Hours after Paris police cornered two gunmen, who were responsible for the Charlie Hebdo killings, at a printing press in Dammartin-en-Goele, two other gunmen took 5 people hostage at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris.
Hours after Paris police cornered two gunmen, who were responsible for the Charlie Hebdo killings, at a printing press in Dammartin-en-Goele, two other gunmen took 5 people hostage at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris.
The North East is a sizeable success story for the Modi government politically and for the BJP electorally. It will be an unpleasant surprise if they choose to blow it, bowing to their basic, polarising instinct at any point, points out Shekhar Gupta.
For lakhs of 10th class students in Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh is not a part of the country, as the north-eastern state is reportedly "missing" from the map in their geography textbooks.
'Mithun has showed Hindi cinema that a tall, dark man with a charming smile and a great physique can take the world on.'
Immediately after the auction Alex Branczik, Sotheby's senior director and head of contemporary art in Europe said: "It appears we just got Banksy-ed."
India says the State of Arunachal Pradesh is its integral and inalienable part.
We understand the electoral compulsions, the desperate need for the BJP to have at least 50 per cent of the Hindus vote for them in Uttar Pradesh in a few months. For that, you need polarisation, put your own Muslim compatriots on the 'other' side. This is how your domestic politics runs contrary to your national, strategic interest, warns Shekhar Gupta.
The Chinese have just one commander for all the forces confronting India. Commanders of all these forces answer to one man, and one headquarter. India, on the other hand, offers a diversity of options that is a military embarrassment in the 21st century. In Arunachal and Sikkim-Bhutan, the Eastern Army Commander is in charge. In the Uttarakhand (central) sector, it will be the Central Army Commander. The Himachal-Tibet border is the domain of the Western Army Commander. And all of Kashmir and Ladakh further on, the Northern Army's. Effectively, an array of at least eight 'three-star' commanders will be arrayed against one Chinese, says Shekhar Gupta.
"Whatever we are doing is in close coordination and synergy with the army and the Indian Air Force to produce desired results," he said.
The branch managers have come out of their glass cabins and the sellers' market has transformed into a buyers' market, but there is no end to the harassment of customers, asserts Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
If the CBDCs don't offer interest, why will people shift from cash to CBDCs?, asks Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
Hours after Paris police cornered two gunmen, who were responsible for the Charlie Hebdo killings, at a printing press in Dammartin-en-Goele, two other gunmen took 5 people hostage at a kosher grocery store in Porte de Vincennes, eastern Paris.
'Modi-Shah have understood the risks their cynical mixing of domestic political motivations with strategic national interests was soon going to become counterproductive asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Mr Modi and Mr Shah will need him if they want to win UP again in 2022 and India in 2024. This signals a Yogi Adityanath-sized change in BJP politics, even under Mr Modi, Shekhar Gupta.
There is a vocal constituency of educated, well-to-do, articulate Indian elites who would rather go with the idea that too much democracy is a liability. That India needs a spell of benevolent dictatorship. Of course, they have never lived under one, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'I realised what a great leader he was by the way he took decisions to undertake the most-risky of missions.'
AFSPA can be safely lifted from almost 90 per cent of Nagaland, argues Shekhar Gupta.
What do we know about India's devastating second wave, and can we assign responsibility for it?
The Cricket Association of Bengal will seek permission from the Board of Control for Cricket in India to have a photograph of Sachin Tendulkar on the ticket for the legendary batsman's 199th Test, which will be staged in Kolkata.
'Overnight, with zero qualification whatsoever for the responsibility of prime ministership, Priyanka is being projected as an alternative to Narendra Damodardas Modi!' says Nazarwala who predicted Mayawati's win in the 2007 UP elections, forecast her rout in the 2012 polls, and called right the 2017 UP assembly election result.
'Manmohan Singh's fond hope of avoiding conflict over territory by 'making borders irrelevant' is increasingly difficult to realise in a world where institutional restraints on aggression are weakening and the new game in town is unalloyed power play,' notes T N Ninan.
Each region in India has its own culinary narrative that speaks through its distinct dishes. Each cuisine packs within itself, textures, layers, ideas and historical nuggets so that all of Indian food cannot be pigeonholed together to say that there is one Indian cuisine. A fascinating extract from Sonal Ved's Whose Samosa Is It Anyway?.
India has much paranoia in India about a new 'Terroristan' coming up between Pakistan and a Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. Pakistan has zero ability economically, diplomatically, geostrategically or militarily to create one. If they try, it will be great for India as they will destroy themselves yet again, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The Assam-Mizoram violence is an outcome of BJP trying too hard to 'integrate' distinct northeastern states, explains Shekhar Gupta.
The Prime Minister stressed on achieving financial inclusion.
She has been appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh (East), while Jyotiraditya Scindia holds charge of UP West.
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Not to say that India couldn't have handled the situation better, but on average, it didn't do anywhere near as badly as the naysayers make it out argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
'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).
PM has asked the Reserve Bank to prepare a 20-year road map for financial inclusion
Prime Minister Modi made a strategic blunder of Nehruvian proportions -- presuming no war can happen now, and the Chinese won't be a military threat and risk their economic interests, observes Shekhar Gupta.
The 1986 batch Odisha cadre IPS officer has been described as a competent officer and is known for his acumen in handling disasters.
Complicated social phenomena behind it, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
In a time of crisis like this, a government needs its people and politics united. A nation of India's size and diversity can't fight a stronger rival with fraying social cohesion, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Government sources had claimed on Tuesday that four persons have committed suicide in fear of NRC so far, while four others had died while waiting in queues to procure the requisite papers.
Senior United States intelligence officials said Russia trained and equipped separatists responsible for the shooting down of MH17 with a surface-to-air missile over Ukraine, but noted that the rebels may have targeted the plane presuming it to be a Ukrainian military jet.
'Ladakh is a tiny salami-slice issue.' 'The big one for China is Arunachal Pradesh, more than 83,000 sq km.' 'Do they imagine they can grab any of this by force?' 'In the 21st century, nursing those thoughts only means you need to get your heads examined.' 'It isn't going to happen,' declares Shekhar Gupta.