'Make no mistake, depriving water deliberately to a nation of 190 million people is a repugnant idea.' 'The world community won't forgive us.'
Mahinda Rajapaksa recovered from his 2015 electoral losses, went to the people and campaigned about the injustice done to him. Without attempting to be subtle, he underscored his image of the Sinhala Buddhist warrior a la Dutugemunu, the king of Sri Lanka (164 BC to 140 BC) who led the military campaign against the invading warlord Elara.
'Traditionally, the US tried to tamp down tensions whenever a crisis situation arose and deputed officials from Washington to travel to Delhi to counsel restraint.' 'This time around, no US envoy flew down to Delhi -- not even when tensions spiked and a flashpoint was reached last week,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The excitement of being in the Asia Cup final might be palpable in the Bangladesh camp but for India, Sunday's summit clash would be just another game in the tournament, says Team Director Ravi Shastri.
The resilience of many emerging markets, notably China and India, in the aftermath of the Lehman shock further strengthened this sense of manifest destiny.
Contradicting perceived proximity to the Soviet Union in the Cold War era, India under the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had toyed with the idea of supporting anti-Russian civilian groups in Pakistan if the then Zia regime was thrown out by Moscow, a recent declassified Central Investigation Agency document has claimed.
'The fact that a rural Kashmiri boy was brainwashed into killing himself and others means there is an active programme that exists which does such recruiting and there will potentially be other such individuals out there,' warns Aakar Patel.
'What makes this team special is that over the last few years they have faced all kinds of situations in the limited overs cricket and have shown they are capable of coming out successfully from all of them.'
New Zealand coach Mike Hesson has told his fast bowlers to welcome the Indian batsmen with aggression when they clash in the five-match ODI series, starting in Napier on Sunday.
It currently has between 140 and 150 nuclear weapons in its control and stockpiled around 200 to 300 kilogram of plutonium.
The strategic alliance between China and Pakistan is primarily driven by their rivalry with India, eminent US experts have said, with one of them expressing concern over Sino-India border tensions.
Art historian Yashodhara Dalmia's book on the Sri Lankan artist, who fell so deeply for India that he even claimed Rajput descent, is a momentous publishing event, says Kishore Singh.
Besides the five Indian films that are playing at the Toronto International Film Festival this year -- a rather large collection at an international film festival, says Aseem Chhabra -- there are more films with an Indian connect.
The UNEP Adaptation Gap Report highlights gaps worldwide in finance, technology, and knowledge.
However, the BCCI instead named Ganguly to a three-member advisory committee, which also includes greats Indian Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman.
'As of now, this one move seems to have precariously altered the balance of forces on the volatile ground, between separatists and the mainstream. 'The landscape today presents a fearsome picture of the future of mainstream politics in Kashmir. 'Conversely, the separatist ideology looks to have got an unearned boost,' points out Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs
Alastair Cook's England seem to have neither the form nor the resources to repeat their 2012 heroics against an Indian team determined to cement their top Test rankings in a five-match series starting at Rajkot on Wednesday.
'As in the Panchatantra tale of the cat and the monkeys, it is possible for the clever swing State to play off the two competing powers.'
Former RAW Additional Secretary Jayadeva Ranade tells Rediff.com's Upasna Pandey that India needs to be extremely cautious and watchful of the estimated 35-40 Indians who may have joined the ISIS in Iraq and may return to the country.
New Zealand all-rounder Jimmy Neesham feels his team was simply outdone by the brilliance of Virat Kohli and Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third One-day International in Mohali. Neesham (57 off 47) helped New Zealand post 285 with a maiden half century down the order before Kohli made short work of the target to give India a seven-wicket victory on Sunday. Kohli, who hit his 26th ODI hundred, remained unbeaten on 154 after sharing a 151-run stand with Dhoni (80).
Rajneesh Gupta presents Virender Sehwag's amazing international career in numbers.
'India serves itself poorly with its latter-day discovery of Pakistan as an instrument in domestic politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
She has spunk, confidence, some naughtiness and lots of style. Meet Sania Mirza, off-court
Test specialists Cheteshwar Pujara may have drawn criticism for his slow strike rate during the tour of West Indies but India coach Anil Kumble on Wednesday threw his weight behind the batsman saying he is a vital cog in the team's scheme of things and no one has put pressure on him to score quickly.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday returned home after concluding his successful visit to Japan, which promised to give $35 billion (Rs 2.1 lakh crore) to India over the next five years for developmental projects, as the two sides agreed to enhance their strategic cooperation to a new level.
Social activist Niranjan Bhatwal from Maharashtra has moved a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court seeking that the country be called 'Bharat', and not 'India' as the latter is of colonial origin, and that the constitution makers intended that 'Bharat' be used for all official and unofficial purposes, and not 'India'.
This will serve as framework for Smart heritage city programme between the two countries
India might have begun their World Cup campaign with a morale-boosting win over Pakistan but Jonty Rhodes feels that South Africa are a better all-round side and tipped them to win their high-profile clash against the defending champions in Melbourne on Sunday.
The US and its allies must evolve a more comprehensive long-term plan to defeat the new danger that the caliphate poses to the world order. And India too must do its bit for course correction, says strategic expert Gurmeet Kanwal.
Two-time Grand Slam champion Stanislas Wawrinka will be back in Chennai to defend his title at the Aircel Chennai Open 2016, India and South Asia's Premier ATP World Tour tennis event, scheduled to be held at Chennai's SDAT Stadium from January 4 to 10.
Nathan Lyon revealed that he has been analysing ace off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin to improve his own bowling.
The Lions from South Africa will look ride on the performance of their captain Alviro Petersen to guide them to a better finish.
India looks less equal to China than 5 years ago, the strategic alliance with the US is hobbled by trade, and Pakistan is looking anything but chastened by Balakot. What has gone wrong? asks Shekhar Gupta.
A lot of the factors towards which the government has pointed to justify its moves on Jammu and Kashmir are in fact valid. Only, most of them have little to do with Article 370, says David Devadas.
Journalist-turned-activist Teesta Setalvad in her new book 'Foot Soldier of the Constitution: A Memoir' has spoken of the rise of communalism and the aftermath of the '02 Godhra riots. In this interview with Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, she discusses her book, the cases against her and the state of secularism in the country.
Generations of Indians don't quite grasp that there would barely be an India had it not been for the Sardar whose steadfastness and guile stitched together that which had been united only in philosophy and spirituality and sometimes not even then -- for thousands of years. A fascinating excerpt from Hindol Sengupta's The Man Who Saved India, Sardar Patel and His Idea of India.
'JRD Tata was a visionary who established civil aviation in India'.
'The link between global warming and weird, extreme weather events is being better understood every year.' 'India is particularly at risk from such events.' 'Indian communities and urban centres don't have the resilience needed to survive such disasters,' says Mihir S Sharma.
A senior former Obama administration official said if another attack would have happened like that, it would 'quickly escalates into a regional war'.
India would have responded differently to "Pakistan-sponsored" Mumbai terror attacks had there been a different "mix of people" at the helm, according to former foreign secretary and national security advisor Shivshankar Menon.
