A summary of sports events and persons who made news on Friday.
The rains have so far been four per cent below normal.
'But India, increasingly, is not that far behind, which is a story I never expected to tell.'
'Bola nikal jao. Sala firing karte hai Russi.'
Colonel Anil Athale (retd) recalls how the Battle of Panipat, 258 years ago, changed the history of India for the next century and half.
As power generation across northern and western India bore the brunt of the coal scarcity, spot prices at IEX rose to Rs 10.8 a unit during August 25-27, compared with Rs 8.7 a unit on August 22.
'We spent Rs 59,000 crore on acquiring 36 Rafales and we do not know if we will ever use them. The chances are that we never will,' argues Aakar Patel.
The decision to not attend the forum attended by 28 heads of state and 130 national delegations is a clear break from its usual policy of going along with the crowd.
The soul of India resides in pluralism and tolerance. This plurality of our society has come through assimilation of ideas over centuries. Secularism and inclusion are a matter of faith for us. It is our composite culture which makes us into one nation.
The attackers were from well-known schools with Western curriculum for the children of the well-to-do in the city, not from any of the madrassas that are often termed as breeding grounds for militants.
'These are challenging times and we get energised by that.' 'I don't feel that 'I am tired now and I should relax', because even if someone calls us at 12 o'clock I have to answer his call.'
Nearly two million people die from mosquito-borne diseases every year. What are we doing about it?
'India appears to have stood its ground on strategic autonomy by resisting US pressure on Russia, China and Iran, but succumbed to the temptation to walk into a tighter embrace in defence cooperation, a high priority of the Trump administration,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Why did your generals try to grab a few square kilometres of Indian territory in Ladakh?' 'And what happened to the hard work that you and Prime Minister Modi put into the Wuhan and Mamallapuram meets?' Claude Arpi writes a letter to Xi Jinping, China's self-styled supreme leader, who turns 68 today, June 15.
The bone-chilling cold returned as the night temperature plunged below the freezing point across Kashmir division after a brief respite owing to the rains in plains and snowfall in high altitude areas early this week.
The MEA said it was the Chinese side that recently undertakook activities hindering India's normal patrols in the areas.
Dhiraj Deka talks to Tista Sengupta/Rediff.com on how designers still struggle to acquire original Silk fabric from the market and how his growing business has helped the weavers earn more and lead a better livelihood.
'Vigilance is the enemy of the virus.' 'We need to be alert all the time, about this, until we fully understand it.' 'And that's going to take years, actually.'
The Islamic State terror group may have developed a nuclear device by using radioactive uranium stolen from Iraq's Mosul University after seizing control of the city last June, according to a British media report.
More than 180 people have lost their lives and nearly one crore people were affected in floods in West Bengal, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Odisha.
Elephants in Kerala will soon have the luxury of 'ambulance' service to transport sick and injured jumbos.
'India shares the world's pain, but India's pain is not the world's.' 'Little that occurs here is even reported abroad,' notes Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
The agreement would divert China's attention and keep them busy in the Pacific theatre, probably resulting in a reduction in threat perception in our area of interest in the Indian Ocean, notes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
'Pakistan's trump card is that it is the only credible guarantor on the horizon who can reasonably assure the Western world that Afghanistan will not again become the revolving door for international terrorism.' 'Trust Pakistan to play this card optimally,' explains Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
In a sign of the growing political prominence of Hindus in America, the Trump and Biden campaigns are wooing this religious minority community like never before. Hinduism is the fourth largest faith in the US, representing approximately one per cent of the US population in 2016.
The module was in touch with foreign handlers, whose identity is yet to be established, NIA Inspector General Alok Mittal told reporters.
'But one of the important things to remember is that what we are seeing today in India -- the destruction of the forests, the opening up of the forests to mining companies.' 'It's a horrifying thing that's going on.' 'Yet, if you look at who owns the mining companies, you will see that almost always they are vegetarians!' 'They are people, who in their own lives would probably not even hurt an insect, but yet have no qualms about destroying an entire ecosystem.'
The news of the week gone by that shaped the world
35 others have been injured in the landslides and flashfloods triggered by torrential rains.
Switzerland topped the list of countries offering the highest salaries.
We bring you a collection of some of the best photographs taken this week by ace Reuters photographers.
'It is the regional parties and their leaders who are the ones we have to watch.'
The Tibetan nation still lives under the yoke of the Chinese Communist Party, and Beijing today has a guilty conscience; this creates a great uneasiness for Xi Jinping and his colleagues observes Claude Arpi.
The State Department last week issued a worldwide travel alert warning Americans that Al Qaeda may be planning attacks in August, particularly in the Middle East.
The IMD has said temperatures in most parts of the country from March to May would be 'above normal'.
Unless each attack drone can be neutralised, India will be literally deploying elephants to stamp out ants -- and the ants may still survive! points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
The 18-year-old youth, named Jake Bilardi, had previously made preparations to launch a string of attacks across Melbourne, including at shopping centres, cafes and foreign consulates, according to a blog he is believed to have written.
The government's negligence towards this 'treasure house of knowledge' can be seen from the fact that monkeys roam about freely in the reading rooms, disturbing the calm of the library, as well as putting the lives of the readers in danger, writes Sajad Ahmad Dar.
'The return of India to its own civilisational values can never endanger freedoms as pluralism is the bedrock of our culture,' assert Lieutenant General Ashok Joshi (retd) and Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
