With an eye on beefing up maritime security, India is negotiating a deal with 24 countries for exchange of neutral merchant shipping data as it rolls out a national hub to tackle all aspects of coastal security to prevent another 26/11-like attack.
China will increase its defence spending by "around seven per cent" this year, as it vowed to guard against "outside meddling" in its territorial disputes.
'The only credible explanation for the niggardly approach to defence expenditure must be that the government does not expect a war.' 'But wars can happen when you don't expect them, and re-arming at the last minute is not possible,' says T N Ninan.
Rajeev Srinivasan on how India has continued to disappoint, but could outdo Singapore one day.
How did Greece, the country of Archimedes and Socrates and Plato and Pythagoras, come to such dire straits, asks Ajit Balakrishnan.
'Today the Chinese think they can slap India, and there will be no consequences.' 'They must be made to feel the consequences through any and all means,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited Bijnor district where she met families of two persons killed in the violence. Internet services have been suspended in several areas till Monday, while prohibitory orders remained in force across the state.
'It is possible that in his perambulations from the company of Baba Ramdev to that of Anna Hazare and finally to the BJP, he hasn't had time to refurbish his memory of what he may have read earlier,' says Amulya Ganguli.
Navy chief Adm. Sunil Lanba said that by 2050, India will have 200 ships, 500 aircraft.
China's newly-formed Rocket Force has held an exercise with advanced DF-16 medium-range ballistic missile with a range of over 1,000 kms that could threaten a number countries, including India, Japan and the United States.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
Flexing its muscles over Taiwan, China on Monday sailed its aircraft carrier close to the estranged island amid tensions with the US following President-elect Donald Trump's telephone call with the Taiwanese president.
'By crudely dragging the topic into the bazaar to flog it for momentary pleasure, we turned it into a dead carcass by the time Modi even got back from Xiamen,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Nobody is making yoga compulsory. If you don't want to do it, it is okay. Yoga has no religion.'
So who stands to benefit the most by a weak Opposition? What's behind the sudden public spat between the two parties?
It is widely considered the greatest comeback in Test history.
'Chinese pressure on Taiwan is unlikely to ease till Beijing feels that stability is being restored in the Sino-US relationship,' says former RAW officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Prior to 2011, the company was in dire straits. But recent financial results show its fortunes are on the mend.
'If the Chinese intent is to be gauged based on its aggression in the South China Sea, greater forays in the Indian Ocean, a hawk's attitude towards Taiwan, flying its fighters repeatedly over the Senkaku islands in the East China Sea and creating strategic assets globally, there would be a requirement for strategic partnerships for India,' says Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
'Today we can't confirm whether Chau is dead or not.' 'What is the guarantee that the Sentinelese killed him?'
How are the illiterate and aged coping with Modi's demonetisation, wonders Subir Roy.
The differently-abled deserve a normal life. Nothing will stop Poonam Natarajan from ensuring that India, slowly but surely, gives it to them, discovers Shobha Warrier.
'Many tourists are keen to break the law and see the tribals. But what difference would it make? They are humans like us. We do not like intruders, neither do they. Very little of their homes is left, so we might as well let them be,' says Chintan Purohit.
The search for the missing Malaysian aircraft may take "decades" as its wreckage could be spread over a big area in the Indian Ocean, a top Malaysia Airlines official said, while criticising the government for not informing them about the air turn back made by the jet.
Payal Mohanka travelled to Morocco, that magical place where the past and the present don't jostle but instead coexist rather beautifully.
'There is no Buddha or Gandhi among countries, existing for the service of others; they all exist for the good of themselves.' 'For each country, its own interests should be paramount, and it is futile and churlish to expect China to be an exception to this rule,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant and long-time China-watcher.
The Modi government's appalling inefficiency and lack of purpose stand exposed, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
Confronting a slowdown in growth, China says it will only increase its defence budget by 7.6% this year, against the anticipated rise of between 20% and 30%. 'It is difficult to explain the reduction in the Chinese defence budget,' says Claude Arpi. 'Is there a hidden budget? Possibly!'
The war of words between China and the US heated up on Tuesday with an American Admiral defending last week's US naval ship's foray near Chinese-made artificial islands in the area while Beijing blasted the move as a "blatant provocation".
Tickets for matches in Brasilia have already been on sale for months and it remains unclear how fans, many of whom may have bought flights and booked hotels, would be reimbursed
Asian Tour star Anirban Lahiri wrote a small slice of Indian sporting history with an eye-catching equal fifth place finish at the PGA Championship on Sunday and reinforced his growing reputation in world golf.
The CPEC poses a clear and imminent danger to Indian security interests, says Kulbir Krishan.
DRDO says it is working with the navy to fit the Rustom-1 with an Automatic Identification System that will identify Indian fishing vessels along the maritime boundary
Japan has the capital and needs to pull out of China, which has been its major destination. India, on the other hand, desperately needs capital especially for infrastructure, argues Rajeev Srinivasan.
The bogey of the 1962 defeat must be laid to rest with a finality that is unquestionable. The myth of Chinese invincibility is a tall tale that belongs to an era gone by, says Vivek Gumaste.
India and China have not ruled out a Modi-Xi meeting during the summit.
India and Iran on Monday decided to jointly combat terror, radicalism and cyber crime as the two strategic partners signed 12 agreements including a "milestone" pact on developing the key Chabahar port for which India will provide $500 million.
Five players to watch at the Masters, which starts on Thursday at Augusta National.
Now that Tamil Nadu's tallest politician is no more, it remains to be seen how new political re-alignments could shape up, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
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