'This novel format of diplomacy -- the informal summit -- will not only facilitate bilateral communication and reduce miscalculations at the very top level of the two governments, but possibly open the space for China and India to speak in one voice on various issues of mutual concern,' note Feng Renjie and Ding Kun Lei
'There is gradual rise in the number of nations viewing Pakistan as the nursery of global terror.'
Physical security for women, the first step towards getting them into factories and offices, is all but absent in most Indian cities, notes Kanika Datta.
'When there is no middle ground possible between the government and the governor, the governor has to go.'
'The Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code is neither beneficial to banks nor helpful for the borrower.' 'Genuine people who are caught in economic stagnation will lose everything and thousands will lose jobs.'
'China's deep involvement in the stability and economic and political success of Pakistan actually produces some elements of congruence with India's core interest in a stable and productive relationship with Pakistan.' 'It is not far-fetched for us to pursue that congruence and with ingenuity work out with China a formula that also satisfies our formal position on PoK,' argues Ambassador Kishan S Rana.
Raghuram Rajan rejected the argument that inflation has come down largely because of "good luck" stemming from low oil prices.
Fencing the border between Myanmar and Nagaland is expected to adversely affect the Naga tribals. Gautam Sen, an expert on Nagaland, explains why the Indian government needs a more comprehensive and long-term perspective on this issue and why it must take local tribal sensitivities and customs into account.
'There is core BJP support on the Hindutva line. It will continue.' 'Along with that, the BJP is ready to play the OBCs trifurcation card to its benefit.' 'If you see the post-Kairana result, the BJP spokespersons and IT cell have already begun talking about Hindu unity against Muslim unity, Ram vs Allah.'
The best way for the railways to become more professional will be to get corporatised.
He has now to show that he can take on the vested interests within the railways which are resisting change through corporatisation
'Ensuring through diplomatic means and in conjunction with strategic partners that India will not be required to fight a simultaneous two-front war with China and Pakistan.' Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) lists what India must have in its national security strategy.
'The temptation of governments, to have a finger in the RBI pie will be just too great to resist, unless extensive amendments are carried out in the RBI Act treating it almost as the fourth branch of the government.'
The service conditions and judges' remuneration are not alluring .
A total of 16 bills, including the GST Bill, Lokpal (Amendment) Bill, Factories (Amendment) Bill and the Anti-Hijacking Bill are pending in Parliament -- five in Lok Sabha and 11 in the Rajya Sabha.
In a note to his students titled 'In a Background of Elections - The Development Debate', Dr Frazer Mascarenhas, principal of Mumbai's St Xavier's College, slams Narendra Modi's Gujarat and is in all praise of United Progressive Alliance's Rojgar Yojana and the Food Security Act
Chaos in Parliament threw a spanner in the government's efforts to revive the economy and kick-start reforms.
The Supreme Court-appointed Lodha Committee on Monday recommended sweeping reforms for the controversy-ridden Board of Control for Cricket in India, suggesting a bar on ministers from occupying positions, putting a cap on the age and tenure of the office-bearers and legalising betting.
The man behind Aligarh Muslim University 200 years on.
Since the US and India broadly share similar interests in Sri Lanka, they should coordinate closely to ensure that the country preserves its democratic institutions, says Lisa Curtis
G Sreedathan interviews Dinanath Batra, president of Siksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas and national convener of Siksha Bacho Andolan, who shot to fame after he was instrumental in getting American scholar Wendy Doniger's book on Hinduism pulped.
Will RBI chief have the final say, in the form of a veto
Operators developing greenfield airports (built from scratch on undeveloped land) are likely to face increased competition, with the Ministry of Civil Aviation considering tweaking the norms to allow such airports to be developed within 150-km radii of existing ones.
Never one to mince words, Rajan will walk away with a mixed legacy
The RBI governor-designate may be economical with spoken words, but is known for his sharp and critical writings
Virender Kapoor, author of A Wonderful Boss: Great People to Work With, lists out 11 things that bad bosses do wrong.
Sources said that the Congress was working to move the motion on Wednesday and is in the process of filing a notice in this regard.
A marathon session of over a dozen hearings on implementation of Justice Rajendra Mal Lodha panel recommendations on structural reforms in the Board of Control for Cricket in India came to an end on Wednesday in the Supreme Court, which took the Indian cricket board to task over issues like fund utilisation and avoiding of performance audits.
'Through the use of technology, the GSTN will tip the balance in favour of compliance rather than tax evasion, lowering the barriers for entry into the tax payment system while making it much harder to cheat on payments,' says Nandan Nilekani.
'China's excessive military aid to Pakistan is the real elephant in the room as far as Sino-Indian relations are concerned. India should be confident enough to accept a degree of closeness between China and Pakistan, since China may wish to use this link for its foray into the Muslim world.' 'But the Chinese must be realistic enough to know that as time passes, the tactic of using Pakistan as a proxy to check India will yield diminishing returns. The US tried it for 60 years but failed, so will China,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'A dangerous and false binary is now surfacing in Indian political discourse, which must be firmly rejected.' 'It is that we have to choose between freedom and development.' 'For us freedom is neither merely an instrument for development nor to be subordinated to development.' 'It is, as our founding fathers proclaimed early in our freedom struggle, 'our birthright' on which we shall never compromise.' 'Growth, wealth and development are fruits of democracy, not substitutes.' Dr Manmohan Singh's thoughts on democracy: A Must Read!
DEA officials to push for this at a meeting with FM Jaitley.
Confrontation between the Sikh bodies of Punjab and Haryana has become more political than religious, says Rediff.com contributor Upasna Pandey.
'The CBI and its independence was discussed in great detail. We invited and sought the views of the CBI director as well as several government officials. But the ingenious solution to the problem came from within the committee. The effort was to somehow find a solution. It would not have been possible to draft this Bill if members had not been liberal in their views and if they had not been prepared to rid themselves of their political bias.' Congress MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi, who headed the Parliamentary committee which proposed the recommendations for the Lokpal Bill, speaks to Anita Katyal in an exclusive interview.
The BCCI submitted a 60-page affidavit to the Supreme Court in which it stated it's opposition to certain points in the Lodha Committee report including one association and one vote for each state and also the inclusion of a representative of the Comptroller and auditor general (CAG) in the Board.
The Supreme Court has urged the Board of Control for Cricket in India to follow the recommendations of the Justice R M Lodha Committee and "save trouble".
During the Congress regime, India did witnessa slew of reforms which are now taken up by the Modi government too.
The greatest challenge before India is how to strike a fine balance of its relationship between its neighbour and strategic rival China, and the US.
While Congress-ruled states such as Kerala, Karnataka and Assam expressed fears about the sudden demise of the planning process and wondered what it would be replaced with, also worrying about the immediate implications on annual Plan outlays, Andhra Pradesh said it was considering setting up its own NITI Aayog.
'I believe Modi mentioned Balochistan only to embarrass Pakistan and also divert attention toward the situation in Kashmir.' 'I think from now on, India intends to raise Balochistan whenever Pakistan brings up Kashmir or upsets them on the issue of terrorism.' 'Balochistan is the least developed of Pakistan's four provinces. It is the least educated and least economically developed. People are agitated that a region so rich in mineral resources and a sea-port is still so poor.' Baloch political analyst Malik Siraj Akbar on why the province wants freedom from Pakistan.