Rediff.com lists a few other dramatic and frightful hostage situations that sent governments and security agencies into a tizzy.
'Trump's new discovery is that Pakistan and its army are virtually god's gift to mankind.' 'They are required to facilitate a relatively orderly American exit from Afghanistan,' points out Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's high commissioner to Pakistan.
PDP patron Mehbooba Mufti staked claim to form a government with the support of the Congress and the National Conference, while People's Conference leader Sajad Lone also staked claim to form the government with the help of the 25-member BJP.
'Only when China treats India as an equal can we consider them real friends.'
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Fresh clashes erupted on Monday morning between police and hundreds of anti-government protesters who forcibly entered the heavily-guarded Pakistan Secretariat in Islamabad after breaking its gate, hours after the powerful military asked all parties to peacefully resolve the political crisis.
A robotic mini-submarine deployed to unprecedented depths has searched approximately 50 per cent of the focused underwater area of the Indian Ocean floor, as it ended its seventh mission on Sunday with still no sign of wreckage of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Ahead of completion of three years of the National Democratic Alliance, the Congress young brigade alleged that the government has failed on various counts including on issues like dealing with Pakistan, Kashmir policy, internal security, women safety and rising cases of rapes, atrocities on Dalits, high petrol and diesel prices, besides generation of jobs.
United States intelligence whistleblower Edward Snowden has offered help to Germany to probe the National Security Agency's alleged spying on Chancellor Angela Merkel and other covert surveillance operations.
Geetanjali Krishna explains why this may slow down India's fight against corruption.
The British government is under increasing pressure to order an inquiry into claims that the country's security services were covertly gathering a mass of personal data from some of the world's largest Internet firms through a US spy programme.
Border incursion, the finalisation of the Border Defence Coordination Agreement (BDCA), a new mechanism suggested by China last year for improving security at the borders, pending the final settlement of the territorial dispute, top Antony's agenda for talks.
Whether history will remember Edward Snowden as a traitor to his country or as a champion for free speech and less intrusive government is hard to tell, but the issues he has brought into focus need deep thought, writes Ajit Balakrishnan
As per the ministry's updated data on coronavirus cases Saturday morning, six fresh deaths were reported -- three from Maharahtra, two from Delhi and one from Gujarat.
The US-based firm, however said it does not have any direct evidence of customer data being breached illegally by the government.
Kashmir remained on the edge with six more persons, including a cop getting killed in violence on Sunday.
Modi held comprehensive talks with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong on ways to enhance cooperation in key sectors including trade and investment.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has admitted that Malaysia 'did not get everything right' in the first few days of Flight MH370's disappearance and called for implementing real-time tracking of airliners, as the search for the crashed jet was hampered by technical troubles on Wednesday.
Cries of "Amma" rent the air as a sea of humanity thronged the Rajaji Hall grounds on Tuesday to pay their last respects to AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, whose body lay in state in Chennai where normal life virtually came to a grinding halt.
Against the backdrop of uproar over the release of separatist leader Masarat Alam, Jammu and Kashmir government has told the Centre that his activities are under watch and legal action will be taken if anything adverse comes to notice.
The court while granting bail to the duo also held that it does not find any possibility of the accused persons fleeing from justice and that their custodial interrogation was not required.
Botswana's Isaac Makwala was refused entry to the London Stadium on Tuesday after earlier being withdrawn from the night's 400 metres final at the World Championships after falling victim to an outbreak of sickness that has hit scores of competitors.
Mumbai is observing the sixth anniversary of the dastardly attacks that shook the city
Mere shuffling of resources or cosmetic changes to prove a point would be counterproductive in the long run, observes Commodore Venugoptal Menon (retd).
US President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's King Salman amid the Arab world's biggest diplomatic crisis in years over Qatar's alleged support to extremists, reports Lalit K Jha.
Like China, India needs to encourage 'hacker clubs' in view of the challenges of virtual terrorism, says Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (retd)
On Sunday, August 9, over 400 California-based community leaders from various organisations and inter-faith groups gathered under the Indo-American Community of West Coast USA banner, some of whom were the first to sign up for the event.
Bharatiya Janata Party MP Varun Gandhi was at the centre of a controversy over allegations that he had leaked defence secrets to middleman Abhishek Verma and arms manufacturers after being "honey trapped", a charge he stoutly denied.
'The government, supposedly manned by wise and experienced officers, was all at sea, unable to act cohesively, and with restraint. Each agency was out to score brownie points.'
'The one thing India has over these two States, whose toughness awes us, is our ability to embrace diversity with ease. 'The way ahead lies in learning from Vajpayee's method, not in Xi Jinping's,' says Shekhar Gupta.
'The prime minister did not think that COVID-19 was a serious challenge as late as March 20.'
.jpg)
The Delhi high court on Monday termed as "serious" the use of internet services provided by offshore firms by government officials in communicating on sensitive issues and asked the Centre to come up with the e-mail policy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pipped Chinese President Xi Jinping to secure the top rank in handling domestic and international affairs in a global survey conducted by a Chinese firm.
Analysts attribute this outperformance to the government's proactive economic reform measures
Its officers would wear black bands on Monday, which is also Martyrs day, the IRS Association (Customs and Central Excise) has said.
On October 24, the United Nations turns 70. 'The credibility of the UN has been eroded by the fact that the Security Council does not represent the political realities of the world today,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan, listing the 10 things the UN needs to do to become more relevant and effective.
Arvind Singh, a member of Mahabodhi temple management committee, said the two injured included a national of Myanmar and another of Tibet. They have been admitted to the Magadh MedicalCollege and Hospital, he said
However, the tilting factor still remains: Can the rivalling 'Modi brand' of 'soft Hindutva' and 'hard-sell nationalism' garner more votes for the NDA in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress will only be able to gain from the bill if its benefits percolate down to the people within the next eight months, says Anita Katyal
'We have often heard the mythical argument that patents block access to life-saving drugs, but only 5% of medicines from multinational companies are under patent protection in India.' 'Where these patented products are beyond the reach of Indian patients, the companies have programmes to facilitate access to their drugs, for free or for a fraction of the price,' points out Ranjana Smetacek, former director general, Organisation of Pharmaceutical Producers of India.
