As President Biden moves ahead with a new 'strategic concept' for China and Russia, the going is bound to get rough for the US and its G7 partners, notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Wang Yang and Xi Jinping's visits signal the beginning of a major Chinese push to bring about a transformation of Tibet, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
'Defence, development and democracy is the formula to defeat Naxalism.'
Uttar Pradesh accounts for the maxmium dowry deaths -- 11,800 women -- followed by Bihar at 5,992.
Outgoing Central Bureau of Investigation Director A P Singh looks back at his tenure as the chief of the country's premier investigating agency. He spoke exclusively to Rediff.com's Onkar Singh.
The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed concern over the misuse of "colonial era" penal law on sedition and sought response of the Centre on pleas including the one filed by the Editors Guild of India challenging the validity of the provision.
The implementation of four labour codes in one go from April 1 next year will usher in a new wave of reforms in industrial relations and also help in attracting more investments but employment generation will remain a key challenge in 2021. This year has also been a challenging year for the work force as well as for employers due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government imposed a nationwide lockdown from March 25, which had an adverse impact on economic activities and resulted in exodus of migrant workers from large cities to their homes in the hinterland. Many migrant labourers lost their jobs and it took months for them to return back to their work places from their native places.
'The US-India relationship is in a different league altogether,' Obama administration officials tell Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in Washington, DC.
Much depends on the BJP's electoral performance in next year's assembly elections. If the party fares well in UP and some states like Goa and Gujarat, it will be able to fob off the attempt at a reappraisal of its Hindutva doctrine, observes Amulya Ganguli.
The account turned bad before Chaudhari took over as SBI chairman and the asset was sold to AARC following an open bidding process, months after Chaudhari retired, explains Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The prime minister should trifurcate the IAS, recommends T C A Srinivasa-Raghavan.
'We may think that in our border quarrel, the Chinese can give up a bit of territory here or there to satisfy us, but that's not how they see it.' 'Arunachal Pradesh is 90,000 square kilometres and twice the size of Taiwan.' 'The Chinese can't be seen to be asserting their rights to Taiwan and on the other hand, cheaply giving up Arunachal Pradesh.'
'But we are much better than what we all had expected and planned, and what all the prophets of doom had predicted.'
Social media is reflecting a reality that the BJP does not want communicated. More people are saying things on social media that are upsetting the government, asserts Aakar Patel.
After spending 40 years in the Indian Army, Lieutenant General Subrata Saha marches into the electoral battlefield as the BJP candidate from Rashbehari.
The Taliban knows that Washington holds the key, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'And no one expected the case to be detected, because there was nothing.'
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Rs 30,600 crore government guarantee for the bad bank has changed the body language of bankers for the better, observes Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
'In Maharashtra he didn't buckle under pressure.' 'We expect him to do the same as the CBI Director.'
A faltering economy may have led to a re-think on economic strategy. And Mr Modi might think he is politically strong enough to take some risks. But there could be a minefield ahead, observes T N Ninan.
Major Sheena Nayyar describes what it means for an Indian soldier to be part of the Republic Day parade.
The Prime Minister's Office has decided to set up a panel, led by former chief statistician T C A Anant, to deliberate on whether the enterprise-level quarterly data, which is released by the labour bureau, should be discontinued.
'Lifestyle, peer pressure, lure of extra pocket money and many other factors are responsible why youth are taking drugs.'
The Intelligence Bureau has put out an alert regarding a possible hijack of a plane from Ahmedabad.
This visit has ended on a vastly different note in comparison with Modi's previous visits. Call it a rebuke, call it a censure, call it a distancing from Modi, the sharp message would have gone home, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Look at the impropriety of the Anti-Corruption Bureau giving Ajit Pawar a clean chit!'
A report by the Azim Premji University showed that during the pandemic 270 million Indians were pushed into poverty. Meaning that they were not poor according to the government poverty line before, but have become now. Aakar Patel mulls on the state of the nation as the Modi government enters its eighth year.
The only thing that may salvage Narendra Modi's trip to the US is his meetings with CEOs, such as those of Blackstone, First Solar, Qualcomm, Adobe, and General Atomics, asserts Rajeev Srinivasan.
Dr Azeem Malik and Dr Obaid Haque had attended to the alleged rape victim when she was brought to the Aligarh hospital. They were later sacked, then reinstated.
Most economists were of the view that the NSSO should release the data, as any move to withhold it will dent the image of country's statistical system.
'Menon's kidnappers are unlikely to behave like the radical Islamists who have a tendency to displease their own people and community. The Maoists are shrewd and will bargain hard, but not behave recklessly. Young Christians are their primary constituency and they bank heavily on them in the jungles.'
'The government must covertly eliminate the leaders of terrorist organisations abroad so as to eliminate the problem at its roots,' recommends Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
Valuers have found almost no assets to pay for their claims against the Videocon group that entered the insolvency process in 2018. But the dissenters suggest that the money is elsewhere, possibly in the group's oil and gas assets, which are not part of the group's bankruptcy case.
The military preparations underway show that the PLA may undertake operations this summer to achieve whatever objectives they could not achieve last May, asserts Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
'We will be looking to prune our portfolio to make GIC Re a healthier entity.'
Apart from physical access to handsets, metadata and backups are two common ways in which private communications can be broken.
'Never had I imagined even in my wildest dreams that this 18-year-journey through 80 films would bring me so much love, respect and appreciation.' 'I never thought I would become such a charchit abhineta (popular actor).'
The Orwellian surveillance State is here. And here to stay, asserts Virendra Kapoor.
The agency has also named companies Nupower Renewables, Supreme Energy, Videocon International Electronics Ltd and Videocon Industries limited as accused in the FIR registered under IPC sections related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of prevention of corruption act.
In four years, the state has had to battle cyclones, two floods, and two epidemiological disasters. If people bring Pinarayi Vijayan back to power, he must have done something right, obsevers Aditi Phadnis.
