'It was felt that the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist grid is intact in the UT and these additional units that were sent in last year can be de-inducted giving them the much required rest, recuperation and training'
'All the government needs to do is to identify clear political and strategic objectives and to give the military planners a free hand,' asserts Ajai Shukla.
New risks have been identified, which include risk of non-compliance, business investment risk and legal regulatory risk.
The State Department in its report listed more than a dozen significant human rights issues for India. Prominent among them are unlawful and arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings perpetrated by police; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by some police and prison officials; arbitrary arrest and detention by government authorities; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; political and prisoners or detainees in certain states.
The security forces including army launched a counter-insurgency operation in Chancer area of Kulgam district on Friday night, following information about presence of ultras in the area, police officials said.
The Congress has promised to review and amend a host of laws, rules and regulations.
Lieutenant General B S Raju, who will take over as the new DGMO, handed over the charge of the strategic XV Corps of the Army, which guards the Line of Control in Kashmir Valley, to Lt Gen D P Pandey.
In line with exit poll predictions, the Bharatiya Janata Party has taken an early lead in Uttar Pradesh, after one hour of counting.
"We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like Al-Qaeda," the US president said in a statement.
'If the NSCN-IM is cold shoulderd, the chances are that it will slip back into insurgency,' caution Sandeep Pandey, Meera Sanghamitra and Babloo Loitongbam.
Pakistan dropped weapons and some cash in Indian currency using a drone in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh on Saturday said, announcing the arrest of three Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists who had picked up the consignment near the Line of Control.
An anti-insurgency operation was launched in the Tral area of Pulwama on Monday night following a brief exchange of fire between the terrorists and the security forces, a police spokesperson said.
"If I was the foreign minister, I would have had contact with them. I would have gone out of my way and told my intelligence agency to make a contact quietly," former external affairs minister Natwar Singh said.
The gunfight lasted for around one-and-a-half hour, following which the ultras disappeared into the dense forest.
They said the IED blast took place in the Chintalnar forest area of the district around 9 pm on Saturday and the injured personnel were evacuated by a Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the Indian Air Force around midnight.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described the security situation in the northeast as "complex" since insurgency, extortion and agitations continue to exist in the region.
Army personnel on Sunday recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from a militant hideout in a forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla District.
Putin is looking beyond the current regime in Kyiv. Of course, if the Western military assistance to Kyiv continues in any form, Washington knows that Russia will regard it as a hostile act and there will be severe consequences, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Army says such a move will seriously jeopardise surveillance over the country's sensitive border with China.
Terrorists and insurgents are increasingly acting together at the regional, national and global level. But we in India are not, points out B Raman
The US spent $1.5 million a day since 2001 fighting the opium war in Afghanistan. After hundreds of airstrikes failed to curtail the Taliban's $200-million-a-year opium trade, the US military quietly ended the campaign when the Trump administration officials engaged in direct peace talks with the Taliban, notes Atanu Biswas.
Sohan D Shira carried a reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head.
On his first visit to Srinagar post the abrogation of Article 370, Home Minister Amit Shah claimed that incidents of terrorism have declined and stone-throwing incidents too have ended in Jammu-Kashmir.
Ajai Shukla salutes the memory of Lieutenant General R M Vohra, Mahavir Chakra, who passes into the ages on Sunday.
'Under Doval, foreign powers traditionally suspicious of India were wooed.' 'Enemies were embraced.'
Delhi has come to accept the Taliban takeover in Kabul as a reality and seems increasingly unsure of its dogmatic view of the Taliban as a mere proxy of the Pakistani military and security establishment, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
An audio message has been released in Pushto, circulated by Taliban commanders, where Akhundzada said, "Taliban will never bow their heads and will not agree to peace talks," reports Dawn.
'Today with Taliban at our doorsteps literally, we can't even put up our national flag. Only Allah knows, what will happen to Afghanistan now'
The remarks by China's deputy permanent representative to the UN, Geng Shuang, came during an emergency meeting of the Security Council on the situation in Afghanistan on Monday after the sudden and rapid takeover of the Afghanistan government by the Taliban insurgents.
Former Indian diplomats on Monday termed the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan as a "setback" for India strategically, and asserted that the priority for New Delhi right now should be to evacuate its citizens from the war-torn nation.
"Articles 15(4) and 16(4) (dealing with provision for socially and educationally backward classes, and reservation) do not put any limit on the percentage of quota and there is no constitutional hurdle in increasing the same," Sharad Pawar said.
He was a decorated officer as he won combat competitions and participated in all-India police commando duty meets.
The Taliban's rise will see an increase in infiltration on India's western border and terrorist groups in Pakistan will get funding from the Taliban, warns Brigadier Rajamani Kannan (retd).
On the release of political leaders, the functionary said the administration is taking step-by-step decisions.
'By killing innocent people, they are using Sun Tzu's tactics of 'kill one, terrify thousands.'
The Taliban had promised an 'inclusive' government that represents Afghanistan's complex ethnic makeup, but there is no Hazara member in the cabinet.
For all of Sohn's efforts at reconciliation, Japan has had an awkward relationship with him and his legacy.
Terrorism has to be fought at its root of origination. Today we are just removing cobwebs but not killing the spider, asserts counter-insurgency expert Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Some commanders have refused to pledge allegiance to Akhundzada, according to interviews with Taliban commanders and officials.
One civilian was also killed after he caught in the crossfire.
