as Fidel,' says Prakash Karat, the CPI-M leader in this eloquent tribute to Fidel Castro who passed into the ages on Friday.
The stage on which the Jammu and Kashmir flood disaster played out is littered with protagonists, most of whom did not receive the attention they deserve, says Ajai Shukla
The Rafale will surely be flying in Indian skies next year. But the way the BJP government has botched this will cast a shadow on defence acquisitions in the years to come.
A weaker Russia, a sobered China at a time when Xi Jinping is manoeuvring to protect his third term prospects, a reunited West, a chaotic Pakistan. This is a perfect set of strategic circumstances. It is for India now to consummate this historic opportunity, argues Shekhar Gupta.
'This is not a cricket match where one side lost and the other side won! Kashmiris are our own.'
'The Kashmiri wants freedom, the dignity that comes from it and the intellectual versatility that flows from the combination of the two,' says political historian Siddiq Wahid.
Sandeep Pandey salutes women who have contributed to social transformation in India after 1980.
'If the Russian forces do capture Kyiv and set up some sort of provisional government, they might run into an insurgency, for which the geography is just right, it could prove costly for them.' 'In that event, the whole exercise could turn out to be counter-productive -- and costly in both foreign policy and domestic terms.'
In 28 months, Manohar Parrikar as defence minister developed easy relationships with the top brass of the three Services as was rarely ever witnessed before. He threw caution to the winds and managed to pull the forces out of a downward spiral in operational capabilities.
Tubes gone, Irom Sharmila the brand is dead. As long as she was trying to kill herself, she had value to the cynics trying to build their careers over her fast, says Shekhar Gupta.
New Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Monday said controlling the 'alarming' COVID-19 situation in the state is his first priority and his aim will be to make the state one of the top five in the country in the next five years.
'India is ahead only of Pakistan in the amount spent on each soldier a year.' 'The Indian military is a manpower-heavy throng that is poorly armed, equipped, and trained,' observes Ajai Shukla.
His third straight triumph at the All England Club also earned the Serbian a 20th Grand Slam title
Kashmir's youth are being radicalised. The once-alienated separatists are ready to return to their old haunting ground. The ruling PDP-BJP coalition finds itself on the defensive over almost every issue of governance.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has bestowed special honours on a PLA battalion posted in Tibet close to Arunachal Pradesh for its "outstanding performance in safeguarding borders".
Notwithstanding how the current impasse is solved, at some point in the future, Russia will realise that just as centuries ago it developed the paradigm of securing its heartland's safety through annexing vast buffer zones between itself and the enemy, a more modern security is possible only through friendly relations and sustainable peace, observes Shyam G Menon.
The Centre held that seniority is not the sole criterion for selection.
If the Taliban have proved one thing over these two decades, it is that they are way smarter than their big brother, observes Shekhar Gupta.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'Absolute non-violence is not only sinful, but immoral.' 'This doctrine of non-violence benumbed the revolutionary fervor, softened the limbs and hearts of the Hindus, and stiffened the bones of enemies.' A revealing excerpt from Vikram Sampath's Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966.
The key airbase at Panagarh in West Bengal has been renamed as 'Air Force Station Arjan Singh' in honour of the Marshal of the Air Force, who turned 97 on Friday.
'The National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, as recent events suggest, are quite content as New Delhi's collaborators rather than trying to be true representatives of the Kashmiri people,' says Athar Parvaiz.
'According to me, her finest hour was in 1983-1984 when she neutralised a combined US-Pakistan-British conspiracy to Balkanise India by creating an independent Sikh State of Khalistan,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd). A special assessment of Indira Gandhi on her centenary.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In the wake of the terrorist attack on the Pathankot Air Force Base, security was on Saturday stepped up in the national capital and several states. Security has been beefed up at the airport, railway stations, bus stands and other vital installations.
The PM said that it was the BJP government which abrogated provisions of the Article 370, while the Congress was only concerned about its "personal interests".
'We have made no effort in recent years to build a national opinion on Kashmir amongst political parties.' 'At least we should speak as one country.' 'It has been a failure of our foreign policy that we have not been able to convince world opinion that something needs to be done about Pakistan.'
Modi thanked the people of the state for making the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' initiative a fruitful one.
A bench of Justices Vineet Saran and Dinesh Maheshwari issued notice to the Centre, West Bengal and Election Commission of India on the plea, which also sought to central and state governments to award compensation to the victims and their family members after ascertaining the nature of loss sustained by them in post-poll violence in the state.
