Those who have studied Assam elections say the high turnout has the Congress worried.
The Congress has been attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party government on the defence deal, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of causing loss to the state exchequer by buying the fighter jets at inflated rate.
'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.'
Polling for three parliamentary seats and 29 assembly constituencies were held on October 30, an exercise being seen as a barometer of the political mood in the country ahead of assembly elections in politically critical Uttar Pradesh as well as other states.
Its economy dependent on tourist arrivals, the hill state is looking at a summer of discontent. Not that the rest of the year promises to be any different. Ashwani Sharma reports from Shimla.
Seeking to wriggle out of the FATF's grey list, Pakistan has imposed tough financial sanctions on 88 banned terror groups and their leaders, including Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Dawood Ibrahim, by ordering the seizure of all of their properties and freezing of bank accounts, a media report said.
'Having dealt with security and insurgency for 15 years, I am fully convinced that the steps taken by the government in regard to J&K and the measures in force there are essential,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Naming the Bandra-Worli sea link after former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi has spawned a political controversy, with Opposition Sena-BJP demanding that it be named after Veer Savarkar and CPI rooting for it to be named after legendary Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre.
Though dubbed as the 'war hero', the role of Rajapaksa in ending the conflict with the LTTE with the death of its supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran in 2009 is quite divisive as he stands accused of violating human rights, a charge he vehemently denies.
Participating in a debate on 'British Opportunity in India and Indian Investments in the United Kingdom,' Lord Navnit Dholakia said, "Bilateral trade is impacted by our own visa regime." Drawing attention towards the difficulties faced by Indian businessmen in obtaining visas, Dholakia said, "We should make sure that business visitors and senior providers are facilitated to travel to the UK to explore business opportunities and business contracts.
In terms of electoral fortunes, in all likelihood, the status quo is not going to change in any significant manner. These six seats from Bihar are unlikely to give any clear signal to UPA, NDA or Federal Front.
While Prakash Karat was re-elected as the general secretary of the CPI-M, veteran leaders Jyoti Basu and Harkishen Singh Surjeet will no longer be part of the party's politburo, but will stay on as senior figureheads. West Bengal ministers Nirupam Sen and Mohammed Amin, and Kerala home and tourism minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan are the new members in the politburo.
Trudeau's first bilateral visit to India was hit by a controversy over the dinner invitation to Atwal by the Canadian high commissioner in New Delhi.
India-Vietnam relationship has its own imperatives and dynamism. In India's look east policy Vietnam has been the major pivot, at least in terms of security and strategic imperatives, says Rup Narayan Das.
'To ascribe motives to the actions of the state government at such an early stage of police investigation will be counter-productive,' says former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole.
Addressing a party rally at Irutty near Kannur, Karat said a convention of the Left parties and their farm outfits would be held in New Delhi on August 26 to discuss the implications of the agreement and would work out the course of campaign. Karat said the government was now finding it convenient to go full steam ahead with its 'liberal' agenda which it could not do while it survived on the outside support of the Left.
'Modi is the first BJP leader to try to include Dalits in its fold.' 'But the rank and file of his party is backward and want to bash up Muslims and Dalits whenever they have a chance.'
Modi may take satisfaction from his display of considerable political skill in managing a mercurial, temperamental and unpredictable US president and nudging him into uncharacteristic restraint and even carefully orchestrated remarks. This personal chemistry will come in handy if Trump returns as president in the November elections, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
The situation in Sri Lanka, where thousands of Tamil civilians are trapped in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam's strongholds, permeated the 45-minute discussion on Monday between United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon. This was the first high-level interaction between India and the Obama administration in Washington.
'The violence that shook Assam was a direct outcome of the state's ethnic problem... The tension that created a rift between the Bodos and the non-Bodos for years found a blood-spattered expression.' Former NSG chief Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary, the Trinamool Congress candidate from Kokrajhar, speaks to Indrani Roy/Rediff.com about last week's carnage in Assam.
'We have also been very, very clear with the government that the purpose of fighting terrorism is to bring the benefits of a democratic government to the people,' US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said. The US feels the Sri Lankan government 'hasn't worked hard enough to bring that democratic government to the people of the area and frankly, to the Tamil community in Sri Lanka.'
'For the moment in Eastern Ladakh, it is unlikely there will be any more escalation of this conflict,' observes Colonel S Dinny (retd) who served as Commanding Officer of an infantry battalion deployed in the Pangong Tso area.
Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting in Parliament House, she also attacked the governor of the state, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, saying he had acted in an "unprecedented and reprehensible manner".
The Obama administration has shelved the idea of launching a massive military evacuation of nearly 200,000 Tamil civilians trapped in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam strongholds, sources have told Rediff India Abroad.
India should do what we can to ensure that our two friends do not get into a confrontation that is meaningless and ultimately damaging to everyone including us.
In an exclusive interview with rediff at his New Delhi residence this week, former Union Home Secretary G K Pillai categorically stated, "Smaller states have the advantage of effective administration as well as speedy development."
In a few years from now, India will be looking at an entirely different type of military adversary across the borders, in our waters, in the air, in space and in our communication networks, says Nitin Pai.
'We took the initiative after Balakot and continued to hold it, forcing Pakistan to react.' 'This was not the case in the Kargil conflict.' 'At that time we 'reacted' to Pakistan's actions,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
On the verge of annihilation, the Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam announced an unilateral ceasefire on Sunday, saying that that the humanitarian crisis in Sri Lanka's war zone can only be overcome by a truce, but the Lankan government quickly rejected the offer and instead asked the rebels to surrender.
Did Vinod Sehgal die in Tsangdgar or was he taken PoW to Tibet or China? Why has the IAF kept so quiet for all these years, asks Claude Arpi.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Rajapaksa and said he looks forward to further deepen relations between the two nations.
'We might have been better prepared to deal with the pandemic had so much time, attention and money not gone into welcoming one of the stupidest men on the planet.'
The MEPs said they stand by India in its fight against terrorism.
'The loose use of words like foreigner or Bangladeshis obscures the fact that the post-Partition migration to Assam has been of both Hindus and Muslims.'
India has no compelling reason to grant his request for asylum but was unduly inhibited in raising its voice against the United States' extensive and vulgar intrusion into the privacy of its institutions and citizens, says Shyam Saran
'Nanda Devi is not an easy mountain to climb.'
'Until India fully absorbs the fundamentals of international relations, it will continue to get evil for good,' says Brahma Chellaney.
The United States Educational Foundation in India invites applications for its Partnerships for Learning Undergraduate Studies.
India is committed to further developing friendly and cooperative relations with China, says Parrikar in Beijing.
'Growth is predicated on the misery of large sections of people.' 'Maybe Hindutva will be used to suppress any such unrest.'
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