Russia's unprecedented rapprochement with North Korea has raised concerns about the re-emergence of a Russia-China-North Korea alliance which could increase the probability of conflict on the Korean Peninsula, explains Dr Rajaram Panda.
Some may see China's decision to antagonise India as strategically unwise. But China believes its prestige demands standing up to India, whatever the cost.
The NIA had registered three cases last year following information suggesting that terrorist outfits and their sympathisers abroad were operating as members of organised criminal gangs active in the northern states of India for targeted killings and violent criminal acts.
The prime minister was happy that the assurance given by the Serum Institute that it will make India self-sufficient in vaccines at the lowest possible price in the world was fulfilled.
The show-cause notice dated February 8 by DCGI V G Somani cited a Delhi high court order dated December 12, 2018, which prohibits online sales of medicines without a licence.
Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers in developing startup ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs, according to the ranking of states and Union territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Among smaller states having population of less than one crore, Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer. The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem for promoting budding entrepreneurs.
The Centre wrote to Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi governments on Wednesday flagging below-par vaccination of eligible beneficiaries, including healthcare workers.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to explain why the political party (Aam Aadmi Party) which was allegedly the beneficiary of the Delhi Excise Policy 'scam', has not been made an accused in the money laundering case.
A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana agreed to hear next week the EC's plea after senior advocate Vikas Singh submitted a large number of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail machines (VVPATs) are still being preserved and need to be released.
The New York State Assembly has passed a resolution calling on Governor Andrew Cuomo to declare February 5 as Kashmir American Day, drawing a sharp reaction from India which noted with 'concern' attempts by 'vested interests' to misrepresent Jammu and Kashmir's rich cultural and social mosaic to divide the people.
Had it not been for the slow but sure emergence of China as a threat to the western order, would India have been accepted as a near-equal partner by individual western nations, jointly and severally, questions N Sathiya Moorthy.
Mah, Dellhi have highest active firms
If Tamil Nadu voters preferred the DMK combine, it owed to the Modi-Annamalai combo's ideological battle which often crossed the line of political decency and also challenged 'Tamil pride', argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Kerala, West Bengal and Delhi are proceeding towards a third peak.
More than 6.5 crore vaccine doses have been administered across the country so far to frontline workers, healthcare workers, those above 60 and for people aged above 45 with specified co-co-morbid conditions.
The Centre on Tuesday extended the nationwide COVID-19 containment measures till October 31 in view of localised spreads of the virus in a few states and the disease continuing to be a public health challenge in the country.
Amid the ongoing row over appointment of an acting chief secretary.
The home ministry noted that it took a number of steps to ensure adequate and uninterrupted supply of essential medical oxygen as well as life-saving drugs, including remdesivir.
The Centre has asked states and union territories witnessing surge in new COVID-19 cases and high active caseload to continue with the strategy of 'test, track and treat' that had yielded rich dividends at the height of the pandemic and accelerate vaccination for priority population groups in districts reporting higher infections on mission mode.
It noted that the government could not accurately anticipate the gravity of the possible resurgence of the pandemic and its subsequent waves.
Deaths are significantly less in the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic in comparison to the second wave, and the current surge is not witnessing increase in severe illness or death following high vaccination uptake, the government said on Thursday.
Officials said security personnel, including those from paramilitary forces, have been deployed to keep a strict vigil. Security at inter-state and inter-district borders has also been tightened, they said.
Gujarat Police have registered an FIR on charges of murder and attempt to murder against 10 personnel of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) after they fired at an Indian fishing boat in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast, killing a crew member and injuring another, an official said on Monday.
A dry run for COVID-19 vaccination will be conducted by all state and union territory administrations on January 2 to test the linkages between planning and implementation and to identify the challenges, the Centre said on Thursday.
In an open letter, they appealed to her to convey their concerns to the Union government and caution them that the attempt to change the character of the civil services is fraught with extreme danger and will 'spell the death of the constitutional government in India'.
The nearly month-long monsoon session is likely to have 20 sittings and would conclude before Independence Day.
Modi will unfurl the national flag and deliver the customary address to the nation from the ramparts of the historic monument.
The bills that repeal and replace the Indian Penal Code, Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act will usher in a new era in the criminal justice system, Home Minister Amit Shah said
More than 31 per cent of the country's adult population has been administered both the doses, according to Union Health Ministry officials.
Vardhan emphasised on how the Indian traditional system of medicine has also contributed substantially in boosting the immunity of general population during COVID-19.
Insurance regulator Irdai on Monday said health insurance policies that cover Covid treatment costs will also cover expenses for treating infections due to Omicron. "All health insurance policies issued by all general and health insurance companies that cover treatment costs of Covid-19 also cover the costs of treatment towards Omicron variant of Covid-19 as per terms and conditions of policy contract," the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said in a release. The regulator has issued the directive to general and health insurers in view of the growing number of cases of the Omicron variant.
The Union cabinet has given its nod for the revision of salary and allowances of lieutenant governors of Union Territories and it will be on a par with that of the secretary to the government of India, an official statement said.
Rulers in New Delhi and their political aides in sensitive states like Tamil Nadu have to be doubly careful not to provoke a situation whose consequences may be much more than visible now to the naked eye, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Violation of the ban will invite punitive action, including a fine or a jail term or both, detailed under Section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA) and under bylaws of respective municipal corporations, they said. For effective enforcement of the ban, national and state-level control rooms have been set up and special enforcement teams formed to check illegal manufacture, import, stocking, distribution, sale and use of banned SUP items, officials in the ministry said.
'but the terrorism issue should be fair, square at the centre of the conversation. It is the major issue ... I am not saying there are no other issues. But I am not going to duck that issue for the sake of talking'
It was a tough negotiation and the consensus on the declaration was a great achievement by India, European sources said on the condition of anonymity.
The Supreme Court on Monday said it will decide "once and for all" the legal issue of whether the earlier apex court judgment laying down procedures for the appointment of the director general of police (DGP) in states will also be applicable to Delhi and other cities.
As the country battles the second wave of COVID-19, the government Thursday said the virus may emerge again and so preparations have to be made at the national level in collaboration with states, infrastructure needs to be ramped up while curbs and appropriate behaviour must be followed.
The query was put to the Centre by a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli which during the hearing said the central government has to either show some justification for this or "make amends" now that the situation has been brought to its attention.