'Like General Patton, possibly the greatest exponent of the art of war, Vajpayee had the ability to be always on the offensive,' assesses Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
In a two-hour exclusive interview with the Time magazine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi' tears up as he speaks about his "first inspiration", talks tough on terrorism and with pride reflects on his ambitions from India. Here are a few takeaways.
With incessant rains and the hot sun adding to the miseries of quake victims in Nepal, India on Thursday rushed 8,450 tents to its disaster-struck eastern neighbour.
'This confrontation could have been avoided by a less arrogant administration that initially listened, used whatever negotiating skills they had and tried to be more credible,' observes Ramesh Menon.
The low fares will come with a discernible sea-change in service quality and minus the luxury which comes as an essential part of any long-haul travel
'The objective is not to make India into a one religion place, but to ensure that there is harmonious and peaceful co-existence of all faiths with each of them having their cultural personality.'
As someone with nostalgia for the good cheer and friendly feelings of Brazilian people, former Ambassador to Brazil B S Prakash can only hope that when they see on their TV screens their President being feted on Rajpath, they will sense India's goodwill for Brazil.
Behold the breathtaking winning and shortlisted images from one of the world's most prestigious photography contests. The amazing shots are from the open competition of the Sony World Photography Awards 2020, which received 193,000 entries from photographers in over 200 territories. Scroll down and feast your eyes on our pick of the shortlisted and category-winning entries.
While Mukherjee has received number of honorary degrees, it is first such honour accorded to him by a country.
The judgment could impact not only Ramdev's widespread ayurveda and herbal products business, but also that of many other pharmaceutical, ayurveda, herbal and cosmetic product manufacturers.
Currently, the Department of Agriculture runs two crop insurance schemes, one of which is weather-based.
'Having consumed thousands of the sickly sweet chenna globes of varying textures over the years, I must demur,' says Uttaran Das Gupta.
'If there is lesser number of elections, populism will naturally be restricted.' 'Decisions will be taken speedily because there won't be the spectre of adverse electoral impact of the decisions because elections will be held once in five years or maximum two times in five years.'
SAARC countries are facing common challenges and they should cooperate with each other to address them, Home Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday, underlining that India is committed to reviving the grouping as a major forum to promote active regional collaboration.
The bogey of the 1962 defeat must be laid to rest with a finality that is unquestionable. The myth of Chinese invincibility is a tall tale that belongs to an era gone by, says Vivek Gumaste.
Gandhi said India has been devastated by demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
'We demonise the Others.' 'We are constantly reminded that they are different and are an existential threat to Us.' 'The toxin of Nellie in 1983, Delhi in 1984 and Gujarat in 2002 is not yet flushed out of our body politic,' says Shreekant Sambrani.
'A couple of Pulwamas will bring the two nations to war and it will be limited to J&K itself.'
Cyberspace is a battleground as important as the traditional domains of air, land, sea and space, says US Defence Secretary Ash Carter, who visits India next week.
The victory in the assembly elections, the first in Telangana after its formation in June 2014, might well act as a springboard for the leader, often accused of perpetuating family rule and promoting nepotism, to realise his ambition of playing a greater role in national politics.
The Constitution amendment bill for roll-out of GST is pending in Rajya Sabha for a long time.
'Anything that is anti-growth is demonised because growth is the biggest religion.' 'Growth is synonymous with progress. In fact, it is the opposite.' 'Exponential growth is cancer.'
The manner in which assembly seats were distirbuted among Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh so far, has ensured that residents of the Valley rule the state forever, says Sanjeev Nayyar.
Mumbai has fastest 4G speed, Ahmedabad most consistent, says wireless coverage mapping firm OpenSignal
'Awareness should be raised; protocols and procedures, and reporting mechanisms must be put in place to protect both men and women in the workplace,' notes Jael Silliman.
In an Independence Day Special series, Rediff.com celebrates India through the lives of her people. Today: Dr Ruveda Salam, the first IPS officer from the Kashmir Valley.
'When a new superhero film releases, China creates figurines based on the film and puts them out in the market along with the film's release.' 'Does our domestic manufacturing sector been able to do it so quickly? No.' 'We have a large millennial population and we have to make products that are more in line with the tastes of those people.' 'The MSME sector can win back its customers only this way.' 'When they change with the consumers's needs, there will be a move towards Indian products.'
Jaitley said the geographical expansion of the BJP in Kerala, after Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh in the South, and the 11 per cent vote share in West Bengal were 'important milestones'.
Stunning images from the Underwater Photography competition
On its 250th birthday, the Survey of India will send 30 mountaineers, armed with the most modern equipment, to measure the height of Mount Everest.
The South African government and large pharmaceutical companies are in combat mode regarding the proposed national policy on intellectual property that hopes to improve access to medicines for the poorer sections of the population.
PM Modi articulated five action points that would serve the common interest of promoting peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
'It is time we Indians learnt to believe in ourselves, and stopped questioning our own capabilities every time a space launch is not a glorious success,' says M D Riti.
Travel bloggers Amrita Das and Rutavi Mehta list out their recommendations.
The 'Make in India' vision cannot survive in the long-term without concrete measures to build a concurrent 'Create in India' movement.
"All our investigation agencies have full-fledged autonomy...There is no interference from our side or from the government's side," he said while interacting with reporters on the sidelines of a Border Security Force event in New Delhi.
In the event of a Chinese attack on Arunachal, troops and equipment from mainland India will travel on the existing south bank railway till Bogibeel, cross the Brahmaputra on the new bridge and then head further east on the Strategic Rail-Road Link, once it is ready.
The total rainfall till now is not only deficient, but is also erratic in terms of both geographical spread and timings.
Overall, the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) has focused on building ground-based air defense networks and network-centric operations rather than trying to match the Indian Air Force (IAF) in terms of straight fighter numbers along the border. All air assets fall under the Western Theater Command of the PLA, the largest geographic region of China's five military theater commands.
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