Dr Behera speaks about how the nationwide positive reaction to the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir indicates that the very idea of India is changing. From a diverse, multicultural entity, could India be becoming a place where assimilation is more important than accommodation?
'A man who is sometimes loved and loathed in equal measure, a man we're seemingly tired of seeing yet can't imagine life without.' Dhruv Munjal salutes the incomparable M S Dhoni.
The space agency said Chandrayaan-2 planned for mid-April.
'In one instance of the Pakistani army's violation of the Ceasefire, I ordered a far tougher response designed to deter the enemy.' 'I warned that 'unexpected damage' to their forces will be inflicted if they continued with such ceasefire violations.' A fascinating excerpt from Lieutenant General K Himalay Singh's Making of a General: A Himalayan Echo.
Boeing's plan involves setting up an Indian factory and the aerospace ecosystem to build the Block II Super Hornet.
'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.'
'We know what we are signing up for. There is nothing greater than that.' What Archana Masih/Rediff.com learnt from a chance encounter with an Indian Army officer.
'These are cautionary tales, warning you to grow up fast, to be aware of the world around you and make sure that there are no wolves hiding in the shadows.'
China is now the most significant strategic concern in Washington, as in most of the world's capitals, especially the democracies. Today, strategic autonomy has acquired a sharper definition: To ward off the Chinese challenge to India's territorial integrity, sovereignty and regional stature, observes Shekhar Gupta.
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The Indian squad comprises many openers like Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, apart from Dhawan and Shaw, but Raman felt that having played for India earlier would go into Shaw's favour.
Villages are flooded, roads have washed away and railway tracks have submerged under the rising waters.
With the threat of disease outbreak lurking in flood-ravaged Jammu and Kashmir, efforts have been initiated on a war-footing to provide medical staff and medicines even as rescue operations were slightly hampered on Sunday due to return of rains in the Valley.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'India needs to deeply introspect on the costs of pursuing peace with Pakistan,' says Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'It might get worse. We don't really know what is it that is resulting in the high value of R now.'
Given the fiercely competitive political environment, observers naturally associated an element of appeasement with the Shinde government's move, Shyam G Menon points out.
'The Afghans used to say that if there is any person whose name should be taken after Allah, it is Hindustani.'
A Delhi court on Saturday sent former Air Force Chief S P Tyagi, arrested in Rs 450 crore Agusta Westland bribery case in procurement of 12 VVIP helicopters, to police custody for four days after the CBI said he was needed to be quizzed to unearth a "very large conspiracy having international ramifications".
'Other countries go out on a limb to save even a single life.' 'What to talk of civilian accidents and disasters, even our military does not have a priority for Combat Search and Rescue,' says Group Captain P I Muralidharan (retd).
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
As two recently declassified Intelligence Bureau reveal that the Jawaharlal Nehru government had spied on the family of Subhas Chandra Bose for nearly two decades, one of India's political mysteries takes centrestage. Rediff.com reproduces this 2006 report in which Sumit Bhattacharya reported that a website claims that Netaji, in fact, did not die in an air crash, as was being believed, and that Netaji had escaped to Russia.
'It is a tense border and there are numerous elements that keep these tensions alive.' 'India is willing to militarily respond if provoked.'
Today, the two countries, ruthlessly divided by the Radcliffe line that pierced their very heart, grapple with the political challenges of the present. Yet, when friendships develop there are no borders, observes Payal Singh Mohanka.
50 years after the 1965 War, India still thinks we can have a 'limited war' when our opponent has time and again shown it does not believe in a limited war, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'We couldn't believe that in the 21st century world, a European country can be bombed, can be invaded.'
Hindu festivals are now becoming occasions when anti-Muslim hatred is expressed freely through slogans and songs that are full of abuse against Muslims or calls to either kill them or humiliate them, observes Apoorvanand.
Pakistan's 'approach is one of getting even, an eye for an eye, or death by a thousand cuts.' 'The entire effort is to be the equal of India. Unfortunately, the reality is that this can never be the case.' 'India will always be the bigger, economically stronger, technologically more self-reliant country.' 'Therein, lies the dilemma Pakistan faces which leads it to perennial enmity with India,' notes Ambassador Gautam Bambawale in the Air Marshal Y V Malse Memorial Lecture 2019.
