The incident drew strong condemnation from a number of journalists' bodies, which demanded an apology from the RJD supremo Lalu Prasad's elder son.
At 70 minutes long, London Confidential is a crisp watch, notes Joginder Tuteja.
Irrespective of their voting preferences, most voters would find this comparison with ISIS revolting. More specifically, would it persuade anybody who voted for Narendra Modi to change her or his mind? asks Shekhar Gupta.
India thrashed West Indies by 318 runs in their inaugural World Test Championship encounter but at the onset, there was a debate on the omission of senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin. The legendary Sunil Gavaskar termed his exclusion as "astonishing".
With the Tamil Nadu electorate having given him an unprecedented mandate that had eluded his father the late M Karunanidhi, Stalin has to prove his worth, ensuring at the same time that the Dravidian drag on the AIADMK's side does not open up space for the BJP to make inroads in the state, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'For me personally, there was nothing till Aranyak made me say, 'This is it!''
'We are seeing 50% fewer cases now.' 'It is primarily due to the lockdown.'
The state is following surveillance, containment, increasing testing facilities, and ensuring essentials at people's doorstep, among other strategies, reports T E Narasimhan.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Lakshadweep Research Collective said it along with 60 other signatories from the scientific community have written to President Ram Nath Kovind seeking his intervention to withdraw the "incautious draft" Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation of 2021.
'Modi is still immensely popular and, therefore, he can sustain any number of policy failures.' 'Modi himself has worn multiple faces so it would be naive to think that the Modi of 2021 will be the same Modi that will be campaigning for re-election in 2024.'
'India should be able to weather the storm, given its enhanced standing among the major powers. However, India's international clout is partly from its rapidly growing emerging economy and a large and expanding commercial market. 'If the Indian economy continues to slow and protectionist barriers advance, then our international clout will also diminish. The international fallout from bringing the Valley to heel may be more difficult to handle,' says Shyam Saran.
'He could indeed survive [the no confidence vote] even as he faces his biggest political test.'
Scientists associated with Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG), the government panel that conducts research on different variants of the coronavirus, said they were surprised at noted virologist Shahid Jameel's decision to quit the group and wondered whether he was disillusioned with the government's handling of the pandemic.
The India-Japan joint naval exercises are a strategic signal for China, observes Dr Rajaram Panda.
IIT Delhi is the first academic institute to have obtained the ICMR approval for a real-time PCR- based diagnostic assay. The development also comes against the backdrop of the Indian Council of Medical Research halting the testing for COVID-19 cases through China-made test kits because of massive variation in test results, compounding the challenge to check and contain the pandemic.
The system has gone through three rounds of testing for its load-bearing capacity.
'There appears to be greater convergence of interests between China and the US in the Afghan-Pakistan theatre than between India and the US. This is hardly a recipe for a super-alliance,' says former foreign secretary Ambassador Shyam Saran.
... 'Or any country which has reasonable vaccine coverage.' 'The emergence of Omicron clearly proves that if we allow a virus to circulate in an unvaccinated population, it would take a form which could be a Variant of Concern, or a new variant.'
'This year felt different -- and was different.' 'For the first time, the Indian American voter seemed to matter.'
It is our only chance of avoiding a repeat of our catastrophic second wave, asserts Naushad Forbes.
'The impasse on the India-China border in the Sikkim sector persists, but the Hamburg meeting between the two leaders will certainly have its salutary effects on the relationship between the two countries,' says China scholar Rup Narayan Das.
In a significant policy statement on the Taliban which is making big gains in its offensive in Afghanistan, China has asked it to make a "clean break" from all terrorist forces, especially the Al Qaida-backed Uyghur Muslim militant group ETIM fighting for the volatile Xinjiang province's independence.
The acting president also requested the state associations as well as the IPL franchises to make generous contribution to the cause.
It looks as if competing political parties in Tamil Nadu have not grasped the full impact and import of a sizable section of voters possibly staying away from voting -- voters, supposedly with a predictable polling pattern -- owing to the Covid second wave and more so, how it could affect the outcome in individual constituencies and even booths, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'It indicates the grooming of the party's new leadership.' 'It is also a signal to the states that these ministers represent.'
Kapil Sibal, a prominent member of the Congress's group of 23 leaders who wrote to party chief Sonia Gandhi seeking organisational overhaul last year, on Thursday slammed fellow letter signatory Jitin Prasada for crossing over to the Bharatiya Janata Party and said it represented politics of "prasada" or personal gains.
A long term solution to reduce India's Current Account Deficit will be to increase India's share of global merchandise exports, so that we are able use our exports to fund our imports, points out Chidambaran G Iyer, Senior Fellow, Pahle India Foundation.
'At a time when the economy is depressed, a pandemic is raging, and the Chinese are making noises on the border, the NRC could be resuscitated.'
'Right now, politics is operating in a state of suspended animation. That works to Modi's advantage.'
Cities are setting the rules that now carry life and death implications for their residents, and most of these rules are sought to be set by the municipal authorities who have never wielded such power, reports Subhomoy Bhattacharjee.
The chief minister still has time to repair the damage but he will have to act all-round, both at the government and party levels, suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
Kim did not rule out diplomacy with the Biden administration despite that Pyongyang called Biden a 'rabid dog' after Biden labelled Kim a 'thug'.
Stalin has given due respect to seniority in the pecking order, but has also taken into consideration the demands of individual ministries and the suitability of individuals, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Friends of India in the US hope that New Delhi will receive a presidential waiver, given that Trump Administration has recognised India as a major defence partner and is in advance stage of selling billions of dollars' worth of equipment to India in the next few years.
Manchester Utd's Fred receives racist abuse after defeat by Liverpool.
Noting that Pakistan's Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif appears to be sincere in his effort to improve relationship with India, a former top American diplomat has said he might not be able to do much unless he brings on board the powerful military.
'The striking down of the use of Aadhaar by private companies implicitly calls for the deletion or erasure of all personal data vested in the servers of the private service providers.'
For several years the Chinese authorities have been taking steps to internationalise the use of the yuan.
Australia's senior bowlers must step up to help captain Tim Paine lead an inexperienced team during their next tour against Pakistan, pace spearhead Mitchell Starc has said.
Hockey coach Ramesh Parameswaran applies for Dronacharya Award
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