A commemorative stamp of late Joachim and Violet Alva was released by President Pratibha Patil in New Delhi today, coinciding with the birth centenary year of the couple.
As the 2019 Lok Sabha election approaches, some rare photographs from the 1996 election campaign, which saw a Bharatiya Janata Party prime minister for the first time in India's history, albeit only for 13 days.
If there was one man who was responsible for pivotal role that the Left parties played on the national stage from 1989 to 2008, it was Harkishen Singh Surjeet, who passed into the ages on August 1. He was 92.
"I can't give Kashmir to you. You cannot give Kashmir to me. But what is the harm in talking about it". This, in a nutshell, was what former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had to say to his Indian counterpart I K Gujral when both leaders met in Male during their tenure.
Ranjan was a lovable individual and officer. He left this world without ever having made an enemy. His contribution to the protection of our national security was immense. He is one of the heroes of the Indian intelligence, who chose to live and die unsung and unknown outside a very small circle of the cognoscenti
After the people pay their homage for an hour on Friday morning, the late prime minister's body will be taken to the BJP headquarters where it will lie in state before the funeral.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The book states that Gujral's approach of taking decisions on his own ignoring the Foreign Service had created a 'piquant and unique predicament'.
Former PMs, ambassadors and high commissioners, including from Pakistan, are in the list of high profile invitees for the inaugural function of the 350th anniversary fete of the Taj Mahal.
The Rajiv Gandhi assassination, investigation and trial were all jinxed in parts, recalls N Sathiya Moorthy.
The mortal remains of former Commerce Minister and DMK ideologue, Murasoli Maran, were consigned to flames on Monday evening at Besant Nagar in south Chennai, with full state honours.
Congress leader Anand Sharma on Wednesday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that the Citizenship Amendment Bill is an "assault" on the foundations of the Constitution and fails the morality test while asserting that it was wrong to blame his party for the Partition.
''He had given tools to fight all forms of homogenisation.'
With the removal of Singh's SPG cover, the top notch security cover will now be given only to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Gandhi family -- Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her children, Rahul and Priyanka.
'The PM says he believes in discussion and debate, then why are discussions and debates not being allowed in Parliament?'
She was capable of a level of human compassion that is rare today among politicians, recalls Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who knew the Communist legend K R Gowri, who passed into the ages on May 11, from his childhood.
The Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday attacked Rahul Gandhi for his comments that the Congress government had tried to stop the 1984 riots in Delhi, alleging that the party had shielded individuals who were involved in the "carnage" against the Sikhs.
For 80 years, news and views aired on BBC Hindi reached audiences in the remotest parts of the country. For millions of its followers, the signature line -'yeh BBC hai (this is BBC)' -- has been like a morning alarm, and the bulletins a vital link between India and the world. That link, which began when there was no mobile phone or internet, is about to break as the radio service will fall silent after January 31. And for many living in smaller towns and in rural areas, life won't be the same again, writes Nivedita Mookerji.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
It was a many splendoured political career, which ended at the presidential palace. But the prime minister's post eluded him, even though it was a position he openly aspired for.
Rahul Gandhi is neither Congress president, office-bearer nor Congress leader in Parliament. This technical leeway provides adequate cover for Shiv Sena-Congress ties taking a nosedive, says Rasheed Kidwai.
Hitting out at the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party, he said, they were "shamelessly" opposing the abrogation of Article 370.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the Nepalese Parliament and offer prayers at the famed fifth-century Pashupatinath Hindu temple during his first visit to the country from August 3.
It will be tough for the Congress leader to return to the Upper House from either Telangana or Andhra, where the party's presence has dwindled. But neither House will forget her.
'If Khan Market today -- a neon-drenched spectacle of blingy shops and pricey eateries -- is what it is, it's not due to the dramatic shift in political dispensations, but because free-market India is another country,' notes Sunil Sethi.
'Indian secularism doesn't deserve a tombstone. It needs a new shrine,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
He asserted that the BJP does not carry out any action with a vindictive approach.
External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid on Wednesday left for Iraq on a two-day visit aimed at deepening India's ties with the oil-rich Arab country.Khurshid, the first Indian external affairs minister to visit Iraq in last 23 years, will hold talks with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshiyar Zebari and discuss bilateral, regional and international issues of mutual interest.
'Incompetent dynasts can lead to national ruin,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Amit Shah now enters an unfamiliar and interesting phase of his political career. His success or failure will henceforth be assessed based on his performance as a key minister, points out Shekhar Gupta.
In another somersault, the BJP MP claims Arun Jaitley looks smart in a suit.
Interestingly, so far Deve Gowda's JD-S is not the target of the attack by the BJP. Come mid-May, he hopes he will once again play the role he has played before.
With neighbourhood being the priority of his foreign policy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Nepal on Sunday on a two-day visit during which the two countries are expected to sign agreements in sectors like power and India may announce economic aid.
Interrelations of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday took centre stage at the Jaipur LitFest where panelists discussed the upswing in talks between Pakistan and Afghanistan besides India's ties with its neighbour.
'Modi, with his sharply honed political savvy and undoubted grasp of international affairs, is a past master at taking the measure of world leaders.' 'He would be the last person to think of the unpredictable and not too well-regarded Trump as the mediator,' says B S Raghavan.
The Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday termed as "full of hypocrisy" Rahul Gandhi's remarks that the Congress government tried to stop the anti-Sikh riots and accused it of shielding individuals involved in the "carnage" and delaying deployment the army.
India is mushrooming with Deve Gowda wannabes because being a former prime minister is better than being a former chief minister, says Shekhar Gupta.
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