The International Court of Justice was last a battleground for India and Pakistan nearly 18 years ago.
The year is coming to an end and overall, it's been one hell of a year! We have had our share of ups and downs and we look forward to a better 2020. While we count down the days to the new year, let's also reflect on those who gave us strength to stand up in what we believe, the courageous who didn't bow down and the ones with gumption who inspired us to be better. We, Rediff.com, have selected 26 personalities, who we think are worthy of the title -- HERO OF THE YEAR -- and we want you, dear readers, to choose your hero!
The Supreme Court-instituted three-member committee probing the Indian Premier League spot-fixing scandal will speak with banned pacer Shantakumaran Sreesanth, Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra and others, including commentator Harsha Bhogle, when it meets for three days in Mumbai, from November 16.
The court then directed the government to pay the salary and retirement benefits to the dependents of the PoWs.
'The loose use of words like foreigner or Bangladeshis obscures the fact that the post-Partition migration to Assam has been of both Hindus and Muslims.'
India questioned the functioning of Pakistan's notorious military courts.
'Tension is being created in society because of this green flag, which is not even an Islamic flag.' 'There is no history of such a green flag being used in the Muslim world.'
'The entire brouhaha with regard to the CAB smacks of blatant Hinduphobia, a duplicitous exercise, morally corrupt in its construct and aimed at divesting deserving Hindus of basic human rights by raising the bogey of Muslim discrimination, and must be called out for what it is,' says Vivek Gumaste.
'The BJP has no presence where the regional parties are strong.' 'And we should think of the Congress and support the Congress in those places where it is the dominant regional party.' 'The leaders of the other parties (have to) get together on this simple principle of one candidate against the BJP candidate.'
Rediff.com looks at other sensational murder mysteries that left India shell-shocked.
'It was almost as though there was widespread relief that the defence bureaucracy, and the minister, could find someone willing to shoulder the blame for everything that had gone wrong with the services under Antony's charge -- the poor preparedness of the forces, slow acquisitions caused by indecision, cancellation of contracts and whimsical blacklisting of defence contractors over the tiniest suspicion that they may have paid speed money or kickbacks.'
Oppn also objected to the 'illegal disqualification" of rebel JD-U leaders Sharad Yadav and Ali Anwar Ansari.
Cutting across party lines, all MPs slammed Pakistan for awarding death sentence to Kulbhushan Jadhav.
'Our policy seems to be to give away part of J&K, even though we are entitled to the entire state.' 'The Congress has done so, and the BJP is following the same policy.' 'No one is applying their mind to the legal position.' 'Kashmir is not a part of Pakistan under its own constitution.'
'The one thing India has over these two States, whose toughness awes us, is our ability to embrace diversity with ease. 'The way ahead lies in learning from Vajpayee's method, not in Xi Jinping's,' says Shekhar Gupta.
From odd to heartwarming, the best of Twitter conversations in 2014.
An accused D G Vanzara gets bail months after Modi emerges as PM and hails it is as a return of 'Achche Din' while the blind-folded lady justice, almost mocks the rest of us, by suggesting that nobody is guilty for the cold blooded killing of Ishrat Jahan, Kauser Bi and the 2,000 odd innocent people in Gujarat, says Shehzad Poonawala.
'The generals couldn't care less about political corruption, being complicit themselves.' 'Coup d'etats are out of fashion.' 'Their only desire is backroom control,' says Sunil Sethi.
'We need to be in a perpetual state of aggression, and able to swiftly change the goal posts to keep Pakistan in a state of imbalance,' argues Sanjeev Nayyar.
The government's move to sell enemy shares comes when it is struggling to meet its target of raising Rs 800 billion from the sale of State assets in the fiscal year ending in March 2019. The Custodian of Enemy Property of India holds around Rs 3,000 crore worth of equity shares besides land and property across India.
'The anti-Digital India campaign is a vindictive hatchet job rather than a fact based, rationally sound appraisal; a personal attack rather than issue based criticism; an ideological assault rather than altruistic effort. It must be called out for what it is,' says Vivek Gumaste.
'India may well be a religious country, but that is precisely why we need to avoid criminalising blasphemy,' argues Mihir S Sharma.
'Through a translator, I was able to speak with several of the detainees from India who are seeking asylum.' 'I was saddened to hear the detainees tell us that they are being confined in their cells for up to 22 to 23 hours a day.' 52 Indian are among the 121 asylum-seekers held in an Oregon prison. Rediff.com Senior Contributor Pottayil Rajendran reports from New York on the case that is making headlines in America, India, indeed around the world.
BCCI cleared India speedster Mohammed Shami's central contract after its Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) exonerated him of corruption charges levelled by his wife Hasin Jahan.
A team of senior lawyers set up by the Supreme Court to report to it on the situation in the Patiala House courts where JNUSU President Kanhaiya Kumar was produced on Wednesday, said there was "complete breakdown of law and order" and an atmosphere of "fear and terror" prevailed there and the police did not act.
'This updated NPR database along with Aadhaar Number would become the mother database and can be used by various government departments...' the home ministry declared in July 2015. 'UID/Aadhaar has been used as a fish bait to ensnare and entrap present and future generations of citizens,' warns Gopal Krishna.
'Jaish aided by LeT attacked Parliament knowing mobilisation of Indian military assets would be the consequence.' 'That mobilisation happened, necessitating a military response from Musharraf who moved troops guarding back doors out of Tora Bora, facilitating Osama's escape.'
No one has taken responsibility for the attack.
An Indian connection to the war crimes tribunal has emerged, further complicating matters, says RS Chauhan
The Indian Navy is set to open the doors soon for increased role of women on its rolls but has made it clear that there will be no combat positions yet.
'I got to know the men accused of the blasts regularly meeting them in court and jail. Some of them, like Dutt, are back in jail. Others, like Mohammed Jindran, a quiet and well spoken middle class man, were killed. And now of course Yakub is ready to be hanged. The first in the case to do so,' says Aakar Patel.
He said the Congress party might give a surprise or two in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh 'about what the party is capable of doing and to mobilise people'.
Lifting the AFSPA can certainly be attempted but the provisions of the AFSPA, as an emergency law that empowers the army -- the nation's instrument of last resort -- must continue to remain on the statute books given the increasingly violent and uncertain times that the subcontinent is likely to face in coming years, says Nitin A Gokhale.
How does the country's civilian government reclaim legitimacy after the names of many Pakistanis, including the family members of PM Nawaz Sharif, figured in the leaked documents.
"Our government has invariably made efforts to initiate the process of meaningful dialogue and adoption of peaceful means to resolve the issues but unfortunately the expansionist designs of India have remained the main hurdle in this regard," Abbasi said.
China will flood direct flights to India with wholesale takeaways of the authentic stuff; Indian businessmen will fight for the commission and the consumers for the cuisine, predicts Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'It is obvious that the lakhs who come to see it do not see it through the prism of religion,' says Jyoti Punwani.
After all the drama that preceded the book launch of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch, the discussion that ensued on the book the same evening turned out to be a fiasco. Here's why
At a press conference, the Congress president-elect also said, "What Modiji has said about former PM Manmohan Singh is not acceptable."
'This is a negative campaign, of slurs and fears.' 'The BJP has no desire to fight a positive campaign as it did in 2014, on the issue of governance and achche din.' 'Where the BJP can use these tactics, it will,' says Aakar Patel.
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