'Like General Patton, possibly the greatest exponent of the art of war, Vajpayee had the ability to be always on the offensive,' assesses Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Under fire for the Badaun gangrape and murder of 2 sisters, Uttar Pradesh government on Monday shifted Principal Secretary (Home) Anil Kumar Gupta.
Speaking at a tri-service seminar on the 1965 India-Pakistan war in New Delhi, Indian Army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag said, "The military needs to be ready for short wars, as the borders are live with frequent ceasefire violations and infiltration bids by Pakistan."
'Why does Mr Modi only attack Nehru from the Dynasty?' 'At one level, it is pure politics,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
'The Kerala saga also requires a reappraisal of Nehru himself. 'The real Nehru is to be found somewhere between the syrupy panegyrics on him and the demonisation of him that is currently happening,' says Ambassador MK Bhadrakumar.
While Agarwal said the government was trying to change character of the country, his other party colleagues said the names of persons 'who have made no contribution to the freedom struggle' are being given.
'I tried to think of a hero, who can inspire. I felt the most inspiring living hero for our children is Dr Kalam. He was a true leader, a true hero.' Nila Madhab Panda tells us why he made I Am Kalam.
Tandon also assured of a high level probe into the multiple deaths, headed by the principal secretary. An action will be taken after a due report is taken out.
It is bound to fail like the earlier ones, again causing Pakistan enormously more damage than to India, points out Shekhar Gupta.
On Dr Homi J Bhabha's 110th birth anniversary, Dr K S Parthasarathy shares some personal memories of the legendary nuclear scientist.
'In the first elections, Hindutva forces got only 6% of the votes and won only 10 seats.' 'It was a great defeat for them.' 'They have held that grouse against Nehru since then.'
'I don't know who is deciding Indian foreign policy today. I don't know who is deciding how India deals with Pakistan,' former Union minister Ram Jethmalani takes on the Modi government.
"The prime minister is afflicted with an unhealthy mindset," Sharma said.
'The purported jitters of the ministers under Modi, the intriguing part is that the stories churned out by the rumour mill have not so far been denied. For aught I know, they may not be true. Or, if true, all that Modi intended was to subject his ministers to a process of grooming to ensure that all of them adhere to a uniform code of propriety, discernment and credibility,' says the distinguished civil servant B S Raghavan.
At All India Institute of Medical Sciences, critically ill dengue patients are being treated on stretchers in corridors due to absence of beds.
"Yes, We Can," chanted Narendra Modi, as he borrowed United States President Barack Obama's iconic 2008 poll campaign slogan to fire up his audience largely comprising youth at a public meeting in Hyderabad.
Government on Friday hit out at Congress, saying the term "Hindu terrorism" coined by its previous government had "weakened" the fight against the scourge by diverting the direction of probe into the incidents of terrorism.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and BSP supremo Mayawati will descend on Varanasi on Saturday making it their battleground ahead of the last phase of Uttar Pradesh polls, a schedule that has put the administration on its toes.
'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.
'Savarkar was the closest the RSS had to a freedom movement icon, however flawed.' 'Indira Gandhi wasn't going to gift him to them.' 'And a non-career politician like Dr Singh understands it.' 'It is just that his party never listened to him,' says Shekhar Gupta.
Here's a look at some of the key contenders to be part of the Delhi Cabinet
'In old India, there was no hatred, anger or lynching. New India is one where humans are enemies of each other'
Tiwari's family had alleged that he was murdered at the behest of corrupt officers as he was about to expose a "scam" in the department of food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Bengaluru where he was posted as commissioner.
Farm loan waivers should not be regarded as expenditure but as incentive and investment, argues B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Modi-Shah BJP has resurrected dangers and the enemy from the past and built a scary jingoism. It's a great diversionary tactic but history shows it never ends well, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The names of several probables, including Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who had led the BJP government in the state in the past, were doing the rounds at the state party office.
'India's economic fundamentals are much too strong to be affected by his resignation,' says B S Raghavan.
'If development, investment, employment, implementation, credibility and commitment are ensured, security will automatically improve and subversive and militant elements will lose ground and be neutralised by the people themselves,' says B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan says government experience is viewed as important in some quarters, but he does not know if Rahul Gandhi joining the government after 2009 elections would have been better for Congress' prospects in the Lok Sabha polls.
'Even though he knew full well that the manipulation went against the facts as he knew them, Pillai nonchalantly contented himself with stating that since the file came from the minister himself, he just passed it on as it was,' says B S Raghavan.
Fifty-six days after she was summarily suspended by the Akhilesh Yadav government, Durga Shakti Nagpal, the young upright IAS sub-divisional magistrate of Greater Noida, was finally reinstated on Sunday.
'Modi, with his sharply honed political savvy and undoubted grasp of international affairs, is a past master at taking the measure of world leaders.' 'He would be the last person to think of the unpredictable and not too well-regarded Trump as the mediator,' says B S Raghavan.
Facing the threat of censure motion in Lok Sabha, Trinamool Congress member Kalyan Banerjee on Wednesday expressed regrets over his objectionable remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, over which BJP had strongly protested.
'She was once asked what the secret to political leadership was and she said it was the ability to like all kinds of people.' 'I don't think Rahul fundamentally likes people -- that's probably why he can't deal with them and it shows.' 'Sonia is a more talented political mobiliser than her son, but I think the decline of the Congress set in in 1969...'
'The downslide has been rapid leading up to the number one and number two of the organisation flinging against each other horrendous accusations of bribery and tampering with investigations for personal gain, and the latest petition to the Supreme Court by the joint director of the CBI, M K Sinha, opening a veritable Pandora's Box of repulsive skeletons,' notes B S Raghavan, the distinguished civil servant who witnessed the CBI's birth.
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh's supporters on Thursday clashed with the police over the move to evict him from the government residence in Delhi even as the Centre rejected his demand that the house be converted into a memorial to his father, former Prime Minister Charan Singh.
'There are enough funds to solve this problem.'
Nothing spawns the creation and perpetration of conspiracy theories more effectively than an official obsession with secrecy.
Accusing the Congress of failing the country's farmers and soldiers, Narendra Modi on Monday said the ruling party should be given such a "farewell" that India does not see it in power "for seven generations".
Vajpayee's ashes will be immersed in rivers in all the districts in Uttar Pradesh -- his karmabhoomi.
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