Ashok Lahiri, a distinguished economist with experience in government, the private sector, and electoral politics, has been appointed as the new Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog, tasked with strengthening India's reform trajectory and policy-making.
Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-N chief Nawaz Sharif on Saturday said that India and Pakistan were ready to resolve the Kashmir issue in 1999. "The then Indian prime minister (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee and I were ready to resolve the Kashmir issue in 1999 but General (Pervez) Musharraf did the misadventure in Kargil and then overthrew my government," Sharif said while addressing a function on Saturday to mark the anniversary of Pak carrying out nuclear tests.
"It was an excellent display of team spirit and togetherness by all members of the Indian cricket team," Vajpayee said in a letter to skipper Sourav Ganguly.
Uddhav Thackeray asserts that his alliance with MNS chief Raj Thackeray is permanent, dismissing speculation about their unity ahead of civic elections.
Cutting across party lines, political leaders welcomed the government's decision to confer Bharat Ratna, the nation's highest civilian honour, on former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and freedom fighter Madan Mohan Malviya.
A Russian defence expert says the reported sale of RD-93 engines to Pakistan for integration into the JF-17 will actually benefit India, dismissing criticism of the Indian government by the opposition.
A survey conducted by the Washington-based Pew Research Centre for the People and the Press said 84 per cent of Indians have an unfavourable opinion of Pakistan.
'Modi took to the dais and said he would like to step down as chief minister over the riots.' 'Immediately, people from several sides got up and said there was no need to do so.' 'Whether it was orchestrated or not, Shourie wasn't sure.' 'But, according to him, Vajpayee felt that it was a coup.'
He regretted not having set up a commission like India to go into the Kargil episode to fix the responsibility for it.
The Confederation of Indian Industry will launch a Web site on India-China economic cooperation next week, coinciding with Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's visit to that country.
The Confederation of Indian Industries, on Friday, was all praise for the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led coalition governments in terms of being development-oriented and helpful to the industry.
National Security Adviser Brajesh Mishra will meet Senior Vice Minister of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Dai Bingguo in New Delhi on Thursday.
May we suggest that Rahul spend Tuesday night with the homeless in Delhi who are shivering in cold and frosty conditions?
Had it not been for Pankaj Tripathi, who must have worked hard to get those Vajpayee intonations and mannerisms so perfectly well, Ravi Jadhav's flattering portrait of Vajpayee would have been more vacuous than what we get to see, observes Prasanna Zore.
'I was present at a meeting where he decided to permit the IAF to strike at Pakistan positions in Kargil, with the caveat that they should not cross the LoC.' 'Confident that the Indian Army would succeed, Mr Vajpayee was positioning himself to tell the world after the Kargil conflict was won that India did not violate the 'sanctity' of the LoC,' recalls Ambassador G Parthasarathy, who served as India's envoy in Islamabad in that eventful year, 1999.
The reopening of the trade route through Nathu Pass will give boost to tourism and export-oriented activities, Pawan Chamling said.
The Pakistani prime minister in an interview with The Nation said he had no apprehensions about visiting India or to meet his Indian counterpart anywhere in the world.
'He has sacrificed a lot. Always done something for others. But never asked for anything in return.'
"We are not against the common man or the migrant workers from UP and Bihar. If somebody changes according to the house of the host (Maharashtra), he is welcome, but if somebody wants to change the host's home by dadagiri (force), we will never tolerate it," Raj asserted.
He said Shiv Sena protected a political leadership for 25-30 years but they (the BJP) didn't want Sena and also the Akali Dal -- the erstwhile members of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).
In an interview to NDTV, the Pak president expressed willingness to lead the peace talks with India.
