Around 15 years ago, when Reliance Industries (RIL) struck natural gas in the Krishna-Godavari (KG) basin off the east coast, the government made plans to supply that fuel cheaply to scores of generators that sprang up in India triggered by the discovery. Most of the plants, which account for 6 per cent of India's total generation capacity, operate sparsely after the KG-D6 area first failed to meet production targets, and then finally shut shop. Affordable domestic gas was why those thermal plants came up and the rate of the fuel today is why those generators hardly operate. Record liquefied natural gas (LNG) rates may yet again unravel India's ambitions to expand use of gas in industries, households and vehicles. Rates, while volatile, may stay strong this decade as developed nations with higher purchasing power embrace gas as the transition fuel.
Thailand's army chief on Thursday announced coup to restore stability after 6 months of anti-government protests left the country deeply paralysed.
'The Chinese can't be trusted hence the need to verify and re-verify.'
The chargesheet, filed by the State Investigation Agency, has highlighted several instances where parents were taken across the border using valid travel documents but were later compelled to pay extra money for their wards' admission to universities and colleges there.
His much-awaited Olympic debut has been delayed by a year but star Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra is unfazed as he feels humanity needs to focus on the coronavirus pandemic more than anything else right now.
Against the backdrop of growing Chinese assertion in the Asia-Pacific region, India on Thursday said it supports the "freedom of navigation" in international waters noting that any disputes or differences in the region must be resolved diplomatically.
The key reason for the country's stagnating exports is its failure to build a strong manufacturing base, says T N Ninan.
'India enjoys the maneuverability of a coming big power.' 'It is this possibility that has persuaded Moscow to humour India and stayed Washington from getting punitive about India's neutrality on the Ukraine issue.'
Both the Asian giants were among the top three countries spending more on armaments, according to a new report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
The prime minister's outreach to Japan is a recognition of the civilisational potential that the two nations hold and can wield in evolving an era of 'Asianism' in global politics, says Anirban Ganguly.
China on Monday expressed the hope that the Taliban will stand by its commitment of establishing an "open and inclusive" Islamic government in Afghanistan and will ensure a peaceful transition of power without violence and terrorism.
'Indian and Iranian sources both confirmed to me that India and Iran are moving ahead to implement a payment system on buying oil from Iran and hope to finalise it very soon,' says Aveek Sen.
'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).
'While visits and personal meetings are useful, changes of strategic significance have occurred recently, with Beijing trying to take the lead which Modi must take note of.'
Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Southampton confirmed that they had signed 23-year-old Walker-Peters, who spent the second half of last season on loan at the club. British media put the fee at 12 million pounds.
Defending champion Roger Federer argued with an umpire but mostly let his racket do the talking as he beat Tomas Berdych for the ninth time running to reach the Australian Open semi-finals on Wednesday.
Chess grandmasters resume COVID-delayed tournament in Russia
Former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Saturday more time is needed to seal an accord over a sale of a stake in AC Milan with Thai businessman Bee Taechaubol but said he could retain control of the soccer club.
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
It is important the SCO focus strongly on economic development and regional integration that leads to greater benefits for the least developed regions of member-countries, writes Sana Hashmi.
"India has made a cogitative decision, and shows the common views of China and India in fighting terrorism and separatism, and the determination of further cooperation," Fu Xiaoqiang, an expert on South Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.
'We are beginning to see that the rest of the world will not simply accept the domination of one power'
'There is no parallel in UN history of an individual terrorist being bailed out by a world power,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Bollywood glamour will meet sporting world to kick off the third Indian Super League football tournament, in Guwahati, on October 1.
'Putin is in danger of losing face in his Ukrainian adventure. His bluster is a response to this.'
If Mr Modi and his team expect to win the 2019 elections, groundwork for improved performance in their second term should be done now.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Saturday
George Yeo, the second Chancellor of Nalanda University after Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen, on Friday resigned from the post saying the varsity's autonomy was being affected as he was "not even given notice" of the leadership change in the institution.
Two talented Indian designers showcased their collections at the ongoing London Fashion Week 2017.
FC Goa on became the first team from the country to secure a berth in the group stage of the AFC Champions League, the continent's top-tier club competition, after beating Jamshedpur FC 5-0 in an Indian Super League match, in Jamshedpur, on Wednesday.
PK Banerjee was captain of the Indian team that last played the Olympics in Rome 1960. He retired as a player in 1967 after being laid low by recurring injuries. But then went on accumulate a staggering 54 trophies as a coach.
A large number of Koreans trace their ancestry to this legendary princess, who is known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok.
Yashwant Sinha explains where the Modi government has gone wrong in its handling of the economy.
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.
India and Indians can ignore Pakistan, but that cannot be said of other nations in the neighbourhood, where New Delhi's 'Neighbourhood First' policy constantly reverberates. Four of the eight SAARC member-nations are Muslim -- Afghanistan and Pakistan, Bangladesh and the Maldives. The rulers decide the nation's India or anti-India policy in the first two, and street-opinion contributes to the same in the latter two, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
As India strives to make its Act East Policy a comprehensive politico-diplomatic and economic success, Brunei gains more salience, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
'When bankers are hounded by investigative agencies for credit decisions going wrong and defaulters are treated like outcasts, who will borrow money and who will lend?' asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The nine-member jury found in an Oakland, California court on Wednesday that the TCS did not have a "pattern or practice" of intentionally discriminating against non-South Asian workers due to their race or national origin.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla terms India's relationship with China as "complex".
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