India is only the fourth country to acquire such a specialised and modern capability after the United States, Russia and China.
The Congress chief celebrated her 69th birthday like a never-seen-before affair where she engaged with her supporters and was all smiles.
The 52-year-old former cricketer and commentator who is also a popular television personality, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha in April.
'Clarifying that modernisation of national defence and armed forces should be completed by 2035, Xi Jinping asserted the goal is to make the People's Liberation Army a "world class force" that "can fight and win" by 2050,' points out former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
In the wake of widespread violence and protests by anti-bifurcation agitators in Andhra Pradesh, Congress leader Digvijay Singh on Monday sought to assuage the feelings of Seemandhra people, saying their genuine concerns on security, education, employment in Hyderabad would be taken care of.
In the third reshuffle since coming to power, Prime Minister Modi raised the strength of his Council of Ministers from 73 to 76.
Indications of a stormy start to the Budget session emerged at an all-party meeting with opposition accusing the government of "setting the agenda for disruption".
Veteran Pakistani diplomats Syed Ibne Abbas and Jalil Abbas Jilani would be the new Pakistani envoys to India and the United States respectively as part of a wide-ranging reshuffle of envoys in key capitals around the world.
Jaitley's concerns are unlikely to cut much ice with the Congress.
Members of the BSP forced two adjournments of the Rajya Sabha till noon, creating uproar over the suicide of Dalit student, Rohith Vemula.
'Those who have followed politics even when there was no Twitter know what the word 'jumlebaaz' means,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
The broad direction for the reform process will continue to be positive.
It rejected the government's contention that there are no provisions to declare tragedies as a national calamity.
Recognising that peaceful protests are a hallmark of a thriving democracy, the United States has said that it encourages dialogue between the protesting farmers and the Indian government to resolve their differences.
The first priority for the new Tibetan administration in Dharamsala should be to look at Tibetan recruitment in the PLA, suggests Claude Arpi.
"We want good ties with all neighbours including India and Afghanistan," he told the Senators.
'What is bank recapitalisation? When the rich take loans and do not return and the government returns that money to the banks.' 'What is restructuring 5:25 scheme? The government says don't return now, just tell us you will return after five years.' 'Why don't we apply these schemes to farmers?' 'I want to increase the power of farmers to blackmail the government as everyone in the country has the power to blackmail.'
A committee has been set up to finalise the capital for the region, which will consult both Union government and both the new state governments. Vicky Nanjappa reports
A total of 16 bills, including the GST Bill, Lokpal (Amendment) Bill, Factories (Amendment) Bill and the Anti-Hijacking Bill are pending in Parliament -- five in Lok Sabha and 11 in the Rajya Sabha.
In an era when the misguided youth of today are trying to build political careers by subscribing to divisive ideologies, they need to look to independent thinking icons such as Acharya Kripalani, says Mohammad Sajjad.
YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy has resigned as Kadapa MP in protest against "unilateral and arrogant posturing" of Congress party on the proposed division of Andhra Pradesh but stopped short of spelling out his party's stand on the statehood issue.
'This is a historic juncture when the US is in great need of an alliance with India to strengthen its hands in the fierce struggle with China in the Asian theatre,' points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Reflecting the strong bipartisan support to the India-US relationship, the lawmakers welcomed the decision of the House Speaker Paul Ryan to invite Modi to address the joint meeting.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint meeting of the United States Congress will be an opportunity to energise efforts to improve bilateral ties, top American lawmakers from across the political divide have said.
From planning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign trips to playing a key role in the Jammu and Kashmir elections, former RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav is become increasingly important in the BJP
Combative Congress members, upset over the National Herald case, on Tuesday paralysed Parliament protesting against alleged "vendetta politics" leading to repeated adjournments in the Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha.
Marking a generational shift in state politics, Union Minister Sachin Pilot was on Monday appointed the Congress chief in Rajasthan where the party faced a rout in Assembly polls.
Factionalism has been made bitter by the level of personal attacks that warring senior leaders indulge in. Kavita Chowdhury reports.
'In the present era of strategic uncertainty and rapidly changing threats, no military professional now disputes the unavoidable necessity of a joint planning staff for the planning and conduct of joint operations so that integrated operations can be planned 'top down',' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Take the name of Allah instead of reciting 'shlokas'" during the event, said the minister from AYUSH dept.
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's niece Karuna Shukla on Thursday joined the Congress and slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, saying his promise of serving the country is nothing but "plain dishonesty".
'We cannot capture the mind space of today's youth by evoking past sacrifices. Politics is about hope; hope for the future. The Congress hankers about the past too much.'
The move would help insurance firms to get much needed capital from overseas partners.
The meeting is seen as part of efforts by the RSS and the BJP to reach out to the Muslim community and send out a message of peace and harmony.
India's silence on this week's troubles in the Maldives is puzzling, says Rajeev Sharma.
"Horse trading band karo (Stop horse trading of MLAs)," Congress members shouted from the well.
Trinamool leaders have claimed the NRC process and subsequent verification is vote bank politics. Other critics call it as modified ethnic cleansing. But putting poll rhetoric aside, the issue dates back to a time when many of these leaders had no political relevance.
Leaders across the political spectrum, social activists and top jurists on Tuesday hailed the landmark Supreme Court verdict banning the practice of instant divorce among Muslims.
President Pranab Mukherjee talked though on the ordinance to protect convicted lawmakers as he questioned three Union ministers -- Law Minister Kapil Sibal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. He sought minutes of the Cabinet and all party meetings after which the United Progressive Alliance withdrew the decree.
Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu tonight urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to break his silence and take a "proactive role" in resolving the concerns and do justice to all over the proposed bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh.
