Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 10 images.
Referring to allegations that it was "silly for China" not to have names for various counties and inventing them for six places in Arunachal Pradesh, an op-ed article in the state-run Global Times said "these comments are absurd".
'Pakistan and the jihadis's capacities have been diminished because of increasing dominance of our security forces.'
'We can't be outliers. We can't be bystanders. We have to be players.' 'The Taliban also need India to balance the winners in this game.'
Indian elections are won and lost on 'negative' imageries and campaigns - but not certainly on 'negativity' as a political trait and electoral creed, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
After frequent incursions in Ladakh area, Chinese People's Liberation Army troops have been spotted at forward posts along the Line of Control on the Pakistani side of Kashmir, ringing alarm bells in the security grid.
India in the past rejected similar reports.
Notwithstanding how the current impasse is solved, at some point in the future, Russia will realise that just as centuries ago it developed the paradigm of securing its heartland's safety through annexing vast buffer zones between itself and the enemy, a more modern security is possible only through friendly relations and sustainable peace, observes Shyam G Menon.
India will now face world number two Croatia for the Qualifiers in an away tie
This is the second time Twitter has misrepresented India's map. Earlier it had shown Leh as part of China.
So far, almost every positive development in terms of the bilateral ties has been overtaken by innate hostility that is often driven by popular sentiments.
'India imports 70 per cent of its bulk drugs from China. Are we going to live without antibiotics?' asks Debashis Basu.
Thirty years after the massacre at Tiananmen Square, coerced collective amnesia envelops the Chinese nation about that horrific event. Claude Arpi glances back at how the student uprising could have changed the Middle Kingdom forever had the Chinese Communist party not traveled on the route of martial law.
India cannot afford to adopt any coercive measures against the military even if it disapproves the military takeover, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters were killed on June 4, 1989 in and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square as the People's Liberation Army launched a brutal crackdown on those demonstrating there against the ruling Communist Party of China for weeks.
'He brings fresh ideas and leadership.' 'Modi is bold, doesn't care about criticism.' Members of the Madison Square Garden audience praise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech.
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
'China wants to change the status quo of India's Northern Border and proves that it can do whatever it wants in what it perceives as its own territory,' states Claude Arpi.
Dominica high court on Thursday adjourned the hearing on a habeas corpus petition filed on behalf of diamond trader Mehul Choksi, local media reported. Judge Bernie Stephenson will decide the next date of hearing after meeting both sides, Antigua News Room said. The adjournment is to allow lawyers for Choksi and the Dominica government "to agree on the language to be used with respect to the injunction filed to prevent his removal from Dominica", the media outlet reported.
'The Chinese media was beside itself with rage that how can a country with one-fifth of its economic power and maybe one-third of its military power stand up to them.'
The demonstrators, numbering about 50, were protesting in front of the Chinese Embassy at Kautilya Marg, against the alleged killing of a monk in China, according to sources.
While we have to hiss loudly and do the lunging bit to keep our foes on their toes, that's only a tactical matter. What is the strategic goal? What is the end game? In my opinion, there is only one possible end game: the unwinding of Pakistan into several pieces: Balochistan, Sind, Balawaristan (Gilgit, Baltistan, the rest of PoK), the Pashtun area Khyber Pakhtunwa which will merge with Afghanistan, and the rump Punjab, says Rajeev Srinivasan.
The demand for removal of Justice A K Ganguly, accused of harassing a law intern, from the post of Chairman of West Bengal Human Rights Commission, along with Telangana issue paralysed the functioning of Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
'Magnanimity and appeasement have no place in the world of realpolitik as India has learned the hard way,' notes Vivek Gumaste in the first of a two-part column.
Even if I completely disagree with what Gulmehar says, I must, as a father, as an Indian, protect her rights and her dignity. Otherwise I am not entitled to be called an Indian, says Tarun Vijay.
The decision to remove Oli from the party's general membership was taken at the Standing Committee meeting of the faction led by former prime ministers Prachanda and Madhav Kumar Nepal after Oli failed to produce explanation to his recent moves as sought by party leadership, sources said.
Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, speaking on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address, charged the government with not delivering on its various promises, including generating two crore jobs per year.
India shifted gears in rejuvenating strategic ties with its major partners like the US and Russia and focused on drumming up global support for its distinct strategy in the Indo-Pacific to check Beijing's increasing muscle-flexing in the region.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday slammed the government over the rising price of domestic cooking gas, diesel and petrol, and alleged that an amount of Rs 23 lakh crore has been earned by increasing prices of these commodities in the last seven years.
A US Congress-constituted quasi-judicial body on Wednesday asked the Joe Biden Administration to designate four nations, including India, as "countries of particular concern", alleging that religious freedom conditions there in 2020 continued their negative trajectory.
Visiting the Rezang La Memorial, one has a feeling of super-humans defending the Indian territory against the Chinese onslaught, says Claude Arpi on the 60th anniversary of the heroic battle of the 1962 War.
Speed skating - Swings wins mass start, brings first Belgian Winter gold in 74 years.
Ozil called minority Uighur Muslims 'warriors who resist persecution', has not gone down well with China. China is EPL's most lucrative overseas market. Could Arsenal suffer fallout?
You may be popular initially because of politics and ideology but if the economy slows down, you will be losing your popularity: Nouriel Roubini.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
'It doesn't look as if any sensible, worldly wise, person is in charge in China.' 'If at all anybody is in charge, it can only be a bunch of bumpkins of whom Xi has become a puppet,' observes B S Raghavan, the veteran civil servant.
The Kashmir Files has done a commendable job in highlighting the plight of Kashmiri Pandits, but has dealt only with the local factors. The cover-up has multiple reasons and it is time that a debate is begun to unmask the culprits who hid the truth, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
From the Syrian civil war to the Ukrainian crisis to the terror unleashed by the dreaded Islamic State, there was no lack of news in 2014. Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world.
S Jaishankar, the new Indian Ambassador to the US, will arrive in Washington on Tuesday to take charge amid a raging diplomatic row over the arrest and strip-search of senior diplomat Devyani Khobragade on visa fraud charges.
Prakash Javadekar said the forest cover in the national capital has increased since then and public transport system has also improved.
