We may be witnessing a slow erosion of the democratic republic and the emergence of the police State, warns Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The greenback's strength against other Asian currencies and lacklustre local equity markets made the rupee depreciate.
Rediff.com lists a few other dramatic and frightful hostage situations that sent governments and security agencies into a tizzy.
'If the almost literally heart-stopping Suez block has any positive outcome, it is to be hoped that it will accelerate the setting up of a fab (perhaps Taiwanese) in India,' asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
Can we find fault with RBI for not intervening enough in the market? Actually no, say some experts. A correction in rupee was long overdue.
Rupee is under pressure against the dollar on weak cues.
The novel coronavirus outbreak has affected their Olympic preparations but India's top athletes like P V Sindhu and Bajrang Punia say they are optimistic about the quadrennial event going ahead as scheduled despite the current health crisis. Olympic silver-medallist Sindhu says she can understand the apprehensions of fellow shuttlers, including compatriot Sania Nehwal, who is racing against time to qualify for the Games due to the cancellation of tournaments in the wake of the outbreak. The Olympic Games are scheduled to start in Tokyo, from July 24.
Chinese stock markets suffered their biggest single-day drop since the global financial crisis.
The effort made to define the larger picture by focussing on history and the wish not turn differences into disputes and conflicts is welcome. In the obtaining circumstances today, nothing more could have been possible, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Without doubt, General Bajwa has deliberately snubbed India.' 'But why did he do that?' 'The Male leadership is simply fed up with Indian interference,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Employees asked to work from home... cancelled travel plans... curtailed meetings... Caution and precaution dominate Corporate India's response to Covid-19.
Pakistan said on Monday that its close ally Saudi Arabia has asked for ground troops, warships and fighter planes to oust the Shia rebels in war-torn Yemen as lawmakers debate whether the country should join the conflict which has sectarian and domestic implications.
After going through more than 78,000 photographs from over 4,700 photographers, the expert judges of the World Press Photo contest have announced the finalists of the 2019 competition. The panelists have selected 43 photographers from 23 countries to represent the best in photojournalism.
Pakistan's demand for gas stands at 8 billion cubic feet while the current production is 4 billion cubic feet.
Jaishankar is the first foreign secretary to head the Ministry of External Affairs as minister.
Aseem Chhabra lists the films that won his heart at the recent Toronto International Film Festival.
A ceasefire deal has been struck between the pro-Syrian government forces and the rebels for them and the civilians still living there to evacuate the city safely.
Even as France mourns the bloodiest terrorist attack for 20 years, let's take a look at some major standoffs witnessed in the past:
'Anyone familiar with Modi's track record will know he never forgets a slight, a betrayal,' notes Virendra Kapoor.
Asia has opened largely in the green ahead of a raft of Chinese data due during the day.
All international passengers will henceforth be screened at airports, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said at a press conference. Earlier, travellers from only 12 countries were screened at airports for the disease that has claimed over 3,000 lives and infected more than 90,000 worldwide.
Khan's visit evoked considerable interest in Beijing as it comes in the wake of his past criticism of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects and remarks by his ministers to cut down some of the projects over debt concern.
India will see a gradual growth acceleration with its GDP expected to reach 5.9 per cent this year.
This barefoot pilgrimage home we're seeing all around us, and the way plenty of us have reacted to it, is not just a commentary on India, circa 2020. It also shames us forever, notes Dilip D'Souza.
Obama highlighted that in recent years, the US has put in place intensive screening and security checks to take in refugees as well as ensure the nation's security.
More than four decades ago, the Nixon administration knowingly broke United States law to help the Pakistani army against Bangladesh and encouraged China to mass troops on Indian border to oppose the strong stand taken by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, according to a new book.
'Modi forgot to ask Trump for anything that India may need -- and there is so much shortfall all around!', states Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
All the action from around the world last week, in case you missed it.
The court asked challengers of the ban respond to the appeal, and for the Justice Department to file a counter-response by Monday.
'The lockdown was for both: To flatten the curve or more correctly, delay the rapid spread of COVID outbreak, and to create healthcare infrastructure.'
Indian diplomatic sources said that India abstained from voting on the resolution in line with its traditional approach that it does not mix humanitarian issues with political issues.
Both the Greek and Iranian deals are extremely imperfect and fraught with uncertainty, says Claude Smadja.
All things taken into consideration, the Taliban statement on Kashmir portends trouble ahead. The Taliban is notorious for doublespeak and when it says there is no link between the Kashmir issue and the Afghan settlement, the opposite must be taken into account as well, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Hollywood icon Angelina Jolie has slammed President Donald Trump's controversial immigration ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, saying that shutting the door on refugees or discriminating among them will not make America safer.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and about 1,000 of his colleagues have donated over $1.5 million to a leading rights group that has pledged to fight President Donald Trump's temporary ban on refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority countries.
'Rawalpindi must downsize its quest for 'strategic depth' in Afghanistan and Kashmir,' suggests Matein Khalid.
Nawaz Sharif will lead a high-level delegation to Saudi Arabia in a bid to cool tempers in the kingdom over Islamabad's refusal to provide troops for the war in Yemen.
The UP minister condemned the terror attack as unfortunate and reportedly said that "European countries can't be lit up with the ill-gotten wealth from the oil reserves of Middle East".
US President Donald Trump spoke with Saudi Arabia's King Salman amid the Arab world's biggest diplomatic crisis in years over Qatar's alleged support to extremists, reports Lalit K Jha.
'In my hospital, there must be at least 150, 200 Indian nurses. There are other hospitals nearby, and my calculation is that there may be at least 600, 700 Indian nurses working there.' 'All of us are worried. I want the Indian government to help us get out of here,' says an Indian nurse working at a maternity hospital in the Saudi Arabian city of Najran which was shelled early this week by Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militants.
