India successfully test-fired its indigenously developed nuclear capable sub-sonic cruise missile 'Nirbhay', which can strike targets more than 700 kms away, from a test range at Chandipur near Balasore in Odisha on Friday.
Heading G20 will give India a foreign affairs year like it has never had in history. You can trust Narendra Modi to exploit this to India's benefit. And, of course, to his own in his election year, explains Shekhar Gupta.
Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi's belated attempt to project himself as a statesman and a man of reason in his interviews to ANI and TV9 is being viewed with dollops of scepticism by his critics and political opponents. Anita Katyal reports.
'What if Kim is alive as the latest reappearance suggests, but unable to rule?' 'Will his sister be installed as the leader to continue with the Kims's hereditary dynasty that began with the present ruler's grandfather?' asks Dr Rajaram Panda.
Those who know Shiv Shankar Menon will vouch that he did lots of things, substantial in the immediate neighbourhood and widespread in South Asia, but without making things public. Twenty per cent of Menon's job was visible, while 80 per cemt of his job was not known to the public, says Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com
Inducted into Indian armed forces in 2003, the nine-metre-tall, single-stage liquid-fueled Prithvi II is the first missile to be developed by DRDO under India's prestigious Integrated Guided Missile Development Program.
Unveiling his second year agenda to a deeply divided Congress and nation, a bullish United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday used his first State of the Union address to appeal for bipartisanship on issues like immigration while pledging to tackle the Islamic State and a nuclear-armed North Korea.
DRDO's latest test towards developing an anti-ballistic missile shield, to protect Indian targets against nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles fired from Pakistan or China will provide a technology that is akin to striking a bullet with a bullet, say Ajai Shukla
"The army claims to need more nuclear weapons to deter India's superior conventional arsenal... It seems incapable of understanding that the real threat comes from the Taliban and other extremists," the New York Times reported.
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee said the challenges of terrorism and nuclear proliferation were inter-connected and 'alarming aspect' was the linkages that radical terror groups have forged with 'a few nuclear scientists'.
The sleek missile having 4000 km strike range is a two stage missile. It is 20 metre-long weighing 17 tonnes.
The choice before the next government is not between being a soft State and a tough State; it is between being a smart State and a dumb State, says former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
India must break out of this strategic triangulation between China and Pakistan. We need to settle our issues with one of the two, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Seconds into the test, the anti-ballistic missile deviated from its planned path and it quickly became clear that it would not hit the target.
There has been a considerable drop in India's dependence on arms and equipment from Russia but the Indian military cannot operate effectively without Russian-supplied equipment and will continue to rely on its weapons systems in the near and middle terms, a Congressional Research Service report has said.
India must be aware that there is no question of the US fighting the Chinese on land. We have to fight our own battles, points out Virendra Kapoor.
A new computer modeling study has suggested that a limited nuclear weapons exchange between India and Pakistan using their current arsenals could create a near-global ozone hole, triggering human health problems and wreaking environmental havoc for at least a decade. The study was led by University of Colorado at Boulder scientists Brian Toon and Michael Mills.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is expected to visit the US in April to attend a global Summit on nuclear security, a topic that is of immense interest to India considering apprehensions over safety of atomic arsenal in Pakistan and proliferation originating from there.
With 2016 officially behind us, let's look forward and speculate about the events, people and issues that will shape 2017.
'NSA Doval and the PM are known to admire Israel's tough response to cross-border terrorism.' 'However, New Delhi's situation is far more complex than Tel Aviv's, which enjoys military superiority over all its neighbours,' says Ajai Shukla.
INS Karanj is the third Kalavari-class submarine to be commissioned into the Navy. The diesel-electric submarines based on the Scorpene design are also referred as Scorpene class submarines.
Describing the launch of the sophisticated missile as a complete success, ITR Director M V K V Prasad said all the mission parameters were met during the trial. "The missile was randomly chosen from the production stock and the launch activities were carried out by the specially formed Strategic Force Command and monitored by scientists of Defence Research and Development Organisation as part of training exercise," sources said.
'The clique that runs that country is treating us like suckers. We are very foolish, giving people money who involve themselves in activity that's harmful to America.' 'When you look at the cold hard facts, Pakistan is not an ally to the United States. They have facilitated, they have encouraged, they have been a protector of enemies.'
'One must remember that a dragon has a forked tongue,' warns Vivek Gumaste.
India can help the US in insulating Pakistan's nuclear establishments and arsenal from terror attacks, believes B Raman
'The coming two months could unfold unpredictable results or unpredictable consequences or both at the same time,' says Rajaram Panda.
'Even if it is difficult to replicate Bangladesh, India can cause sufficient turmoil in Pakistan to keep it off balance,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
The Chinese air force is now a 400,000-person force that flies some 2,000 combat aircraft -- more than thrice the size of the Indian Air Force.
'Diplomatic engagement will continue even as India keeps all its options open with respect to discretely targeting the Pakistani military and its terrorist proxies.'
People like Dr Kalam teach us to dream and to chase our dreams. It is their humility that they wore on their sleeves that makes them truly great people. While we weep for a true Ratna that has left us on Monday, let us be happy that we lived in a period when he was alive and with us, says Rediff.com reader M C Sujil Bose.
'For India, the phase of pure restraint has passed.' 'Restraint has failed to reform Pakistan or rein in terrorism,' says Vivek Gumaste.
'While China has been hiking its defence spending, India has done precious little in implementing the Manmohan Singh government's decision of raising a 90,000-strong China-centric Mountain Strike Corps,' says Rajeev Sharma.
The most remarkable feature of these warships is that, tonne-for-tonne, they are not only one of the world's most heavily armed but also one of the cheapest.
Pakistan would want to take full advantage of the situation to direct Taliban trained terrorists into the Kashmir Valley, alert Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Crafting a coherent, transparent and consistent policy vis-a-vis our neighbours, leave alone the rest of the world, is unlikely to be high on the priority list of the new Indian government, which will be sworn in before June,' says Ramananda Sengupta.
'There is gradual rise in the number of nations viewing Pakistan as the nursery of global terror.'
'Despite much hype of optimism, everyone went home empty-handed without a clear picture where they are heading in the future,' notes Dr Rajaram Panda.
'India should be aware that China will take full advantage of US domestic turmoil and reduced international prestige,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
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.
