Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced a Rs 745-crore package for renovation of houses and six major hospitals damaged by the recent unprecedented floods in Jammu and Kashmir.
More than 3,000 squads under health and local self-government departments have started the process of cleaning houses and public places, official sources said.
'Even though an India-China military conflict scenario seems unlikely, its possibility gets enhanced if our capabilities are seen to be inadequate by the adversary,' warns Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd).
'It is very important for Indian Americans to understand that we need to have as many seats at the table as we can get. I am going to see to it that I am going to get there," Kumar Barve, the longest-serving Indian-American legislator in America, tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com in an exclusive interview.
The US foreign and security policy establishment, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar, apprehends that Trump may compel them to exorcise the 'unipolar predicament', and bring foreign and security policies to reflect the desires and priorities of the American public.
The following is the full text of US President Donald Trump's first address to a joint session of the Congress on February 28, as prepared for delivery and released by the White House press office.
The Varanasi versus Azamgarh story is about the fears and insecurities of two of our strongest leaders, Narendra Modi and Mulayam Singh Yadav, says Sheela Bhatt.
Modi also said the people of India felt proud that President Xi has twice received him out of the capital.
'A dangerous and false binary is now surfacing in Indian political discourse, which must be firmly rejected.' 'It is that we have to choose between freedom and development.' 'For us freedom is neither merely an instrument for development nor to be subordinated to development.' 'It is, as our founding fathers proclaimed early in our freedom struggle, 'our birthright' on which we shall never compromise.' 'Growth, wealth and development are fruits of democracy, not substitutes.' Dr Manmohan Singh's thoughts on democracy: A Must Read!
A desire for captain Alastair Cook to be able to trust and rely on the support of all his players was behind the decision to end Kevin Pietersen's international career, said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
With almost 300 seats to the Lok Sabha being dominated by regional outfits, the Congress has added to the list by giving space to more regional forces in the Seema-Andhra and Telangana regions, says Saroj Nagi.
The whitefly outbreak has intensified a debate over GM crops just as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's office reviews a proposal to allow farmers to grow GM mustard.
'The biggest advantage for India was its seasoned and experienced political leadership who had spent decades struggling against the Raj and had spent years behind bars.' 'Not a single prominent leader of the Muslim League spent one day in jail.' 'Gandhiji, Nehru and Sardar Patel were intelligent, shrewd men with their hands on the popular pulse.'
George Bailey stepped down as Australia's Twenty20 captain on Sunday, saying that he wants to focus on his Test career.
Kirti Azad, a known detractor of Jaitley, egged on the Congress to seek a time-bound SIT probe.
US presidential aspirants Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders on Friday tried to woo minority Latino and African American voters as they sparred over issues like race and their records on immigration during a Democratic debate.
Rukh may be lit like a YouTube Short Film, and may have its share of other technical problems, but there's something disturbingly original about director Atanu Mukherjee's vision, Sreehari Nair feels.
Sunday's results may be a bitter pill that the Congress has to swallow -- that its future cannot be hitched to Rahul unless he can resonate with the people, feels Saroj Nagi.
Dr Swarnim Wagle, the official behind Nepal's reconstruction strategy, speaks to Patrick Ward.
'The provisions of the AFSPA must remain on the statute books given the increasingly violent and uncertain times.'
'The situation is in real danger of swinging back to the fearful days of the 1990s, primarily for want of a well thought out action plan in New Delhi.'
'The Left's decline is now a reality, both nationally and in West Bengal.'Behind it lie: Ideological rigidity and confusion, outdated party programmes... a socially conservative upper-caste leadership,' says Praful Bidwai.
The new government has to make conscious efforts to rebuild social equality and bring the people together.
Iraq war veteran and Democrat Manan Trivedi tried his luck for the third time, but was trounced by Republican Ryan Costello, the Chester county commissioner for Pennsylvania's open seat in District 6
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has said he regretted causing pain to people by not choosing the "right words" sometimes and uttering "wrong thing" even as his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton termed the statement as a mere "well-written phrase".
Trump, 70, took the oath of office in front of about 800,000 people who braved chilly weather to gather on the National Mall in the center of the capital to celebrate the rank political outsider, who defied all odds to defeat political heavyweight Hillary Clinton in the November polls.
White House said Trump strongly believed that protecting environment and 'promoting our economy are not mutually exclusive goals'.
If the Modi government is to keep its promise of change, it must bring in fresh faces.
About 90% of divorce cases end as a fight about alimony.
'Unity in diversity is a dated notion as India, today, is more unified and cohesive and yet more pronouncedly diverse than ever in its history,' argues Shekhar Gupta.
What happened in Uttarakhand is a national tragedy. Why couldn't Dr Manmohan Singh announce that he was forming an Uttarakhand Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, with himself as chairman but inviting Narendra Modi to become the deputy chairman, asks T V R Shenoy.
Since the US and India broadly share similar interests in Sri Lanka, they should coordinate closely to ensure that the country preserves its democratic institutions, says Lisa Curtis
Nitin Gadkari has seven portfolios, but does not seem weighed down at all by the many things on his plate. The minister is brimming with ideas...
The RSS realises that with a majority BJP government at the Centre and in several states, now was the best time to undermine and perhaps outdo the Congress-Left 'stranglehold' over campuses and young minds.
The positivity over Narendra Modi's election speech in Jammu is unanimous, but it comes with guarded optimism as many would like to wait and watch to see how the new government actually manages the 25-year-old issue, says Upasna Pandey
Two decisions handed down by the Supreme Court have spread gloom in Kerala as they have shaken two basic faiths of a majority of the people in the state, says T P Sreenivasan.
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The catalyst is the run on emerging market equities, but many investors are just tired of waiting for India to get its act together.
Gujarat Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has written a lengthy blog post to "share his harrowing ordeal" in the aftermath of the post-Godhra riots in 2002.
Glimpses of the final days of the 1965 War, as seen from the diary then defence minister Y B Chavan maintained during the war.
'No amount of economic measures or prosperity in Kashmir will make any dent in the situation there. The average Kashmiri understands the Pakistani game and is unlikely to prefer Pakistan over India. But the Pakistanis have made clever use of religious symbols and slogans to force religious-minded Kashmiris to support them. India has failed to counter this posturing by the separatists,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
