After more goals came from set-pieces in this World Cup's group stage than any other, dead-ball strategy has continued to have a huge impact in the knockout phase, with five of the 11 goals scored in the quarter-finals coming from free kicks or corners.
It's time Rahul Gandhi became attuned to the reality of the 21st century instead of recycling failed political jargon of the 20th century,' argues Virendra Kapoor.
China's first moon rover is back to work after a "nap" and has succeeded in sending back the first images of the national flags on itself and the lander, space authorities said on Sunday.
'Though the prime minister has talked somewhat needlessly of pilot projects and the real stuff to come, India cannot be sure of a clean victory in any full-fledged conflict -- even if there is reason to engage in such,' points out T N Ninan.
Simona Halep became the first Romanian in 40 years to lift the French Open trophy at Roland Garros on Saturday.
The 50,000-metric tonne vessel will focus on what a genuine aircraft carrier is supposed to do like conducting combat-ready patrols and safeguarding China's maritime sovereignty and interests, the report said.
The Germans will play their group matches in Munich
Sunanda K Datta-Ray considers them sound in theory, but incapable of making any dent in the corruption that is India's way of life.
Congress stalwart Murli Deora passed away on Monday morning after battling a prolonged illness. He was a politician who shared rapport across the political and corporate spectrum.
Sri Lanka crushed Afghanistan by 68 runs to win the gold medal in the men's Twenty20 cricket event at the Asian Games on Friday.
'We took the initiative after Balakot and continued to hold it, forcing Pakistan to react.' 'This was not the case in the Kargil conflict.' 'At that time we 'reacted' to Pakistan's actions,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The jewel-encrusted Topkapi dagger and the enormous Spoonmaker's Diamond set amongst two more rows of diamonds were truly gape-worthy!, Letika Saran tells us after a fascinating encounter with Istanbul.
About 41,000 rooms are being provided for the Games and any failure to have them ready in time would be a potential blow to President Vladimir Putin's hopes that the Winter Olympics will show how far Russia has come since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.
'As a nation we came up short, but that did not deter Kalam. He made it his life mission to exhort the young to greatness.'
... and ONE man could be the reason for that, say scientists.
Washington might occasionally make some noises about alleged human rights violations and related issues but commonality of interests will only see the Indo-US ties grow stronger, observes Virendra Kapoor.
'The irresistible Cuban cigars, which acquire their unique flavour as they are rolled on the thighs of Cuban women, have always been the ultimate temptation for cigar connoisseurs in the US.'
Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa said that no country in the world is facing the kind of grave threat that India is confronted with.
The term, 'pro-Pakistani', is helpful for the BJP to depict its opponents as anti-nationals while the sedition law is handy for locking up or harassing the government's critics, points out Amulya Ganguli.
The journey of Afghan cricket from the refugee camps to World Cup is nothing short of a fairytale.
The perpetrators of the 2008 Mumbai attack, who shot dead 166 people, had confessed to details that should have been enough to hang him, but Pakistan enjoyed his anti-India rhetoric and let him spread his tentacles. A revealing excerpt from Khaled Ahmed's Pakistan's Terror Conundrum.
India's freedom, its rambling but working Constitution, its parliamentary democracy, its lumbering administrative machinery all have many a father, but its greatest claim to fame, especially today, that of being a modern state, is due to but one person: Its first and longest-serving prime minister, Nehru, says Shreekant Sambrani.
But why should India be talking to the Taliban in the first place? There is no love lost there. India will never forget or forgive the humiliation to which the Taliban subjected it in the IC-814 hijack, notes Shekhar Gupta.
The US women's gymnastics team, anchored by all around world champion Simone Biles, won the team gold medal at the Olympics on Tuesday by the widest margin ever.
'If the dimensions of the strategic partnership worked out by India and the US seem like a grand alliance targeted at you-know-who, China had better realise that it has fathered it,' says B S Raghavan, a long time observer of China.
Eurosceptics lined up to laud Greek democracy for disowning what some cast as the oligarchy
'When Sushma Swaraj was campaigning like a one-man army against Pakistan for the treatment meted out to Chetna Jadhav and her mother-in-law, India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval was secretly huddled with his Pakistani counterpart in Bangkok.' 'It is becoming impossible to make rational judgments about our government's Pakistan policies,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Barred from international competition, Russia is training its athletes at a series of special domestic tournaments and banking on hopes a doping ban will be lifted in time for this year's Rio Olympics.
What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?
The battle to manage the international environment over Kashmir has just begun, but what is expected to help is the lifting of internal controls. All eyes are now on that exercise. Aditi Phadnis reports.
With her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers and her generous doles in rural Bengal, many describe Mamata Banerjee as "ultra left."
The Indian Air Force is probing the incident, an IAF source said.
India must be aware that there is no question of the US fighting the Chinese on land. We have to fight our own battles, points out Virendra Kapoor.
Five nations, including Russia, whose doping records have risked weightlifting's place on the Olympic schedule have been limited to just two athletes for the 2020 Tokyo Games by the sport's governing body, according to a document seen by Reuters.
'It's amazing that a country that claims to be the world's largest democracy is getting into the business of micro-regulating personal and professional lives in this fashion,' says Devangshu Datta.
List of French Open women's singles champions
Bush's remains will lie in state in the US Capitol Rotunda till Wednesday, when he will be honoured with state funeral at the Washington National Cathedral.
She was capable of a level of human compassion that is rare today among politicians, recalls Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, who knew the Communist legend K R Gowri, who passed into the ages on May 11, from his childhood.
Now the the job of searching out and destroying enemy submarines in the waters off India's coast will fall to the navy's new fleet of a dozen Boeing P-8I aircraft, reports Ajai Shukla.
Two men said by Islamist militants to have carried out suicide attacks in south Russia appeared in a video donning explosive belts and warning Vladimir Putin to expect a "present" at the Sochi Winter Olympics from fighters following after them.
