It said the decision will immediately benefit approximately 7.8 lakh paramilitary personnel of the ranks of constable, head constable and assistant sub-inspector who were otherwise not eligible earlier.
Melbourne's air quality went down overnight to "hazardous" due to bushfire smoke. Sixteen fires were still burning and 1.4 million hectares have been destroyed across Victoria.
Pakistan is once again becoming a frontline State in big-power rivalry. But this time around, Pakistan stands to gain out of its geography, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The previous (Congress) government at least did not veto provisions of the cattle laws.' 'The BJP is actively weakening the provisions.' 'The BJP government tried to export goats from Nagpur for slaughter to the Middle East.' 'The whole country was aghast and offended. We are a country of Ahimsa.' 'The BJP has incentivised the butcher industry so meat export has gone up, live animal export has gone up, leather export is on the rise, smuggling has gone up.'
If the Ladakh episode has ended, this is the time to find the truth about all the aspects of it and inform the nation and the world, the time is here and now, advises Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India's ambassador to China is on a rare visit to Tibet to make preparations for the opening of a new route through Sikkim for Indian pilgrims to travel to the holy site of Kailash-Manasarovar which was agreed during last month's visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India.
The sixth round of talks between the government and farm union leaders, which was scheduled for Wednesday morning, has been cancelled. According to the union leaders, a new 'Delhi chalo' (march to Delhi)' call is being given to all farmers in the north India for December 14, while those in the South will be asked to protest at district headquarters.
Union leaders, who came out of the meeting venue shouting slogans, said the talks remained deadlocked and some of them threatened to boycott any further meetings if no solution was found at Thursday's meeting.
'The Himmatsinghji Report is still 'missing'.' 'It is a great loss for the knowledge of India's borders.' 'It would have an immense value at a time China is bound to shift its attention to other border fronts in the Himalayas,' notes Claude Arpi.
'They had come to tell the government what their problem is (with the three farm laws) and cautioned the government that if you don't solve our problems we will continue our agitation.'
Syed Firdaus Ashraf/Rediff.com tracks Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi's project-launching spree with just about three months to go for the assembly election in India's most populous state.
By jettisoning the vision of multilateral world in favour of a Han Empire, China has posed a major long term challenge to India. India must stand firm against Chinese expansionism but also keep a door open for future detente by making a clear distinction between Chinese people and the current Chinese leadership, observe Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (Retd) and Colonel Anil Athale (Retd).
The 7th CPC places the Indian Police Service (and, almost in passing, the Indian Forest Service) on a level with the Indian Administrative Service, leaving the military out in the cold.
Bureaucratic insensitivity gave way to compassion with the state administration, police and passersby joining forces to help the stream of Indians fleeing Delhi.
'My entire house turn their backs on me when a cricket match is happening.' 'The minute I look at the TV screen, an Indian player gets out.' 'So if I do enter the room, I have to sit with my back to the TV.'
'In difficult times as now, the call of the village is all that these migrants can hear,' observes Vijaya Pushkarna.
The military will now demand further pay and promotion parity with civilians
India's full membership of the grouping would extend its reach to the Central Asian region in whose peace and stability it is a major stakeholder, says Sana Hashmi.
The protesters set ablaze the private residence of the deputy chief minister at Niti Vihar and ransacked the office of the deputy commissioner of Itanagar.
We celebrate Dassera and regard it as an auspicious day as a day of victory of good over evil! So was 16 December! It is time we regard this day as auspicious as Dassera in future, observes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The government declared NSCN-K, all its front organisations and formations as a terrorist organization under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, a home ministry spokesman said.
Kargil observed it as a 'black day' and leaders in Leh seeing it as an opportunity for development.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has asked people not to panic, saying no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there has only been a few cases of local transmission so far and that it is "not a health emergency" in India at present.
'We owe our existence to the men in uniform, and we owe it to them to cleanse the armed forces by driving away every bit of corruption that eats into it,' argues Sudhir Bisht.
'Lingering border disputes and fierce geostrategic competition in South Asia between China and India are likely to temper any cooperation Beijing might hope to achieve with New Delhi in the SCO,' says P K Vasudeva.
'The Himalayan people may not represent a large or politically influential section of the population, but India's security depends on them.' 'Let us hope Sikkim remains a beacon of stability,' says Claude Arpi after a recent visit to the picturesque north eastern state.
He also said that the India-China standoff at Doklam is "not a very serious" issue
'On one side you have the farmers of India and on the other side are few corporate families.' 'Unfortunately, those holding the levers of power today are more sympathetic towards these corporate families and helping them benefit at the cost of poor farmers.'
Pakistan will allow 5,000 Indian pilgrims to visit the gurdwara every day using the planned corridor, and the numbers could be more on special occasions.
What dos and don'ts should people in Maharashtra follow with the state government notifying The Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 lockdown orders?
'Sukh Pal Singh is not very rich where money is concerned, but his heart is rich.'
However, Beijing expresses readiness for talks to reopen the Nathu La pass for the Kailash-Mansarovar Yatra.
'The worst case scenario for Pakistan is a full-scale Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.' 'Pakistani militants would be inspired and emboldened and seek to replicate the Taliban's successes in Pakistan.'
Markets, banks, business establishments and educational institutions were closed and transport services were suspended.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat said saving lives and extending all help to the families of the deceased is the state government's priority.
Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
Prime Minister Modi told President Xi that he has made efforts to improve ties with Islamabad but these efforts have been "derailed".
He said the 2 countries have handled border issues in the past.
It was bumper-to-bumper traffic at many spots in Gurgaon.
'It could have moved from the use of small arms to artillery fire.' 'Anything could have happened like what happens on the LoC.'
