Trump was good for world peace. He didn't start a war anywhere, which is not something that can be said for most of his predecessors, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
If purists are surprised as to why and how people are not demanding prohibition or not talking about past promises, both in the election manifestos five years back and even those made to the courts, the answer lies in how the state has been evolving and changing these past few years, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
On Thursday, November 6, the Washington Post newspaper reported that controversial American diplomat, Ambassador Robin Raphel, had her office and home searched by the FBI. This most unusual development likely raised much cheer at India's ministry of external affairs, in whose flesh Raphel had been a thorn through much of her tenure in the first Bill Clinton administration in the early and mid-1990s by her anti-India and pro-Pakistan stand. Seventeen years ago, as she was about to step down as Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs, Raphel granted an exclusive interview to Aziz Haniffa and India Abroad, the leading Indian-American weekly newspaper, which is now owned by Rediff.com The July 1997 interview, which provoked a raging controversy in both capitals, Washington, DC and New Delhi, is reproduced here...
Concern is growing among healthcare experts who believe that if people do not follow the lockdown or social distancing seriously, the situation can quickly go out of control.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Environment Minister Gopal Rai visited the Eidgah in Mustafabad and interacted with locals besides taking stock of facilities being provided by the government at relief camps.
There is talk of a fresh approach to a new labour code as well as reforming land acquisition laws in such a way as to be politically.
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.
'The government may backpedal for now to stave off bad international press and diplomatic demarches, but that it will go ahead with putting religion at the centre of citizenship rules is certain.' 'For it is convinced that this is the magic bullet that will ensure its return to power in 2024,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
"The central government had rescued other businesses by re-structuring debts to the tune of Rs 30,000-40,000 crore. Compared to this, the amount (debt) of Jet Airways was much smaller. Moreover there was a resolution (accepted) by the lenders to save jobs and to save the airline," Sharma said.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'What made him different was that he was not a banker at all by temperament.' 'He was a businessman, a typical lalaji at that.' 'He had to win at any cost.'
Even though the Health Ministry and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been insisting that there is 'no solid evidence' of community transmission so far, the government has started scaling up health infrastructure to deal with any situation.
For many, he is the Dhirubhai Ambani of Kerala. For others, he is the most influential Indian in West Asia. M A Yusuff is back in the spotlight after the controversy surrounding the UAE's reported offer of a Rs 7 billion aid package for flood-hit Kerala.
'We are telling them we have isolated them and their religion as not only unwanted,' says Aakar Patel.
Indian govt must tighten food safety norms to prevent controversies like the latest one on Maggi noodles.
BJP leaders also took a dig at the former Congress president after the apex court asked him to be careful in future while closing a plea for contempt case against him for wrongly attributing certain comments on the Rafale deal to it.
Leading hotels are taking all precautions but the unusual service the staff has been pressed into puts them at the forefront of COVID fight.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'The new order cometh, sweeping out the old,' notes Ambassador B S Prakash.
The BJP too described the Muslim rule in India as 'barbaric'.
'His contributions in setting up transparent precedents of governance are still basically intact despite the cynicism of several of his successors,' notes Jamini Bhagwati.
'There is a compulsion to look hard, decisive, and risk-taking; start something; and then conclude it in a way you can claim victory.' 'That is not such an easy option against China,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Defending his economic policies, Modi said demonetisation was 'a very big success story'.
As per the ministry's updated data on coronavirus cases Saturday morning, six fresh deaths were reported -- three from Maharahtra, two from Delhi and one from Gujarat.
A total of 37 deaths were reported since Thursday evening of which 14 fatalities were reported from Maharashtra, nine from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh,Tamil Nadu and Telengana and one from Karnataka, ministry data stated.
'The conception of Make-in-India, Skill India, Smart Cities, Digital India, Beti Bachao, Beti Padao and so on show a visionary breadth of mind, and Modi is almost the first political leader in India to put them into effect with single-minded zeal,' notes B S Raghavan, the former civil servant.
Home ministry officials told the parliamentary panel that those detained under the PSA can challenge their detention in a designated tribunal.
At least six persons, including an Italian journalist working for the Associated Press, were killed and six others critically injured on Wednesday when an Israeli missile exploded as Palestinian experts tried to defuse it in northern Gaza Strip.
The visit, Kim's third since March, is taking place amid sharp escalation rhetoric between Beijing and Washington over tariffs almost spiralling into a trade war.
Three weeks after taking over, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Bhutan on Sunday on his first foreign visit to demonstrate the "special token of friendship" for the country.
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.
The corona deaths in India so far add up to 91,149 (September 24, 3.26 pm). It is seven-and-a-half times the number of Indian soldiers slain in all the wars (1947, 1961-1962, 1965, 1971 and 1999) in post-independent India's history, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
All the five have been isolated in Pathnamathitta general hospital and are under observation. Their tests were confirmed on Saturday night.
Moni Chadha was with Lal Bahadur Shastri in Tashkent. He counters colourful conspiracy theories with sobering facts.
SAARC summit in Islamabad in jeopardy. A SAARC summit can only take place when leaders of all member countries are present, notes Rajeev Sharma.
'You can't make the poor rich overnight.' 'Nor can you fly millions in planes.' 'But remember that word: Empathy.' 'Who in the BJP is speaking in that language to these millions?' 'Someone putting an arm of understanding, warmth, comfort around them?', asks Shekhar Gupta.
'Openness is a great weapon in the armoury of more open societies. That's why the fight with Pakistan isn't just about India be six times bigger, but equally bitter and insecure Pakistan,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
Do Modi's foreign visits actually serve India or they nothing more than expensive tools for domestic positioning and image-building, asks Shehzad Poonawalla.
With the government claiming that the economy has been growing robustly and the Opposition refuting these claims, the common man is none the wiser, says Rajeev Sharma.
'Indian diplomacy faltered amidst multiple failures of statecraft.' 'The functionaries responsible must be held to account for their abject failure,' asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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