Wangchuk rued that over the years, glacial ice has been receding but action remains delayed.
Moderate turnout was recorded in the first four hours of polling across five assembly constituencies across Punjab, West Bengal, Gujarat and Kerala where bypolls are underway on Thursday.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has accused the Border Security Force (BSF), central agencies, and the BJP of fanning tension in Murshidabad by allegedly facilitating cross-border influx from Bangladesh. She also urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep the Union Home Ministry under control. Banerjee has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of three people killed during the violence and directed the state chief secretary to initiate a probe into the role of the BSF.
The launch of the first-ever direct train service from Delhi to Kashmir would be a big turning point in the Valley's mood and its integration with India. He had to thwart it at any cost, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Even as the flagship National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme continues to face problems at the implementation level, Rural Development Minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, ignoring suggestions by Planning Commission Deputy Chairperson Montek Singh Ahluwalia and other economists, has refused to bring any major change in the scheme.
Terrorism and insurgency in J&K had subsided when India demolished East Pakistan -- for the simple reason that Pakistan understands power. We need to follow Chanakya's dictum of Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed for strategising against Pakistan, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd). The ground truth is that unless we are prepared to acknowledge our shortcomings, including massive intelligence failures, punish those responsible and take corrective actions, we will continue in the same vein, asserts Lieutenant General Prakash Katoch (Retd).
Suggestions made by the different experts have been noted and would be forwarded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The Aayog has been mandated to serve as a policy think-tank for the central as well as state governments
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
The government also announced creation of a special open forum on the website mygov.nic.in for suggestions on the new institution.
Caste census politics took centre stage on Thursday with the Congress terming the government's decision as a 'diversionary tactic' and a move for headlines management and the Bharatiya Janata Party saying it has exposed the difference between the Centre's 'true intentions' and the 'empty sloganeering' of the opposition party.
Deriving from Narendra Modi's continuing charisma, the proposed scheme, if and when implemented, can cut both ways. That is to say, if Modi can win, he can lose. Or, someone else in his place, later on, could lose as much as he could win in his time, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The possibilities of this serviceable thriller are immense but the makers prefer to play it safe and hold back the daredevil in the diplomat's clothing, observes Sukanya Verma.
Departing from convention, the Planning Commission has sent the draft Approach Paper of the 11th Five Year Plan to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh first for approval.
'...we say that sport is this great phenomenon that is so wonderful and it's healthy and it's good for us all. Let's make sure that it doesn't bring suffering or disadvantage to anybody because of a major event that's come.'
The meeting was attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and chief ministers with the exception of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.
Economist Abhijit Sen, a former Planning Commission member and one of the country's foremost experts on rural economy, died on Monday night. He was 72.
Seeking the cooperation of States in dealing with Left-wing extremism, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Saturday asked the Planning Commission to design a holistic development programme for Naxal-affected areas.
Several Indian diaspora groups on Tuesday gathered for a festive demonstration outside the India House in London to show solidarity with the Indian mission following the vandalism at its premises by Khalistan extremists over the weekend.
Ministry mulls graded funding for sports federations
rediffGURU Rohit Gupta, co-founder and COO of College Vidya, provides a list of competitive exams that can help you land a job in the public sector.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has begun questioning Tahawwur Hussain Rana, the mastermind behind the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the deadly strikes. Rana, who was extradited from the US, is being held at the NIA headquarters in New Delhi. The interrogation is focused on his possible connection with the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and his suspected links with the Pakistani spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
New body to replace Plan panel might retain 40% of existing staff
The high point of the 19 Shastri months was the 22-day war that he fought against great odds and won in principle, even if military historians often call it a stalemate. Pakistan saw a great opportunity to conquer Kashmir and lost. It was the last time they had the relative strength militarily and diplomatically to take Kashmir. Shastri's resolve buried that dream forever, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Mansukh Mandaviya pitches for kho kho's inclusion in Asian Games, 2036 Olympics
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Tuesday warned of "another language war" amid the ongoing Hindi imposition row, stating that the state is "ready" for it. He also expressed concerns about the potential loss of Lok Sabha seats due to the proposed delimitation process, which he believes will disadvantage states that have successfully implemented population control measures. Stalin has called for an all-party meeting on March 5 to discuss the issue, urging unity across political lines to address the perceived threat to Tamil Nadu's representation in Parliament.
'Defence does not new 'planning commissions'; it needs an implementation commission.'
Chief ministers of three Congress-ruled states -- Karnataka's Siddaramaiah, Himachal Pradesh's Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu and Telangana's Revanth Reddy -- have announced they will not attend the NITI Aayog meeting over alleged bias against their states in the Union Budget.
Finance Commission has got new team who are committed to growth initiatives.
A report by a senior official in the Planning Commission has said the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is heading towards bankruptcy, as its debt is set to increase five times in the next three years.
"We have recommended that at least 20 per cent of coal should be sold through e-auction," said Kirit Parikh, member (energy), Planning Commission. CIL currently puts for sale about 10 per cent of its annual production through online bidding. The National Coal Distribution Policy has already recommended increasing this quantum in a bid to ensure better price discovery of the fuel.
He drew the roadmap of India's economic reform, unshackled it from the licence raj and pulled it back from the brink when even its gold reserve was pledged.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha on Tuesday insisted that its commitment to host the 2036 Summer Games "remained steadfast" despite the "internal challenges" her organisation has been facing due to her feud with the Executive Council members.
'India has expressed interest to host the 2036 Olympics and 2030 Youth Olympics'
India face competition from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, who are positioning themselves as strong contenders to host the 2036 Olympics.
The government's flagship health insurance programme for the rural poor has drawn increasing appreciation from European and Asian countries.
Trump made these remarks after Elon Musk-led DOGE's (Department of Government Efficiency) disclosed that USAID contributed USD 21 million to Election Commission for boosting voter turnout.
