Former NSA Shivshankar Menon said the defence minister did not have a right to voice his personal opinion on nuclear policy in public, particularly when that opinion contradicted the country's official policy.
'Mr Trump is too capricious to be trusted,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
United States President Barack Obama said goodbye to his nation in an emotional address enriched with wisdom and optimism.
BJP won 18 of the seats while the TMC won 22 of the seats.
Polls opened at 7 am local time and would close at 5 pm with some 12,845 polling stations being set up throughout the country for 15.9 million voters, who will choose a successor to President Maithripala Sirisina.
Pranab Mukherjee inspected the fleet along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi from aboard the INS Sumitra.
'Unlike the Chinese army that has been largely a peace time force, the Indian Army is a battle hardened force,' explains Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'... That they should emerge as role-models to be emulated by the fellow countrymen; and that the middle classes should not stick only to hate-filled and scornful criticism and condemnation against the state of affairs,' remembers Mohammad Sajjad.
'That the terrorists could still kill three security personnel, including men of the Defence Service Corps, indicates highly trained men are being sent across the border,' says national security expert Nitin A Gokhale, founder, BharatShakti.in
'As she was dragged off the yacht, the princess cried, "I won't go back to the UAE, just kill me now!"' 'She hasn't been heard of since then.' 'Perhaps she is dead.' 'If so, Modi's government has blood on its hands,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
In the last three years, 340 defence personnel have been killed inside and outside the country, the Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said 27 Indian Army troops have been killed in ceasefire violations across the Line of Control in the last 10 years and 523 such violations have taken place in the past three years.
Poland, which currently holds the council's rotating presidency, has listed the matter for discussion at 10 am on Friday, the diplomats were quoted as saying.
The list, according to media reports, also features reducing ties with Iran and closing a Turkish military base.
Aman Kumar Sharma from Himachal Pradesh, an Indian national, was among the 11 crew members of a ship freed after being held hostage for nearly four years by Somali pirates, with a top United Nations official calling for the release of all remaining captives.
Nelson Mandela's remains arrived in his childhood village in eastern South Africa on Saturday for a traditional burial on Sunday, bringing down the curtain on 10 days of national mourning and memorial events for the anti-apartheid icon.
Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh claims that ISI got hold of bin Laden in 2006 after paying bribes to some of the tribal leaders
A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Tuesday
'Imagine for a moment that the Coast Guard was unable to stop the vessel and it reached Porbandar with its cargo/personnel and targeted the event at which the prime minister was present,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A secret document provided by National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden reveals that only 1 billion of the 1.35 intercepts that the US snooped on are terror related, the rest a breach of privacy. Vicky Nanjappa reports
The searches are linked to suspected movement of hawala money during the ongoing polls season and tax evasion, they said.
Indian Army officers, serving and retired, will tell you that the one thing that makes the Indian soldier singularly unique is his josh and jazba.
Glimpses of Republic Day celebrations across the country.
'Whether it is the One Belt One Road project or building relationships in the Indian Ocean Region -- supposedly our area of concern -- the Chinese are seriously outpacing us,' points out Vice-Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
From devising a seat-sharing formula for the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar for the 2019 Lok Sabha election to wooing young voters, the former poll strategist has ensured his position as number 2 within the party.
Security has been beefed up in the national capital with thousands of Delhi police and paramilitary personnel keeping a hawk-eyed vigil in the city to thwart any possible threats in the run-up to Independence Day later this week.
The processes that create a seven per cent-plus GDP growth rate without a similar growth in jobs are far from fully understood, says Ajit Balakrishnan.
Arnold Palmer, one of golf's greatest players whose immense popularity drew a legion of fans known as "Arnie's Army" and helped propel the game just as television was coming of age, died on Sunday at age 87, the US Golf Association and golf media reported.
Debanjan Ballav, a student of Sanskrit College and member of Left radical United Democratic Students Front, told reporters that it was Babul Supriyo who had threatened and abused him when he wanted to speak of the concerns about lakhs of people who were rendered homeless due to the National Register of Citizens' exercise in Assam.
The Congress on Monday took a swipe at the National Democratic Alliance government over its proposed move to give a quiet burial to the United Progressive Alliance dispensation's controversial move to order a probe into the Snoopgate affair, saying it was "quite natural" after the change of guard at the Centre.
Is a martyred soldier just a statistic? Our nation, a great civilisation, a great culture has to learn to respect and feel oneness with its soldiers, says Tarun Vijay.
President Ram Nath Kovind presents the President's Colours to the Ladakh Scouts Regimental Centre today, August 21. These are normally presented to units that distinguish themselves consistently over decades. The Ladakh Scouts became a regular army regiment only in June 2001 after its stunning performance in the Kargil conflict, notes Ajai Shukla.
Till date, 107 elections to states and three parliamentary polls have been smoothly conducted using the EVMs.
'Does it mean that we are witnessing the end of an era?' 'Probably not, but the post-Trump trade war has certainly brought a lot of instability in China,' notes Claude Arpi.
Even as France mourns the bloodiest terrorist attack for 20 years, let's take a look at some major standoffs witnessed in the past:
Addressing a 'nukkad sabha' in favour of Congress nominee Rakesh Sachan in Fatehpur, the Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh said, "The issue of patriotism is raised whenever elections come, but the real questions on farmers, unemployed, women safety are left behind."
For the first time in 25 years since the start of militancy in Kashmir, the separatists have not called for a general strike on Martyrs' Day on Monday in view of the fasting month of Ramzan.
'The autonomy of essential institutions is clearly under question as the Modi government seeks to influence them politically.' 'The credibility of institutions such as the EC, the CBI, the CVC, the UPSC, the RBI, media, and universities, has been compromised,' notes Zoya Hasan, the distinguished political thinker.
'A sense of purpose is lacking in India's diplomacy.' 'This is what happens when foreign policy becomes the stuff for grandstanding before the domestic audience,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Gandhi was ambivalent about the RSS; the Sangh, for their part, actively distrusted him.'
BJP's total silence on Delhi statehood is intriguing.
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