We present our alphabet of 2020, pulling in everything you'll remember about this year we'd rather forget.
Bhumi Pednekar, Radhika Apte, Manisha Koirala, Kiara Advani luminate Netflix's Lust Stories, notes Sukanya Verma.
Why are the 'secular' parties silent about the lynchings on our streets? Are they so busy forging political alliances that they ignore the numerous distortions of Constitutional values?
The Korean summit, laden with symbolism in everything from the choice of location to the mango mousse for dessert, could just be the first round in a continuing dialogue, says Dr Rajaram Panda.
Then chief minister Jyoti Basu once told an industrialist that capitalists were class enemies and he should expect no sympathy.
After objections raised by the defence forces, India rejected China's request for permission to allow its four warships to enter the Indian maritime zone to search for the missing Malaysian airliner.
'Once you set up a tweet-storm of vilification, labelling individuals anti-nationals, traitors, blasphemous, and foreign agents, you are creating enough justification for somebody with a gun to kill, or for a mob to lynch,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
'Islamic State has declared that the liberation of Islamic Xinjiang from China is an objective. Beijing may well find that Pakistan is unable to assist in any meaningful way,' says China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
Why did the Chinese military take over the lab in Wuhan in end January? Did something go wrong? Claude Arpi glances at the mystery surrounding the origin of the coronavirus.
The photo published by the People's Liberation Army Air Force showing a long-range strategic bomber flying within visible range of Yushan, Taiwan's highest mountain, has caused great concern in Taiwan amid debate about whether the mainland will reunify the island by force, state-run Global Times reported.
'After a strategic pause though, Beijing will revive its policy of slowly creeping towards acquiring sovereignty over the South China Sea.'
The defence ministry remains uncertain about spending billions of dollars on a carrier.
'If Murad's Mozziness doesn't strike us in the eye, if we see the film as a youth's struggle to break free of the shackles holding him back and not as a Muslim fighting the system, it is because not once in the film does Zoya show him blaming his religion for his low social status or struggle, a temptation many 'progressive' film-makers may have yielded to for it sounds so politically correct,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
A group of armed men in police uniform on Sunday attacked the Nabha Jail in Patiala and fled with five prisoners, including Khalistan Liberation Front chief Harminder Mintoo.
''This chief minister is so obstinate that he is ready to use the police to attain his goal.' 'Had he been more mature rather than obstinate, Kerala would not have reached a boiling point.'
'But Russia is well aware of Pakistan's nuisance power on its border.'
Some of the best photographs, clicked across the globe in January.
China's closer and enhanced relationship with Pakistan is putting considerable strain in India-China relations, says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
'China's moves are of direct significance to India, which will closely monitor Chinese naval activity in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean not least because of Chinese maps depicting claims over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.'
'When do you seek peace, if not now? Once both nations destruct?' 'Pakistanis are telling me how their perception changed about Indians after watching the video.'
'This is the only place on earth where Elephas maximus climbs to these heights.'
The index had risen over 585 points in the previous three sessions.
Why are students being forced to go abroad to study?
We sorted through countless photographs taken around the world to come up with the top photos of 2019. Together these images tell the story of the year -- capturing moments of hope and heartbreak, triumph and tragedy.
Scientist, humanist, icon, Albert Einstein offered a lot more to the world than E=MC2, which is probably just one of the reasons why he remains one of the most enduring figures in human history. So what lessons can we learn from a life less ordinary? Virender Kapoor tells us just that.
Madras Cafe is a swift, smart and serious study of an inglorious chapter of history, writes Sukanya Verma.
Israel and Hamas were on Thursday holding on to a renewed five-day ceasefire in Gaza that got off to a rocky start with Israeli air strikes in retaliation to rocket fire, as both sides agreed to give more time to talks to end the conflict that has claimed over 2,000 lives.
'As I went around Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Jaffna and Mannar, my mind went back to my visit in January 1990 at the fag end of the IPKFs mission in Sri Lanka,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'France's challenges revolve around an uncertain economic future, multiple terrorist attacks on French soil and a European migration crisis tied to the situation in Syria and Iraq.'
Syriza lawmakers walked the corridors telling reporters the government might not survive the night.
'It's okay to Twitter shame somebody, but what happens after that?' 'Most of these people, who were accused, are back at work now.' 'I want the movement to go on, I don't want the momentum to slow down.'
As China begins rejuvenation of its military power, there is an urgent need for transformation of the Indian military, says Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd).
'Pluralism is a fundamental fact of Indian life,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) tells members of the US Congress. 'Indians created a secular/plural State because that is what the majority believes in and not the other way round.'
India and Russia on Thursday decided to expand cooperation in various sectors as they signed 16 pacts, including on joint manufacture of 226 military helicopters.
According to convention, Lieutenant General Praveen Bakshi should be named as General Dalbir Singh Suhag's successor as army chief
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Friday made a historic visit to the former war zone of Jaffna to "shine a light on the chilling events" during the last phase of the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, hours after Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa cautioned against turning the Commonwealth into a "punitive and judgemental body".
China's obsession with exports and electronics assembly can also be attributed to having learned from the Singaporean textbook.
'The title of 'core' of the leadership gives Xi Jinping greater political authority at a time when China is beset by various problems as well as a slowdown in economic growth,' points out former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
An aggressive Pyongyang is likely to force Seoul and Tokyo to build nuclear deterrents and thus thwart Beijing's ambitions.
'The war against ISIS is what earned the Kurds global recognition of being some of the best fighters that overshadowed regular armies,' points out Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
