'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
He attacked the dispensation over issues such as the state of the economy, the situation in Kashmir, the National Register of Citizens in Assam and action by probe agencies against opposition leaders.
Ajit Mishra, Vice President, Research, Religare Broking, answers readers' stock market queries. Ajit will offer his unbiased views on a weekly basis
'The situation is in real danger of swinging back to the fearful days of the 1990s, primarily for want of a well thought out action plan in New Delhi.'
Following several instances of poor drafting of Cabinet notes and bills in the recent past, on September 11, the Cabinet Secretariat wrote to all ministries and departments to read up paragraph 55 of the 'Handbook of Writing Cabinet Notes'. Archis Mohan reports.
The chances of the posts opening remain slim, with security agencies recently identifying 10 suspects who smuggled in weapons, narcotics and fake currency.
He also accused Pakistan of wanting to destabilise and weaken India through terrorism.
'I only pray that no other Indian should go through such harassment and distress. Am I not a citizen of India?'
'The Chinese are only about 160-170 km behind.' 'It will not take much time for them to bring their troops back, considering that they have better infrastructure -- and the weather is now favourable.' 'They can move in much faster as the terrain favours them.'
By throwing food at poverty that is result of faulty economics and lack of jobs, one is only trying to suicidal path.
The three districts are among over a dozen in the state that were lashed by incessant rain for close to 48 hours bringing normal business to a grinding halt and disrupting rail and road traffic in most places.
Spectrum trading will happen in 9 circles.
Will Katra's gain be Jammu's loss? Locals in the area are worried that the development of the new railway line will affect their livelihoods, as pilgrims heading to Vaishno Devi will be able to bypass Jammu completely. This will affect tourism, the main source of income for many in the area, observes Upasana Pandey.
Go, live your life in Leh for as long as you want.
Faesal, who recently returned from a foreign training and was awaiting posting, said he had decided to resign from Indian Administrative Service, "to protest against the unabated killings in Kashmir, and lack of any sincere reach out from the Union government".
'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.
'In times to come this will be considered a watershed event, but only if the establishment can see the flag which is up and the straws in the wind which are flying,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
With Modi's international image seriously damaged -- perhaps, irrecoverably -- and Indian foreign policy finding itself in drift, we move on to the New Year in a depressing scenario, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Amid growing strain in India-Pakistan ties, the government is planning to fast-track four projects in Indus river basin to increase irrigation area in Jammu and Kashmir by nearly 2.05 lakh acres, weeks after India decided to "exploit to the maximum" the water of Pakistan-controlled rivers, including Jhelum, as per Indus Water Treaty.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced a Rs 745-crore package for renovation of houses and six major hospitals damaged by the recent unprecedented floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
The reorganisation bill provides for formation of Union territory of Ladakh without legislature and a separate one for Jammu and Kashmir with legislature.
'No amount of digression can hide deflect the fact that the PM's visit was badly conceived, planned and executed,' argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Rahul Gandhi also attacks Modi and RSS in Bastar.
'It is common knowledge that cash is anonymous.' 'When demonetisation was implemented, one of the intended objectives was to put identity on the cash holdings in the economy.' 'With the return of Rs 15.28 lakh crore in the formal banking system, the almost entire cash holding of the economy now has an address.' 'It is no more anonymous,' says Arun Jaitley.
'In a complex conflict like Kashmir, you can't just ignore the militants when you talk of a permanent solution.'
'Abrogation of Article 370 is not legal because it is the legal basis of Kashmir's accession to India.'
The Congress was not unduly perturbed by reports that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi's application for proof of residence in Amethi was turned down by the district magistrate, stating emphatically that this would have no impact on his nomination from his Lok Sabha constituency. Anita Katyal explains why
Taking potshots at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Saradha chit-fund scam and the Burdwan blast, Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah on Sunday appealed to the people here to vote for change and development in the state.
'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.
Sanjeev Nayar offers some ideas on how Indians can help in improving the lives of those living in border areas and in the process help the Indian Army.
Ajit Doval is now India's all-powerful security boss. This concentration of power disrupts our layered security system. Will it not weaken whatever remains of the power and authority of the home, defence and finance ministers? asks Shekhar Gupta.
Education sector has reasosn to cheer Budget.
'Make no mistake, depriving water deliberately to a nation of 190 million people is a repugnant idea.' 'The world community won't forgive us.'
The chief minister said there is a need to take "bold measures to address the issue as the people of Jammu and Kashmir were our own".
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To a question on by when he expects investments to pick up, Jaitley said: "We are quite close to that point because there are a large number of investors who are waiting to come in and they only want to be doubly sure about the credibility of the decision making process and the stability of the policies."
Pakistan's prime minister is trying to use the unrest in Kashmir to save his government, says Ambassador G Parthasarathy, a former high commissioner to Islamabad.
A summary of the day's play in the Ranji Trophy matches at various venues across the country.
