Closures, travel restrictions, and self-isolation measures due to the coronavirus have cleared public squares, roads, and travel destinations across the globe. Photographers have been capturing the eerie stillness of these public spaces, recently emptied of the crowds they were built for.
'It was Parrikar's sharp insights into finance and international systems that stood out when India --at his suggestion -- decided to procure the Rafale combat jets from France.'
India's doctrinal policy shift in combating terror by carrying out the Balakot air strikes inside Pakistan, appointment of a Chief of Defence Staff and hastening work on military modernisation marked a new beginning in 2019 in dealing with complex security challenges.
My candidate for the best general of the last century hailed from a little, poor colonised Asian nation whose impact on world affairs rarely amounted to much, notes Shankar Acharya.
UK-based Cairn Energy PLC on Wednesday said it has agreed to drop litigations to seize Indian properties in countries ranging from France to the UK as it has accepted the Indian government's offer to settle tax dispute relating to the levy of taxes retrospectively. Meeting the requirements of new legislation that scraps levy of retrospective taxation, the company has given required undertakings indemnifying the Indian government against future claims as well as agreeing to drop any legal proceedings anywhere in the world. The government now has to accept this and issue Cairn a so-called Form-II, that will commit it to refund the tax collected to enforce the retrospective tax demand.
The 'request for proposal' for the indigenous construction of the six submarines will be issued soon, they added.
"Time has come for Pakistan to decide in its own interests. We will do what's in Pakistan's interests," Qureshi told Geo TV in an interview.
More than 8 million people in Britain tuned in to watch England win
Seventy-seven years ago, 338,000 British soldiers were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk, a stunning great escape which helped Britain avoid defeat in World War II.
'I love beaches and hence I love my swimsuits.'
The Congress chief also described Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's 3-day trip to France as part of a 'huge cover-up' by the government.
'Make in India' will be central to Mr Modi's visit to Europe and Canada. It is difficult to predict what will happen with the Rafale deal, but if it goes through, it will undoubtedly become the 'Mother' of all 'Make in India' projects,' says Claude Arpi.
The minister also said that four cases of corruption in defence deals have been registered by the CBI since 2015.
India-China relations have always attracted Parliament's attention and there have always been useful and productive and constructive discussions how to engage with China, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The aircraft was to carry a large consignment of medical supplies to China and bring back more Indians from Wuhan.
Breakdancing, considered one of the pillars of hip-hop culture, will also make its Asian Games bow in 2022, two years before it features in the Olympics for the first time in Paris.
The document titled 'Details of the steps in the decision making process leading to the award of 36 Rafale fighter aircraft order' stated that the process as laid down in the Defence Procurement Procedure-2013 has been followed in procurement of the Rafale aircraft.
UK's Cairn Energy Plc has offered to forego $500 million and invest that amount in any oil and gas or renewable energy project identified by the Indian government if New Delhi agrees to honour an international arbitration award and returns the value of loss it incurred because of being taxed retrospectively, sources said. The Scottish firm invested in the oil and gas sector in India in 1994 and a decade later it made a huge oil discovery in Rajasthan. In 2006-07, it listed its Indian assets on the BSE. Five years after that the government passed a retroactive tax law and billed Cairn Rs 10,247 crore plus interest and penalty for the reorganisation tied to the flotation.
A UNSC designation will subject Azhar to an assets freeze, travel ban and an arms embargo.
New Delhi must clearly demonstrate to Beijing that China will pay a price for its relentless strategic undermining of India, says Ajai Shukla.
Starting Tuesday, the four-day Aero India 2017 event will kick off which will feature several state-of-the-art aircraft. Here's a tiny preview of what's to come.
Medical experts feel an aggressive containment strategy in red zones and insulation of green zones is a must while giving relaxations.
Hollande was welcomed by Governor of Punjab and Haryana Kaptan Singh Solanki and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, among others.
Djokovic, playing his first tournament for six months because of an elbow problem, dropped his opening two service games and although he battled back to break Monfils twice he wavered again as scrappy opener went his opponents' way.
"The United States and China share a mutual interest in achieving regional stability and peace, and that a failure to designate Azhar would run counter to this goal," State Department Deputy Spokesperson Robert Palladino said in response to a question on previous successful attempts by China to block the UN designation of Azhar
'What the price will reveal, since the India specific capabilities haven't changed since 2013, is how much the Modi government padded up the cost,' points out Mohan Guruswamy.
A Bengaluru-based techie killed his wife, tried to get his friend arrested, so that he could get closer to the friend's wife whom he was in love with.
Mattis said in conducting these strikes, the US has gone to great lengths to avoid civilian and foreign casualties.
Gandhi's attack came a day after Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had refused to share the details of the deal on the grounds of security agreement signed between India and France.
The world governing body of chess (FIDE) on Thursday stopped the Candidates tournament in Yekatrinburg, Russia at halfway stage after the hosts decided to ban all flights into and out of the country owing to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. The prestigious tournament was stopped after seven rounds. The eighth round was scheduled to be played on Thursday.
Norway's Birk Ruud claimed the first men's freeski Big Air Olympic gold
The year will coincide with the 75th year of its Independence.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday reiterated that an international arbitration ruling on India's sovereign right to taxation sets the wrong precedent, but said the government is looking at how best it can sort out the issue arising out of New Delhi being ordered to return $1.2 billion plus interest and cost to UK's Cairn Energy Plc. The government, which participated in an international arbitration brought by the Scottish firm against being taxed retrospectively, has appealed against The Hague based tribunal's ruling asking the government to return the value of shares expropriated and liquidated, tax refunds withheld and dividend seized to recover a wrongly levied retroactive tax demand.
Reduction in fuel price was supposed to bring back good luck for Indian airlines. But with the global spread of coronavirus, airlines are being forced to rejig their network, cut flights, and delay launches.
At any time, there is a need to operationally deploy two aircraft carriers in the vast Indian Ocean, asserts Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
India's entry into the MTCR comes days after it failed to get Nuclear Suppliers Group membership due to stiff opposition from China and a few other countries.
News of all that transpired on and off the football field.
Bhaker beat a two-time World Cup Finals winner and the host country's Alejandra Zavala, with a 10.8 in the last shot of the 24 shot final, to come out on top with a score of 237.5.
'The India-France relationship has been that of the elites of two countries, who appreciate each other's philosophical traditions -- whether it is ancient Indian civilisation and Sanskrit texts or the French tradition of Rene Descartes, Albert Camus, (Jean-Paul) Sartre... This is a drawback. It doesn't create the buzz, the excitement necessary for a relationship. We need more people-to-people contact, especially among students,' says former Ambassador to Paris, Rakesh Sood.
