In Jammu region, three districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua are in red zone.
The road ahead will be long and winding and much resistance can be expected from the high-flying 'hawks' in our skies. But that should not deter the policymakers from planning a road map with the 'big picture' in mind, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
General Qamar Javed Bajwa, an expert in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir affairs, on Tuesday took over as Pakistan's new army chief succeeding General Raheel Sharif and promised to improve the tense situation at the Line of Control soon.
The initiative is being called lateral recruitment to senior positions in the government.
The Right needs an apparently potent and dangerous foe to keep its own followers in line. If they lower their guard, the insidious enemy may creep in, argues Amulya Ganguli.
A new tell-all book has claimed that former United States president Bill Clinton's steamy phone sex with Monica Lewinsky was listened in by British spooks and was also used for blackmail by Israel.
'It may serve the interests of the rule of law if the Supreme Court were to appoint the UNHCR as amicus curiae in the CAA case,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor feels it "raises a larger question, as to whether Muslims, who are such a significant portion of our population are suffering particularly from the procedures that are applied to them when they travel to the US."
"We can disagree, fight or be disappointed with each other... I know Arvind for 12 years and I can say that I cannot imagine him taking a bribe or being corrupt... even his enemies cannot imagine this," he told reporters.
'If the mandis were not working in Delhi, or the onion market in Nashik got affected, or there were disruptions because of unloading or loading in any sector in south India, we intervened.'
'The visit by the MEPs and their photo-op with Modi would suggest that we have now given a quiet burial to the 'internal matter' charade,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
With nearly 100 countries closing national borders during the past month, the movement of people and tourism flows have come to a screeching halt. The contraction could be even higher if governments fail to provide income support and help boost consumer spending.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Prime Minister Modi felt there were too many silos with no arrangement to take a comprehensive view on national security. The PM has entrusted NSA Ajit Doval to evolve a comprehensive roadmap and get it implemented, reveals Nitin Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief, Strategic News International.
Of the seven surveys presented under Modi govt, predictions of three were quite close to the actual GDP growth rate, one saw the base year change in between, but the last three were way off the mark.
Among other things, taking note of complaints against several Chinese e-commerce players such as Shein, Ali Express etc for sending shipments as 'gifts' to customers in India and avoiding duties, the government has now mandated that all e-commerce sites and apps must have a registered business entity. This will be the importer on record and subject to customs rules, report Subhayan Chakraborty, Neha Alawadhi and Karan Choudhury.
The legislation is being implemented by the Corporate Affairs Ministry. Many provisions of the new law came into effect from April 1.
Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs David Stilwell made the remark on Thursday, adding that the Trump administration is closely watching the Indo-China situation.
'The prospect is of a self-confident and self-sustaining India will make it a more effective player in the global arena,' External Affairs Minister Dr Subrahmanyam Jaishankar points out delivering the Sardar Patel Lecture-2020: India and the Post-Covid World.
Former NSA Shivshankar Menon said the defence minister did not have a right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, particularly when that opinion contradicted the country's official policy.
Spare the serious entrepreneurs but don't allow the rogues to use the shield of secrecy, writes Tamal Spare the serious entrepreneurs but don't allow the rogues to use the shield of secrecy, says Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The US loses around $1 to 1.6 trillion annually due to corruption at the public services and private enterprises, estimated David M Luna, director, Anti-corruption & Governance Initiatives.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will attend a two-day trilateral meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, India and China in New Delhi from November 10 to discuss regional and international issues.
The RBI expects the assessment to show if the systemic failure was only in PNB or in the overall banking universe
'Acting, by definition, is a portrayal of a character other than oneself.' 'If every role is to be played only by someone answering to that precise description, most professional actors -- of all ethnicities and genders -- would be out of a job,' observes Indira Kannan.
Marking its first international presence, software industry association Nasscom on Thursday announced the opening of its United Kingdom chapter aimed at becoming the one-point contact for UK companies planning to outsource their IT services to India.
Digambar Kamat has been summoned by the Crime Branch to appear before it on Wednesday in connection with the case.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said the government does not see the locus standi of a foreign entity like US Commission on International Religious Freedom to pronounce on the state of Indian citizens' constitutionally protected rights.
'I don't see how any Indian government or any Indian military leadership can now ask the soldiers to patrol without weapons.'
'There is no meritocracy or at least there is none that is visible and transparent.' 'The Congress has two opportunities to change this,' says Aakar Patel.
"The Corporation has decided to offer a voluntary retirement scheme, with a view to enable employees who are not in a position to continue in service of the Corporation due to various personal reasons, to request for grant of voluntary retirement from the services of the Corporation," Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd (BPCL) said in an internal notice to its employees.
The Centre will take a decision on declassification of files held by it related to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose only after studying its impact on India's relations with other countries, Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Chinese state media on Tuesday labelled India as a spoiled, smug, self-centered, self-righteous nation after Beijing faced massive criticism for blocking New Delhi's bid for membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
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 second wave was more virulent, more aggressive, more transmissible.'
The 'terrible' surge of the coronavirus cases in India has severely impacted COVAX's vaccine supply in the second quarter of this year to the extent that there will be a shortfall of 190 million doses by the end of June, according to a joint statement by the WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and CEPI.
What makes Dhankar so outspoken? Could it because as governor he will be in the driver's seat if the Trinamool Congress performs below par in the elections next year? Shikha Shalini reports.
FDI is a major driver of economic growth and a source of non-debt finance for the economic development of the country. The government has put in place an investor-friendly policy on FDI, under which investment up to 100 per cent is permitted on the automatic route in most sectors/ activities. At $ 64.37 billion, FDI in 2018-19 is the highest ever investment received for any financial year.
'From Doklam to Wuhan and the return of the India-China relationship to its previous equilibrium is indeed a major contribution of President Xi and PM Modi. Without any doubt they deserve the kudos for their sagacity and their wisdom,' says Ambassador Gautam Bambawale, India's envoy to China during the Wuhan summit.
