A look at the best spy agencies in the world and their antecedents.
Special Operation cell of Punjab police on Thursday arrested two alleged accused who were working for the Pakistan-based intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence.
The humiliating rebuff given to the power brokers in Delhi in Kerala's local body election carries a big message: Malayalis thoroughly disapprove of the Modi government's shenanigans to misuse central agencies to destabilise a genuinely popular state government, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
There is no doubt that all terrorist organisations like the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Tayiba are operating with impunity in Pakistan. They may be loosely confederated, but their agendas are being synchronised and India after Afghanistan is their prime target.
Though Nobel Prize nominations have been a secret for 50 years, speculation abounds over the contenders for this year's prize in economics.
'We are going to have plane crashes left, right and centre.'
Khalid Khwaja, who has been at the forefront in raising the issue of 'missing persons' or people detained without charges by Pakistani security agencies, said that ex-intelligence personnel hired by Blackwater had been asked to 'pick up people with alleged connections to Taliban or Al-Qaeda'.
The UPSC filed a petition in the court challenging the Central Information Commission's November 13 order to disclose within two weeks the marks secured by candidates in the civil services (preliminary) examination this year.
Leaving behind the luxe life and dapper suits of foreign banks, Puri and his team at the upstart venture shared fizz drinks, wore a footwear brand popular among the middle class, shared a rat-infested space in a yet-to-be gentrified work space to plan and execute it.
'We need to confront such people else they will be encouraged to harass more women in the future,' notes HR guru Mayank Rautela.
Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Monday made no secret of his pain in accepting the resignation of his "protege" and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister Shobha Karandlaje.
US-Pakistan relations are poised to touch a qualitatively new level under the Biden administration, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Claude Arpi salutes Lieutenant General Zorawar Chand Bakshi, India's most decorated general, who passed into the ages recently.
'It's the first-ever US presidential visit which is specially planned for India.' 'The standalone visit itself has achieved something already. Don't underestimate it.' Sheela Bhatt gives us an exclusive glimpse of what the Modi government hopes to achieve from Trump's visit.
Get your low down on what's happening in the world of Hollywood, right here!
General Asad Durrani's disclosures could leave considerable egg on the face of those currently wielding the stick in Pakistan, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Meet Rob O'Neill, a man who grew up in a mining town in the US state of Montana. He's also the highly decorated US Navy SEAL who shot dead Osama bin Laden during the 2011 raid on the terrorist mastermind's secret lair in Pakistan.
The annual Finance Bill may soon become far less exciting as the government plans to lift the veil of secrecy surrounding tax proposals in Budget. Once the Direct Taxes Code (DTC) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) are in place, the finance ministry will adopt a public discussion approach for most future decisions, while confining the annual exercise to a few procedural changes.
The best solution is to appoint a top flight management consultant, study the working of each of the ministries, and ask the consultant to submit a detailed report that should be made public for a national debate.
In a bid to secure the services of West Indies bowler Kemar Roach for next season's KFC Twenty20 Big Bash, Queensland have held secret talks with the player. Having announced Daniel Vettori as their guest player for this year's campaign, the Bulls are now targeting Roach to spearhead their assault on the multi-million dollar Twenty20 Champions League for the 2010-2011 season.
The officials said the freed Taliban leaders include Sheikh Abdur Rahim and Mawlawi Abdur Rashid, who had served as the insurgent group's governors of Kunar and Nimroz provinces respectively during the Taliban administration before it was deposed by the US-led forces in 2001.
BWith a distracted president brooding in the White House, Pompeo seems to think his day has come. He seems to be pushing a personal agenda before a target audience in America, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sunder Navalkar devoted her whole life to the cause of workers' rights, remembers Sanober Keashwaar.
The leadership needs to put all other government business aside, control the pandemic and save human lives. Searchlights are going to be held by the world community in the weeks and months ahead as the fatality rates start shooting up and Indians die like flies, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
She said a statement has already been given by herself as well as by the members of her family in this regard.
In the 25-page defence evidence affidavit, which was served to the UK Crown Prosecution Service, Mallya is learnt to have alleged that his was a case of "political vendetta" and "loss-making business".
Actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on Thursday chose to stay mum over her name figuring in the Panama Paper leaks for allegedly having links with offshore entities.
A dismissed air force official, who allegedly shared secret documents with intelligence operatives backed by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence, has been arrested from Punjab by the crime branch of the Delhi police.
Money permits patronage. Money means power. No wonder details of the crores locked up in NPAs and never repaid loans are top secret, Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
Telangana will be possible if four major issues are resolved, according to a note circulated on Telangana to the Group of Ministers.
'When you have a committee, there will not be any autocracy.' 'It means one person cannot take any decision on the temple.'
Security is a worry but the Gujarat chief minister will continue is campaign ahead of the upcoming assembly elections.
The job was assigned to Blackwater, now known as Xe Services, the company whose operations in Iraq had come under intense scrutiny. CIA earlier hired it for its secret (now abandoned) programme to eliminate top Al Qaeda leaders.
Kerala's Pinarayi Vijayan is a cut above the rest in Indian politics today, precisely in his remarkable ability to look beyond the horizon. His was probably the only government that began planning for the incoming pandemic as early as in February, notes M K Bhadrakumar.
'The maverick, alpha male, super suave spy, who kills as efficiently as he charms the pants off women, doing the mother of all gender-benders and trading his tux for high heels?'
'For the film-maker, as for the photographer, barbershops with their many moments of interest -- wall-to-wall mirrors, shiny accoutrements, beaded curtains -- provide ample scope for mis-en-scene,' says Ranjita Ganesan.
Among the Sensex pack, Yes Bank, L&T, HDFC, RIL, HDFC Bank, PowerGrid and Coal India were the biggest losers -- falling up to 2.43 per cent.
Lost in this maelstrom is the unasked question about what are the secrets the government really needs to keep? One can appreciate the need to keep news about movements of troops secret. But what is the need of sealing, and sequestering away the bulk of the work being done by ministries dealing with economic and social welfare, asks Sunjoy Joshi.
President Ram Nath Kovind addressed the nation on the eve of India's 75th Independence Day. Here's the text of what he said:
