If India is to follow a smart cultural diplomacy, it has unmatched advantages over both China and Pakistan, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
India is currently the world's fourth-largest oil consumer after the United States, China and Japan
India's rank inched up by just one position to 130 in last year's Doing Business Survey by the World Bank.
In this series, Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
They said the kingpin -- through his agents in Gujarat, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and other places -- brought children under the age of 10 years and paired them with the couples in Bengaluru who acted as family.
The costs involved in putting together a successful rally are bizarre.
It also expressed confidence that the cleaning operation will be finished in a couple of days.
How the Tamil Nadu police bungled the brutal gangrape of a differently-abled teenager and the family's fight for justice.
The home minister said he was deeply pained at the loss of precious lives during the agitation at Tuticorin.
'There is a special benefit in the matter being taken up by the Supreme Court rather than the high courts.' 'The orders of the high courts are limited, but the Supreme Court order is binding upon everybody.'
Acquisition of stressed infrastructure assets has pushed its debt to over Rs 1 lakh crore, highlighting concerns about its growth strategy.
In the year 2016, 8132 human trafficking cases have been reported in India.
Defying prohibitory orders, protests were held in Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and several other cities. Protesters, mostly students and activists, were detained on a large scale in national capital and other places.
20 new industrial clusters will be developed in 2014-15.
The minister tells Subhomoy Bhattacharjee that he wants to set up a financing corporation for the road and shipping sectors, which will throw up a business opportunity of Rs 25 lakh crore!
Trade union leaders claimed that the strike would be even bigger than the one last year as the number of striking workers is expected to swell to 18 crore
Air Carnival can make quick progress by stepping into the space that SpiceJet has left empty.
Earlier, The Nitish Kumar government had banned sale and consumption of country and spiced liquor in rural areas from April 1 this year, but had allowed sale of foreign liquor in towns and cities.
'If majority of the country's population is sentimental about a certain species, why are we so ashamed to say that we want to give it statutory protection?'
'This is a tragedy that must be stopped.'
If you take the minimum wage to Rs 15,000 tomorrow, the choice may not be between Rs 8,000 and Rs 15,000; it might be Rs 15,000 or nothing, says T N Ninan.
In a spontaneous outpouring of grief, thousands of people bid an emotional farewell to former President APJ Abdul Kalam who was on Thursday laid to rest with full state honours in his home town here amid chants of "Bharat Mata Ki Jai".
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
A sum of Rs 7060 crore is provided in the current fiscal for the project of developing one hundred Smart Cities.
'This novel format of diplomacy -- the informal summit -- will not only facilitate bilateral communication and reduce miscalculations at the very top level of the two governments, but possibly open the space for China and India to speak in one voice on various issues of mutual concern,' note Feng Renjie and Ding Kun Lei
'As I went around Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Mannar, my mind went back to my visit in January 1990 at the fag end of the IPKFs mission in Sri Lanka,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
From Dudhwa to Veppathur and Havelock Island, the Indian tourism market is booming like never before.
2,500 kg of sandalwood to Pashupatinath temple cost India Rs 1.9 crore, reports Nivedita Mookerji
The success story of Adani's Mundra Port in Gujarat, in terms of efficiency, technology and management, should be replicated at Vizhinjam to ensure that this ambitious project does not fail, say Shehzad Poonawalla and Riya Sinha.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
Claude Arpi, who spent 10 days in the Land of the Dragon, tells us how Bhutan is different from the rest of the world.
India and Russia are involved in talks to sort out the nuclear liability issues before they sign an agreement for setting up Units III and IV of the Kudankulam power plant in Tamil Nadu during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's annual summit with President Putin in Moscow next week.
The strike by power sector employees has crippled life, badly hitting hospitals and water supply in Andhra Pradesh.
From linking innovation with supply of inputs to providing contract farming, the private sector can help agriculture move to the next stage of development.
In an address that was telecast live on national broadcaster Doordarshan, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday patted the Narendra Modi government for initiatives on national security, economy and international relations in a short period of four months.
'Our priority cannot be better cities. Since real change is not possible, we must satisfy ourselves with a change in name,' says Aakar Patel.
The delivery channel of India Post is being utilised primarily for small towns and cities.
Minister of State for Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said the vessel had more than 32,000 tonne of oil and has been emptied.
