Strongly condemning the terrorist strikes in Afghanistan's capital Kabul, India has told the United Nations Security Council that these attacks reinforce the need for the world to stand unitedly against terrorism and all those who provide sanctuaries to terrorists.
A quintessential military commander, Gen Bipin Rawat possessed an uncanny understanding of geopolitical upheavals, calibrated a tri-services military doctrine to make India face myriad security challenges, and is largely credited with bringing down militancy in the Northeast and Jammu and Kashmir.
Flexible, maneuverable, mobile and swift, the M-777A2 Ultra-Light Howitzers are just what India needed to replace its aging battle-tested Bofors guns, says Debalina Ghoshal.
'The last ten months show that India is not going to trust China.' 'Our military commanders are not going to believe that all is well till it actually is.'
'India is not the India of 1962. We are not carrying that baggage of history anymore.'
Ordnance Factory Board officials say upgrading the 39-calibre FH-77 into the 45-calibre Dhanush has increased the gun's range from 27 to 38 kilometres, using enhanced range ammunition.
The artillery pounds targets and keeps the enemy's head down, preventing them from firing at attacking troops.
With ambitious generals knowing that political patronage might be rewarded, a worrying era of politicisation of the military looms ahead, observes retired Colonel Ajai Shukla who has known Generals Rawat, Bakshi and Hariz for a long time.
>Putin's last-minute intervention with PM salvages $5.43 bn pact.
China remains in firm control of an estimated 600-800 square kilometres of Indian territory.
4 civilians were also killed and dozens of others injured in clashes that broke out between protestors and security forces following three separate encounters.
This crisis has arisen just as demand in India's auto sector started seeing some sort of revival after the nationwide lockdown in March/April.
Here is a timeline of the major attacks that have taken place in Jammu and Kashmir since 1999 till date
Army Chief Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag on Wednesday visited the Nagrota-based 16 Corps headquarters and was briefed about Tuesday's terror attack in which seven officers and jawans were killed, even as combing operation to flush out any remaining militant continued.
The ineptness of successive American presidents, from Bush the Younger to Joe Biden the Old, combined with the cluelessness that Americans demonstrate in foreign lands, contrasts with the Chinese leadership's seemingly singular focus on the accumulation of wealth and power, asserts T N Ninan.
'The border standoff, if not properly addressed by both sides, could escalate to a conventional or sub-conventional conflict between India and China,' predicts Srikanth Kondapalli, one of India's leading China experts.
'However, a lot of preparatory work would have to go in and China must be prepared to announce an end to the standoff by disengaging from the remaining areas along the LAC.'
Army Chief Dalbir Singh on Saturday visited the Northern and Western Commands to review India's operational preparedness along the border with Pakistan in the wake of heightened tension between the two countries following the surgical strike at terror camps across the Line of Control.
The Army on Thursday said there were inputs about possibility of attacks by Pakistan-based terror outfits on "soft targets" such as schools, religious places, military convoys and civilian areas in Jammu and Kashmir ahead of US President Barack Obama's India visit later this month.
'China would want to take a tougher stance against India forming those strategic partnerships and prevent Quad from becoming a military alliance.'
In the gun battle, one terrorist identified as Sadam Hussain Mir, a resident of Chatripora Shopian, belonging to Hizbul Mujahideen, was killed, the official said.
'General Bajwa is believed to consider the internal threats to Pakistan's security as far more serious than the bogey of the Indian threat.' 'This doesn't mean that he is soft on India, only that he is more rational and sensible than his predecessor who had a bit of a chip on his shoulder about India,' points out Pakistan expert Sushant Sareen.
It is worrisome that salaries are consuming as much expenditure as equipment.
'The bigger challenge and dilemma for Pakistan would be if the US and Saudi Arabia go full throttle against Iran and enforce regime change in Tehran.' 'That would be bad news for Pakistan, especially with the current instability in Balochistan,' notes Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Corps Commander Lt Gen K J S Dhillon of the Chinar Corps also requested mothers of Kashmiri militants to persuade their sons to surrender.
'The adversary will always exploit India's anti-national elements.'
Other players who have declared no production days in the recent past, and during this month, include Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki, Hero MotoCorp, Bosch, Jamna Auto, Wabco and Sundaram-Clayton.
The National Democratic Alliance government has adopted half measures instead of moving decisively on defence.
With the role of the venerable elder thrust on him in UP, Mr Singh has had to attune himself to the politics at the Centre, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Industry watchers attribute a lot of the current successes of the $6 billion Hero Group to how B M Munjal planned and executed succession in HeroCorp, balancing the interests of other family-owned businesses.
A US RC-135S reconnaissance aircraft on Wednesday flew near the ongoing Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) drills in the South China Sea, a day after another US spy plane, a U-2, trespassed into another PLA exercise restricted zone, state-run Global Times reported.
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Thursday
The Indian Army will move from a "command-based" deployment to a "theatre command" format where the "front" or the spearhead will be seamlessly integrated with resources in the "depth" or the rear, says RS Chauhan
It expects to sort out the issue at the Gurgaon plant 'very quickly'.
Taliban failed to honour Doha accord, never renounced Al-Qaeda: US general Mark Milley
The field intelligence units of the Army coupled with inputs comprising HUMINT (human intelligence) and TECHINT (technical intelligence) indicate that around 300 terrorists, mainly of the banned Hizbul Mujahideen and Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT), are waiting across the border to sneak in, officials said, citing reports from Srinagar collated in the national capital.
'Captain Vikram Batra, PVC and his unit 13 Jak Rif did stand out because of the sheer magnitude of the task allotted to them but also the exceptional professionalism with which it was executed and completed,' recalls Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'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.'
The parade began after President Ram Nath Kovind conferred the Ashoka Chakra -- India's highest peacetime gallantry award -- to Lance Naik Nazir Ahmad Wani, a militant-turned-soldier who laid down his life fighting a group of terrorists in Shopian in Kashmir in November.
