'Rajapaksa's victory poses a serious foreign policy challenge for the Modi government,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
This is India's best-ever FIFA Ranking since April 1996 when India were also ranked 100.
The home minister will also discuss cross border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and growing activities of ISIS in the country and its neighbourhood.
Situated at a height of 15,200 feet above sea level, the pass sits on the top of a craggily formed Himalayan range that separates the Tibetan plateau from the Indian sub-continent.
Once Mazar-i-Sharif falls, some isolate pockets of resistance may remain, which the Taliban would tackle through political work or coercion, asserts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Images and a round-up of all the World Cup qualifiers played across continents on Tuesday.
'Just like we have accepted that more Indians have hypertension and diabetes, lower lung capacity of Indians should not be construed as normal.'
Trump, who personally greeted the trio at the Andrews Air Force Base, praised Kim for their release ahead of their summit.
PV Sindhu, Depika Padukone ensured Indian representation on the global front.
Democracy is the heart of our body politic and elections are its life blood. Because there is some disease that affects it, we cannot apply leeches to drain it off, killing the body in the process, asserts Shreekant Sambrani.
Various South Asian lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender organizations in California welcomed the United States Supreme Court's ruling striking down the controversial federal law that discriminated against gay couples in the US.
Would Ukraine be such a pushover if it had that nuclear stockpile?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Lawmakers were not going to be in town on that particular day, and would be in their constituencies preparing for the mid-term elections in November. Rediff.com's Aziz Haniffa reports
'If you don't have children, that's also a problem.' 'There's no right way to live because everybody has an opinion about your personal life, and how you should live.' 'You have to listen to them, unless you can pick a fight with everyone.'
Divij Sharan has become not only India's number one but also the top-ranked Asian in the ATP doubles list with a recent three-place jump that took him to number 42 in the world.
'There will be much for President Trump and Prime Minister Modi to discuss including growing Chinese military cooperation with Pakistan, which heralds a new attempt by China and Pakistan to neutralise India's influence in its Indian Ocean neighbourhood,' notes Ambassador G Parthasarathy.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
Photographer John Moore, who took the picture that has come to symbolise the horror of the new family-separation policy in the United States, reveals what happened that night.
Unless the Taliban goofs up in a big way, which seems highly unlikely, we are looking at a regime that will be around for quite a long while and present a level of governance that the puppets of the richest and most advanced countries failed to provide, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump hosted Diwali celebrations in the historic Roosevelt Room of the White House which was attended by prominent Indian-Americans, Indian-origin administration and diplomatic officials.
'As long as we have such partners, Russia cannot be isolated.'
'This speech is going to be more of a punishment. I spoke too much this afternoon' A tireless Prime Minister Narendra Modi left over 700 notable luminaries in peals of laughter with his quick wit and sense of humour during a dinner and reception hosted by Indian Ambassador Subrahmanyam Jaishankar at the Taj-owned, The Pierre Hotel. In the presence of the who's who of desi Americans and US lawmakers, Modi once again thanked the Indian-Americans for their contributions and discussed his plans of developing India and the ties he hopes to nurture with America. Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com presents a sneak-peak into the festive, grand dinner.
A special ceremony was organised at the world-famous skyscraper in New York's midtown Manhattan for lighting it up in saffron, white and green.
The Serb set up the breakaway PTPA on the eve of the US Open in September and resigned as head of the player council but last month he confirmed that he had been nominated by his fellow professionals for the current elections which he accepted.
There are several books that Aakar Patel wishes were being written but aren't. Fortunately, there's plenty coming up this year that he's eagerly awaiting.
Prakash Bhandari salutes the spirit of Abebe Bikila who twice won the Olympic Marathon in record times.
After devoting years to the difficult pursuit of perfection, some fall wayward.
'India's emergence as a global voice and global point of focus comes more from her economy,' says Frank G Wisner.
Quaison fires Sweden to extra-time World Cup playoff win over Czechs
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
As per the agreement reached by the two sides, India and China will withdraw the forward deployment in a phased and coordinated manner, the defence minister said.
'India is a strange place.' 'On the one hand we have the most advanced science working on our origins and our ancestry.' 'On the other we are at war with ourselves over a temple to a god whom our first ancestors knew nothing of,' says Aakar Patel.
The 20-year-old Indian, who was competing in the season's Diamond League Series Finale just three days after winning Asian Games gold in Jakarta, sent the spear to a best distance of 85.73m to end at fourth position in the eight-man event.
'By causing military humiliation of India it intends to send a signal to other Asian countries to toe the Chinese line,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
South Korea coach Choi Kang-hee humiliated the Iranian people when he said he had been 'badly treated' in Tehran last year and wanted to stop the West Asian's qualifying for the World Cup, Iran boss Carlos Queiroz said on Thursday.
Two more members of the banned Ansarullah Bangla Team militant group have been arrested in connection with the hacking to death of a fourth secular blogger in Dhaka last week that sparked global outrage.
No such decision has been taken either in the Indian Ocean or South China Sea.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday.
United States Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake, while briefing reporters on the meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna on the sidelines of the 65th United Nations General Assembly in New York, said the issue of direct and complete access to Pakistani American and Lashkar operative David Coleman had not come up at all at these talks.
