News for 'Soviet Union'

China's first lunar rover back in action after 'nap'

China's first lunar rover back in action after 'nap'

Rediff.com22 Dec 2013

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.

The difference between Kargil and Balakot

The difference between Kargil and Balakot

Rediff.com26 Jul 2019

'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).

Alcohol ban is like demonetisation

Alcohol ban is like demonetisation

Rediff.com6 Jan 2017

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.

Biden: No cause to worry for India

Biden: No cause to worry for India

Rediff.com12 Nov 2020

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.

Murli Deora: The politician who was loved by all

Murli Deora: The politician who was loved by all

Rediff.com24 Nov 2014

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.

Asian Games: Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan to win cricket gold

Asian Games: Sri Lanka beat Afghanistan to win cricket gold

Rediff.com3 Oct 2014

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.

Doomsday is closer than you thought

Doomsday is closer than you thought

Rediff.com27 Jan 2017

... and ONE man could be the reason for that, say scientists.

India is talking to the Taliban because the Taliban are winning

India is talking to the Taliban because the Taliban are winning

Rediff.com20 Jul 2021

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.

Kalam made us believe the sky was never too high

Kalam made us believe the sky was never too high

Rediff.com28 Jul 2015

'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.'

Pakistan's devotion to LeT's Saeed runs deep

Pakistan's devotion to LeT's Saeed runs deep

Rediff.com13 Jan 2021

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.

Russia scrambles to get hotels ready for Sochi Olympics

Russia scrambles to get hotels ready for Sochi Olympics

Rediff.com3 Feb 2014

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.

BJP's political Brahmastras

BJP's political Brahmastras

Rediff.com24 Oct 2019

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.

IAF chief justifies govt decision to procure 36 Rafale jets

IAF chief justifies govt decision to procure 36 Rafale jets

Rediff.com12 Sep 2018

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.

Did Cuban cigars thaw US-Cuba relations?

Did Cuban cigars thaw US-Cuba relations?

Rediff.com20 Apr 2015

'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.'

Why India needs to thank Nehru

Why India needs to thank Nehru

Rediff.com26 Jan 2018

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.

Ambitious Afghanistan cricket set for next chapter...

Ambitious Afghanistan cricket set for next chapter...

Rediff.com5 Feb 2015

The journey of Afghan cricket from the refugee camps to World Cup is nothing short of a fairytale.

Other teams can only marvel at US dominance

Other teams can only marvel at US dominance

Rediff.com10 Aug 2016

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.

What is Modi's Pakistan policy really?

What is Modi's Pakistan policy really?

Rediff.com31 Dec 2017

'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.

China drives India into the arms of the US

China drives India into the arms of the US

Rediff.com13 Jun 2016

'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.

'Europe is dying', EU opponents say, as Greek 'No' brings delight

'Europe is dying', EU opponents say, as Greek 'No' brings delight

Rediff.com6 Jul 2015

Eurosceptics lined up to laud Greek democracy for disowning what some cast as the oligarchy

How India outclassed Pak in diplomatic game over Kashmir

How India outclassed Pak in diplomatic game over Kashmir

Rediff.com26 Aug 2019

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.

The Gouri Amma I Knew

The Gouri Amma I Knew

Rediff.com12 May 2021

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.

We can't depend on the US to fight China

We can't depend on the US to fight China

Rediff.com31 Jul 2020

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.

Russia's athletes keep sights on Rio despite doping ban

Russia's athletes keep sights on Rio despite doping ban

Rediff.com2 Mar 2016

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.

Why Taliban chief's killing is good news for India

Why Taliban chief's killing is good news for India

Rediff.com26 May 2016

What does the Taliban chief's death means for various stakeholders?

Mamata is more Left than the Left!

Mamata is more Left than the Left!

Rediff.com25 May 2016

With her trademark cotton sari and rubber slippers and her generous doles in rural Bengal, many describe Mamata Banerjee as "ultra left."

Chinese choppers violate Indian air space in Uttarakhand

Chinese choppers violate Indian air space in Uttarakhand

Rediff.com4 Jun 2017

The Indian Air Force is probing the incident, an IAF source said.

India to lose Olympic weightlifting spots in doping clampdown

India to lose Olympic weightlifting spots in doping clampdown

Rediff.com12 Apr 2018

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.

Mourning for George H W Bush

Mourning for George H W Bush

Rediff.com4 Dec 2018

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.

Welcome to the New Normal

Welcome to the New Normal

Rediff.com13 May 2017

'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.

Factbox: A list of French Open women's champions over time

Factbox: A list of French Open women's champions over time

Rediff.com26 May 2017

List of French Open women's singles champions

US will increase nuclear arsenal if others do not 'come to their senses': Trump

US will increase nuclear arsenal if others do not 'come to their senses': Trump

Rediff.com23 Oct 2018

'It's a threat to whoever you want, and it includes China, and it includes Russia and it includes anybody else that wants to play that game. You can't do that. You can't play that game on me'

Navy bids farewell to its iconic submarine hunter TU-142

Navy bids farewell to its iconic submarine hunter TU-142

Rediff.com30 Mar 2017

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.

The US Nexus: India Must be Careful

The US Nexus: India Must be Careful

Rediff.com27 Oct 2020

Indians at large harbour a notion that their country is cherrypicking out of the American basket of goodies, but the policymakers in Delhi and the political leadership are well aware that it can only be a pipe dream since a military alliance with a superpower is a profound irrevocable commitment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.

How US LOST to Pakistan in Afghanistan

How US LOST to Pakistan in Afghanistan

Rediff.com15 Sep 2021

For two decades the US paid in blood and blood money for dependence on Pakistan to carry out one president's boast. Now, having been defeated by its proxies, another president will go into Rawalpindi's embrace to satisfy his constituents, predicts Shekhar Gupta.

Bumpy Road for India with Biden

Bumpy Road for India with Biden

Rediff.com8 Nov 2020

'Any normal human being, even if he is the American president, will find it hard, at least in the initial stages, to get over the gnawing feeling that Modi is Trump's man.' 'Modi should not be surprised if India and its requirements are treated as of low priority by Joe Biden,' warns B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.

2+2 2020 could be a game changer

2+2 2020 could be a game changer

Rediff.com28 Oct 2020

With the situation in Ladakh tense and no resolution in sight the trigger to take the India-US relationship to a transformational one is already there, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).

Militants warn of terror attack during Winter Olympics in Sochi

Militants warn of terror attack during Winter Olympics in Sochi

Rediff.com20 Jan 2014

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.

Nokia shareholders expected to approve Microsoft deal

Nokia shareholders expected to approve Microsoft deal

Rediff.com19 Nov 2013

Nokia agreed in September to sell its devices and services business and license its patents to Microsoft for 5.44 billion euros after failing to recover from a late start in smartphones.

Time to divide J&K into Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh

Time to divide J&K into Jammu, Kashmir, Ladakh

Rediff.com25 Jun 2018

'It is time to not merely assert that Kashmir is an internal problem, but begin to act on it,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).