It is time the current leaders who swear by 'cultural nationalism', that is religion neutral, assert that Bharatiyata is at the core of our nationalism and India was never a 'Hindu Rashtra', argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'In the last 55 years India and Pakistan have gone to wars, but nobody spoke about scrapping the Indus Waters Treaty.'
'The fact that Modi and Xi exuded confidence to accelerate the negotiations for a border settlement alone underscores that the Russia-India-China triangle has become very dynamic,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
Utkal Tubers is selling potato seeds in new areas and seizing the opportunity to create a Rs 100-crore firm.
Utkal Tubers is selling potato seeds in new areas and seizing the opportunity to create a Rs 100-crore firm.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last month, in 20 images.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
European governments have stepped up diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine, encouraged by Russian President Vladimir Putin's assurance that his country has no intention to annexe the Crimean peninsula or to wage a war against its neighbour.
COP 21 is about how much carbon space is left and who gets how much of that space
'The potential of one such LAC engagement going out of control and leading to heavy casualties cannot be ruled out,' warns Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
Opponents of the CAA and NRC have gone to town accusing the BJP of an ulterior motive (read, disenfranchisement of Muslims) in implementing the NRC. By the same token it can be alleged that anti-CAA opponents have a nefarious agenda in mind that would be scuttled by the implementation of the NRC: Namely the accrual of dedicated vote banks and the restoration of Muslim hegemony over at least parts of India, especially Bengal and Assam, argues Vivek Gumaste.
'It is absolutely important for us to continue to message to people that they must wear masks, keep physical distancing, as much as is practically possible, at work or at home.'
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
Russia will host the 2018 World Cup finals in 12 venues spread across 11 cities.
Telecom operator Reliance Jio Infocomm has arranged credit facilities worth $1.5 billion with lenders, including Bank of America and Barclays, to refinance existing loans.
'The Indian cement sector is the most energy-efficient worldwide, mainly due to modern technology used in the plants but also because of efficient monitoring of a plant's performance on a daily basis, focusing on energy savings and carbon dioxide emission reductions.'
Governments encouraged motorists to switch to diesel in the belief that its superior fuel economy would outweigh the higher pollutants per litre burned.
'There seem to be no reason why Assad should have launched such an attack when he was gaining acceptability,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
India had 14 out of the world's 20 most polluted cities, the World Health Organization reveals.
Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas, who suffered a heart attack in May, has been registered by the club to play in this season's Portuguese league.
The foreign ministers of the European Union will on Monday decide whether to impose tough sanctions against Russia in the wake of voting by the people of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula to join the Russian Federation.
'The bullet train is not modernity itself. It is the product of modernity.' 'It is this modernity that we would be fortunate to be able to import from Japan.' 'It occurs to me that we seem to believe that by acquiring the toys we will become a modern nation,' says Aakar Patel.
Darryl D' Monte, the distinguished enviromental journalist, discusses how the media covers floods in Mumbai or Texas, but ignores Assam or Bangladesh.
Wednesday night saw a few surprise results while a debutant club makes a mark
'Sharapova has been a US resident since early in her career, which does bring in a question of how or why she is using a drug that is not licensed there'
'When workers in other industries enjoy protection, why should sex workers not receive similar protection?' 'Sex work should be treated as work and brought under the work schedule of the labour department.' 'We will only end up giving immunity to the pimps and brothels to buy or sell human beings. This will in turn increase trafficking of young women and children.' Rashme Sehgal reports on the debate over legalising prostitution, a bugle in whose favour has been sounded by the new chairperson of the National Commission for Women, Lalitha Kumaramangalam.
Putin spoke to the citizenry in the annual nationwide Q&A session as part of PR exercise for the Russian government.
She lived for two-thirds of her life in India, adopted its national cause and customs, and took an Indian passport. She served a prison sentence in Lahore as part of Gandhi's protests against an Imperial power which happened to be her motherland. Freda Bedi delighted in confounding accepted definitions of identity.
The impending default on the IMF loans leaves Greece sliding towards an exit from the euro.
'They are not affected by ISIS' sentiment of avenging the suffering of the global ummah.' 'They have a huge ummah of their own in India, a huge Muslim population.' 'And because of that, they have to take into consideration the political and social conditions of Muslims in India.' 'They have to express themselves in a more political way and not through terrorism.'
'In the last 55 years India and Pakistan have gone to wars, but nobody spoke about scrapping the Indus Waters Treaty.'
FII stance, progress of monsoon, crude oil and rupee movement are likely to dictate the trend.
President Xi Jinping's visit may put relations between India and China on a new trajectory
Temporary workers not only lack job security, they get less pay and an inferior overall package.
Here's a collection of images of the past week.
'The true fruits of the attack on black money, what Raghuram Rajan did for the banking system, and what technology is doing for us will come in FY19, which, not surprisingly, is the year running up to the next Lok Sabha elections.'