Pakistan's holy trinity -- its government, military establishment and the ISI -- differ on Pakistan's domestic and foreign policy issues. So when India talks to Pakistan's political leadership it can't be sure that the promises can be delivered, says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
The crash between a Kazakhstan Airlines Ilyushin Il-76 and a Saudia Boeing 747 over Charkhi Dadri in Haryana occurred 24 years ago.' During the lockdown, journalist Bhavya Dore reported on it from her home. Her article found a proud mention in the Bloomsburg Jealousy List 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday thanked France and wrapped up his first visit to Paris that saw the two nations elevate their strategic ties to a new level as they agreed on a deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets and decided to move ahead with the log-jammed Jaitapur nuclear project.
The 58-year-old Rajya Sabha MP will face several challenges, including strengthening of the combat capabilities of the army, navy and the air force due to changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics.
104-year-old bodybuilder Manohar Aich, who was once a household name in Bengal after becoming India's first Mr Universe in 1952, died at his Baguiati residence this afternoon, according to family sources. "Aich was on a liquid died for last 10-15 days and had stopped talking. He breathed his last at 3.50pm," his son Khokan Aich told PTI. Aich is survived by two daughters and two sons, one of whom manages a gym and fitness centre to fulfill his father's dream of making the youth "healthy and strong". "Never quit exercise, he would always say. His mantra to stay healthy was simple - healthy eating and exercise," Khokan added. Former Bengal cricket captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who is Minister of State for Sports, visited Aich's residence to offer his condolence. Aich, who turned 104 on March 17, had become India's first Mr Universe when he won the 1952 National Amateur Body-Builders' Association Universe Championships. Born in the district of Comilla (now in Bangladesh), Aich, at just four feet and 11 inches, was not the tallest of men. But encouraged by English officer Reub Martin, Aich took up bodybuilding and made this his passion during his stint at the Royal Air Force under British colonial rulers. He also went on to serve jail term when some years later he protested against colonial oppression, something which Aich considered as "turning point" in his life.
In the case of India, there are no specific references in China's white paper. However, there are several takeaways for India, says Srikanth Kondapalli.
The external affairs minister, a JNU alumnus, condemned the attack on the university campus. He said it's completely against the culture and tradition of the university.
Asian Games gold-winning former boxer Dingko Singh has recovered from COVID-19, testing negative for the deadly virus on Friday over a month after the cancer-stricken legend was hospitalised in Imphal. Back at his home, but in isolation for the next fortnight, Singh spoke about the ordeal he endured, including five positive tests since his hospitalisation in the last week of May.
'Why has the rhetoric gone down on the Indian side, Durrani wondered aloud.' 'I said because almost total normalcy and peace had returned on the ground in Kashmir,' recalls Shekhar Gupta. 'The general gave me that career spook's laser look. And he said: "That situation on the ground can change in no time".' 'This was precisely when the Pakistanis began their first incursions into Kargil.' 'Durrani had been retired for five years.' 'But once the ISI boss, you are always in the know.'
A group of first time voters who run 10 km everyday to prepare for fauji recruitment rallies, tell Rediff.com's Archana Masih they need two things: quality education and jobs.
In the second and final part of his column, Col Anil Athale says the fight between forces of Indian nationalism and Macaulayism aided and abetted by West is going to be long, hard and dirty. The outcome will decide whether India becomes a superpower or continues to wallow in the swamp of underdevelopment.
The Indian State has low operational capabilities. Individuals will have concerns about material that flows through the government, on questions of purity, perfection of the cold chain, and correctness of procedures at the frontline. Even if a government programme is able to solve all these problems, it will be limited in scale-up. The passion, management capabilities, and response to local conditions, which will be found with tens of thousands of ground-level initiatives, Individuals will have concerns about material that flows through the government, on questions of purity, perfection of the cold chain, and correctness of procedures. Even if a government programme is able to solve all these problems, it will be limited in scale-up, argues Ajay Shah.
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