Farmers gathered at several national highways, key roads and some railway tracks in Punjab and Haryana on Friday morning as part of their nationwide protest against the Centre's new agri laws.
'As Indians, we should be claiming and celebrating 'Bhartiyata' rather than seeking commitment to beliefs which are divisive and exclusionary.'
Life in Mumbai was on Wednesday slowly coming back on tracks as rains subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services.
Authorities said social media posts will be monitored to ensure that no attempt is made to vitiate the atmosphere.
Thackeray would be taking over as chief minister more than a month after results of the Maharashtra Assembly elections were declared on October 24.
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
Non-BJP chief ministers are retaliating. If the Centre can use its agencies to threaten, intimidate and jail its rivals, so can they. The fightback will get more intense, observes Shekhar Gupta.
This will add to the woes of the conglomerate that had received a show-cause notice from the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) last week for alleged over-valuation of imported machinery by Rs 2,000 crore.
Ahead of the assembly elections, the saffron allies may be ecstatic over the swelling, but it's a double-edged sword with many older leaders wondering what they have got after putting in years of hard work, reports Radhika Ramaseshan
His nomination was announced by the outgoing President, Anthony Wreford, at the MCC Annual General Meeting at Lord's in May this year.
The actor said he would like to continue contributing in his small way to causes he believes in and to "make India stronger and stronger".
He also picked that knock over the monumental 375 and 400 not out against England, and he had his reasons.
Vijay Patil, has appealed to incumbent MCA and NCP chief Sharad Pawar to withdraw from the contest.
In Tamil Nadu, Divya Nair encounters jallikattu, a ban on colas and a water shortage.
'Amid the frequent cries that the defence budget falls short of what is needed, we tend to ignore the reality that any enhancement in the allocation is just not possible, and the armed forces have no option but to operate within this constraint.' 'So, unless deadwood -- especially manpower -- is identified and eliminated, we simply cannot have a modern military of the type that India needs,' says Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'2,000 years later, we all want the same thing -- we want to live a healthy life, a life that has quality.' 'And Chanakya tells you exactly how to do that.'
Future conflict will involve bypassing of frontiers to strike at critical vulnerabilities directly and in the hinterland at the appropriate time, explains Lieutenant General Anil Chait (retd), who served as chief of the Integrated Defence Staff and Central Army Commander.
'Noise pollution is a health issue, it is not a religious issue.'
The political-electoral calculus favours spending thousands of crores on vanity projects like Sardar Patel's statue and the Central Vista over building up our military to handle the confrontations and conflicts that loom large, points out Ajai Shukla.
India's national security strategy needs to be revised periodically since the global and regional geopolitical situation is dynamic, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
The MNS -- which aggressively compelled a ban on employing Pakistani actors and others in Bollywood last year -- has been subdued in comparison after a Marathi manoos was sentenced to death in Pakistan.
Notwithstanding how the current impasse is solved, at some point in the future, Russia will realise that just as centuries ago it developed the paradigm of securing its heartland's safety through annexing vast buffer zones between itself and the enemy, a more modern security is possible only through friendly relations and sustainable peace, observes Shyam G Menon.
The leaked documents include details of submarine's underwater sensors, above-water sensors, combat management system, torpedo launch system and specifications, communications system and navigation systems.
We mourn the passing of Admiral J G Nadkarni, who passed into the ages on Monday. The admiral -- one of the finest officers to head the Indian Navy and a most remarkable human being -- was one of Rediff.com's earliest columnists. His assessment of why India won the 1971 War is a classic and we republish the column today to celebrate his brilliant mind and salute an office and gentleman, the likes of who we will not see again.
'It is a testing time for our foreign policy which may involve a certain element of taking risks, assessing costs, and expecting failures,' asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'These days, you could give the money to your maid or the person who comes to collect your garbage or your watchman; they are struggling to make ends meet.' 'You could help a friend whose business is at risk due to the lockdown and the struggling economy.' 'Even if you lend money to someone in this crisis, it will be more useful to the economy than parking your money in some government fund,' says Praful Nikam.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis faces the challenge of ensuring that Dalits and Muslims -- who are likely to be most affected by the beef ban -- do not drift away towards the opposition.
Admiral D K Joshi was to have served as naval chief till July 2015. Had he completed his full tenure, then Vice Admiral Satish Soni, currently Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy's smallest command, the Southern Naval Command, would have taken over as the next naval chief.
The fever of banning meat spread on Thursday with such directives being issued in Rajasthan, Jammu and Kashmir and Ahmedabad.
Instead of taking the moral high ground and resorting to a ban, the government should've turned the screws on dance bars by enforcing the licence conditions, says Anil Singh.
10 central trade unions have called a nationwide shutdown against 'anti-worker policies' of the central government. Apart from being successful in Bengal, Kerala and NE states, the bandh has also got support from Cong leader Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.
There have been other several instances where women have stood up and taken on eve teasers and molesters. Rediff.com lists a few such cases where the victims have fiercely fought back.
The PM will pay a two-day visit to Japan from October 28-29 to hold the annual India-Japan summit with Abe. The focus of the visit will be to further expand cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, carry out joint infrastructure projects in third countries and further boost ties key sectors like defence and trade.
Bhilar, a strawberry farming hub in Maharashtra, has been transformed into India's first 'books village'.
'It was almost as though there was widespread relief that the defence bureaucracy, and the minister, could find someone willing to shoulder the blame for everything that had gone wrong with the services under Antony's charge -- the poor preparedness of the forces, slow acquisitions caused by indecision, cancellation of contracts and whimsical blacklisting of defence contractors over the tiniest suspicion that they may have paid speed money or kickbacks.'
The conservative bureaucracy that influences the political masters is clearly not concerned with the vision documents prepared by defence chiefs to bring India's military into a state of preparedness, says Seema Mustafa
'Admiral D K Joshi's resignation is certainly an example worthy of emulation by anybody who is in a leadership role. Unfortunately, over the last 30, 40 years, I can think of very few politicians or bureaucrats who could be termed real "Leaders". Without leaders, where will there be leadership?' asks Vice Admiral P J Jacob (retd), former Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
'You can't make the poor rich overnight.' 'Nor can you fly millions in planes.' 'But remember that word: Empathy.' 'Who in the BJP is speaking in that language to these millions?' 'Someone putting an arm of understanding, warmth, comfort around them?', asks Shekhar Gupta.
A Rediff reader recently travelled to Bihar's remote naxal effected district of Jamui... to attend a wedding! Snapshots from an unforgetful journey
