The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Delhi should keep all its options open in what is essentially a transitional period in the geopolitics of energy rather than remain a gatekeeper serving Trump's 'America First', suggests Ambasssador M K Bhadrakumar.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
10 stocks from the Nifty 200 index that offer good growth potential and scope to deliver decent returns from current levels, based on brokerage estimates.
Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey met in Islamabad in what analysts say is the formal opening of a new diplomatic formation that could reshape the post-war regional order. Their immediate goal is a ceasefire; their larger ambition is to ensure that neither Iran nor Israel emerges from this war in a dominant position. Pakistan's foreign minister then flew directly to Beijing and mooted a Chinese role as guarantor of any eventual agreement. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
The question is no longer whether the war will expand. It has. The next few days will tell us whether the war stabilises around Hormuz or whether the Strait itself becomes the trigger for a far larger rupture. What to watch for over the next 48 hours is simple: Any move by the US toward direct naval control of the Strait; any credible Iranian attempt to disrupt or mine shipping lanes and, critically, whether energy infrastructure in the Gulf continues to be targeted.If those lines are crossed in tandem, the war will no longer be containable within the region.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Mizoram, Manipur, Assam, West Bengal, and Bihar to launch infrastructure projects, participate in Bhupen Hazarika's birth centenary, and attend the Combined Commanders' Conference.
Dialysis is a scary word to most of us. It signifies that both the kidneys have failed and our blood needs to be cleaned by an external agent. It conjures up images of financial difficulties and we have often heard people say, "It's a rich man's disease, a poor man would die as the costs are prohibitive."
With the signing of the pact, the Quad grouping of India, Japan, Australia and the US is set to gain more heft now, notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
The Indian Navy has a big role to play in support of our strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean. The increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a matter of concern and need to be factored. Hence, the requirement of an Aircraft Carrier is a foregone conclusion, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
"Whenever we do compromise those rights, the world is worse off," Pompeo said.
At first look, the reader would be aghast at the similarities in the DMK and AIADMK's manifestos, wondering if the same hand had drafted both. Yet, when it comes to drinking water and irrigation supplies, both parties are equally silent on the subject -- as if summer did not exist, as didn't water scarcity, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Congress leader said he had warned the people of Assam before the Assembly elections in 2016 that hard earned peace would be hampered if the BJP came to power.
India is in the midst of its biggest crisis since Independence. It is a national emergency and begs to be dealt with. Politics can wait. Lives need to be saved. We need to vaccinate India at a pace faster than any country in the world, asserts Ramesh Menon.
Six villages in Maharashtra that are within the drought affected area have remained water secure even in an extremely bad year.
'Does the government help ordinary citizens like you and me with our marriages, birthdays and anniversaries?' Rashme Sehgal reports on the controversy over the the Art Of Living Foundation's plans for a cultural festival on the Yamuna floodplains.
'When you forgive a farmer's loans there is this ideological economists lobby which says: 'That's socialism. And that's bad'.' 'But to forgive the loans of big people, so that they will be interested to invest further is capitalism and is good.'
Pune architects Dhruvang Hingmire and Priyanka Gunjikar are building houses out of mud and stone, employing local artists and contributing to the village economy.
Lack of basic sanitation affects people's dignity.
Ian Pont, a former Essex player and fast bowling coach, now at the Ultimate Pace Foundation in Bengaluru, analyses England's disastrous World Cup campaign in an exclusive conversation with Manu Shankar/Rediff.com.
The contrived controversy over the so-called blockade of the India-Nepal border has obscured the perilous path on which the current ruling elite in Nepal are taking the country towards.