Gujarat was among the earliest civilisations in the sub-continent, dating back four millennia.
On December 31 this year, a "leap second" will be added to the world's clocks at 23 hours, 59 minutes 59 seconds Coordinated Universal Time, the United States Naval Observatory has announced.
'Modi's advent has made the mass of Indians realise that there was absolutely nothing wrong or objectionable in proclaiming nationalism as the masthead of the polity and Hinduism as its centerpiece,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'...incarcerated in jails, ruining their entire families.' 'You would see that Dalits who displayed so much agitation over the Bhima-Koregaon issue are effectively silenced by the arrests of their activists by the police.' 'What can be a more pitiable state than this for a people who had just seen a ray of hope after darkness of millennia?'
As visiting G20 leaders trooped one by one into their summit venue, it was a warm hug for the host and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott from his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
'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.
Indonesia is not even counted as a next-door neighbour of India, though the southern-most tip of India is less than a hundred miles away from the northern-most tip of Indonesia. Bringing Indonesia back in the mainstream of the Indian strategic calculus is a step long overdue, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
India and ASEAN have relations "free from contests and claims" and believe in sovereign equality of all nations irrespective of size, and support for free and open pathways of commerce and engagement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote in his column.
India is mushrooming with Deve Gowda wannabes because being a former prime minister is better than being a former chief minister, says Shekhar Gupta.
'Bateshwar is a rare temple where Shiva is depicted in his human form (and not his symbol, the Lingam).'
Geetanjali Krishna approached her trip to Greece -- the cradle of democracy where the notions of equality, free speech and civic liberty first took shape -- as much as pilgrimage as a holiday.
The BJP chief and former chief minister of UP, who is on a five-day visit to the United States, reiterated his resolve on Tuesday at a major Afghan policy speech at Capitol Hill, jointly organised by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies; US India Political Action Committee and American Foreign Policy Council
'In the lingo of Star Trek, how willing are we to keep all hailing frequencies open in order to listen more closely and with empathy to whoever we consider the 'other'?'
Historian and writer Sunil Khilanani lists King Ashoka's teachings, the Constitution and EVMs as some of India's finest treasures.
The NDA candidate tells the Election Commission that the Maoists plan to kidnap him.
Does India's first majoritarian government that is hard-focused on economic development have it in it to provide the Muslim community the healing touch? On evidence available so far, I am not hopeful at all. Yet, like the besieged community, I too find it impossible to abandon hope in the land's millennia-old syncretic traditions, says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Here's the full text of President's address with a word cloud.
Beijing should remember the advice of its celebrated military strategist Sun Tzu: 'Fight not unless the position is critical.'
The Sindhis are a lesson in perseverance. Once uprooted, they've started all over, often reinventing themselves
'Today the Chinese think they can slap India, and there will be no consequences.' 'They must be made to feel the consequences through any and all means,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
'Rahul is only making a pathetic public spectacle of his lack of judgment and good sense by hallucinating that somehow, the Congress, or whatever political combine is cobbled together, will displace the BJP at the coming Lok Sabha election by constantly harping on the Rafale deal,' argues retired civil servant B S Raghavan.
'When Modi was having his maiden meeting with Donald Trump, China is up to its old tricks again, by causing a distraction on the Doklam plateau,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
There is hope for us non-vegetarians. At least some enlightened judges believe diet is a personal choice. Here's to Maansh Wapsi.
'The Chinese mindset and approach to India is far different from that in Pakistan.' 'This reality makes it possible for us to follow an engagement policy with one, while militating against engagement with the other.'
From banking reform to financial reconstruction, the bullet train, Navi Mumbai airport, choosing a new medium fighter aircraft to be made in India... time is running out for Modi. How could a leader as energetic and astute as Modi have left it for so late, asks Shekhar Gupta.
Syed Firdaus Ashraf walks the streets of Mahim, where Yakub Memon grew up and lived till the day before the serial blasts in 1993, on the day Yakub was hanged and discovers an undercurrent of unease and restrained anger.
Amazing photography can leave you speechless. We were left without any words when we came across the finalists of the 14th annual Smithsonian Magazine 2016 Photo Contest. Out of 48,000 submissions from photographers in 146 countries, Smithsonian Magazine chose 70 striking finalists in their 14th Annual Photo Contest. Now, it's up to the public to pick a winner.
'Make no mistake, legally Chanda Kochhar was not and still is not obliged to quit.' 'But quitting earlier would have placed her personally and as a leader on a very high pedestal, indeed where she belonged until this lapse,' says S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
'Let us hope that with Nandan, like Cincinnatus back on his farm, taking over the reins, Infosys will not only regain its vigour and momentum, but vastly improve upon its achievements as a global player,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
'There is a remarkable link between the eating of beef (or at the very least, tolerating the eating of beef) and India being a superpower.' 'In India, whenever an empire was strong, religion took a back seat.' 'Alternatively, whenever religion asserted itself, the main empire of India crumbled...'
The last rites will be conducted in Mandala in Madhya Pradesh, according to his wishes.
Cows are required for milk and as producer goods for breeding cows and bulls for the future.
'Flush with funds, lending became a cash management exercise.' 'Road projects, power generation plants, airports etc were financed left and right with apparently no regard for the projects' ability to repay,' explains S Muralidharan, former managing director, BNP Paribas.
The soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance. This plurality of our society has come through assimilation of ideas over centuries. Secularism and inclusion are a matter of faith for us. It is our composite culture which makes us into one nation.
A sadhu's dream, and India's bizarre response, reveals the country's true nature, says Amberish K Diwanji.
The IMD has fancy weather-monitoring radars in the name of providing better forecasts.
China's major economic problem has been that its heartland is an agricultural region with about one-third of the arable land per person as the rest of the world.
'there is absolutely no question that the Hinduism of the mob-lynchers, the people who have actually gone and killed others because of what they are eating or how they are worshipping or the faith they belong to or what they're doing professionally, those are, to my mind, not Hindus at all.' 'Hinduism needs to be reclaimed for the Hindus who are not bigots.'
'No country can go from zero to hero at the Olympics.' 'A hundred Indians now feature in the world's top 25 and that's progress,' says Shekhar Gupta.
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