In New Delhi's corridors of power, debate continues on whether the navy even needs a third aircraft carrier.
'The Chinese navy is large and expanding both in numbers and capability by the day.' 'India too must take measures to safeguard its own interests, now and in the future.'
'Notwithstanding the realisation among the Indian leadership to build up its navy for the force's expanding role, the Indian Navy was allocated only 15% of the interim defence budget presented in Parliament in February 2019.' 'The outlay for the navy's capital acquisition is not even adequate to meet its committed liabilities,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'By causing military humiliation of India it intends to send a signal to other Asian countries to toe the Chinese line,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
As Myanmar refuses to accept that the boat-loads of refugees abandoned at mid-sea are its people, claiming instead that they are from Bangladesh, the plight of the Rohingyas has worsened, reports Prakash Bhandari from Dhaka.
We invited readers to send in their interesting summer snapshots. Here are some more responses -- and you can share yours too!
V Chinnadurai and S Swetha wanted their wedding to be memorable. So this is what they did.
Few people in India are aware that India and Indonesia are geographically contiguous, sharing a settled maritime boundary. The last island in the Andaman and Nicobar chain is only 80 kilometres from the first island of the Indonesian archipelago.
Panic gripped coastal areas of Chennai on Tuesday, especially among fishermen, following reports of a tsunami warning, after a mild tremor was felt here today morning due to a powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.Soon after the rumours spread about a tsunami warning, most fishermen in coastal areas moved out of their houses to safer places. They also did not venture out to the sea for a while.
Gandhi also attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the economic situation in the country, saying the PM should get his head "out of the sand" to deal with the problem facing the country.
This will be the first instance since Independence that two of the three service chiefs will be the government's chosen men.
The Union Home Ministry on Wednesday issued a tsunami alert in Andaman & Nicobar Islands and all coastal states.
The sources said the military brass is considering deploying Indian Navy's MiG-29K fighter jets in a couple of air bases in the northern sector as part of efforts to bring in tri-services synergy in dealing with national security challenges.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has directed its rescue teams to ensure that the country's major medical oxygen generation plants based in Odisha and West Bengal are 'running and alive' during Cyclone Yaas that is developing in the Bay of Bengal, a senior officer said.
After stopping the boat, the personnel found that all 11 crew members on board were Myanmarese and none of them were holding valid passports.
A ship-to-shore version of the supersonic Brahmos missile was successfully test-fired in the Andamans on Wednesday. The Defence Ministry announced that the missile with a range of more than 290 km was launched from the deck of the Russian acquired missile destroyer INS Rajput and precisely hit a land target in one of the islands.
Officials evacuated people from coastal belts and asked them not to go anywhere near the sea.
India cannot choose its geography and devise regional strategies to dovetail into the Western Indian Ocean hypothesis conceived in the Pentagon, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Because the Andaman Islands are gorgeous!
'If the Bangladesh-China relationship strengthens further, it can only be to India's detriment,' notes Vice Admiral Premvir Das.
'Wanting to see the bright side of things, we always told ourselves, 'It could have been worse!', when the situation got tough.' Air Commodore Nitin Sathe (retd), who helped rebuild the IAF's Car Nicobar air base after the 2004 tsunami, recalls the devastation on United Nations World Tsunami Awareness Day.
The army, in an attempt to instil confidence among the trauma-stricken fishing community, sent its men along with the fishermen of Akkaraipettai to the sea.
Centre announces it is safe for coastal residents to return home
If you were one of those who escaped nature's fury or were witness to the whole incident, please share your experience with us.
Mumbai teen Siddharth Pillai has designed and patented a technology that prevents coral bleaching and will save hundreds of marine species from extinction.
The time is ripe to extend the confrontation with the Chinese to the maritime domain, says former RA&W officer Krishan Varma.
The United States, he said, 'desires a new age of ambition' in its relationship with India. Asserting that the US has never been more supportive of India's security, he said New Delhi too, is an important partner and a key pillar of President Trump's foreign policy.
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has come to an end with passengers' families being informed that the effort to find the plane has been suspended.
Here are some of the best photos from around the world in the month gone by...
'In terms of sheer incompetence, this government has rivaled the Rajiv Gandhi-led government that was derisively called the 'Baba-log' government for its naive handling of many issues,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The tearing hurry to form theatre commands has to be replaced by a balanced and deliberate approach. We need to accept that this process will take time if executed correctly and in the best interests of the Indian armed forces, argues Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
China's South China Sea build-up and 'territorial sea' construct potentially affects 55 percent of Indian trade passing through the region. Hence, coordinating with the US and Japan could provide dividends to India in the longer run,' says Srikanth Kondapalli.
'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'
These pictures sent by our readers bear witness to the beauty of our country.
India is the fifth worst-hit nation by the COVID-19 pandemic after the United States, Brazil, Russia and the United Kingdom, according to the Johns Hopkins University data.
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