The year is coming to an end and overall, it's been one hell of a year! We have had our share of ups and downs and we look forward to a better 2020. While we count down the days to the new year, let's also reflect on those who gave us strength to stand up in what we believe, the courageous who didn't bow down and the ones with gumption who inspired us to be better. We, Rediff.com, have selected 26 personalities, who we think are worthy of the title -- HERO OF THE YEAR -- and we want you, dear readers, to choose your hero!
Carter has said India's designation as a 'major defence partner' would allow the US to cooperate with it --
The Supreme Court and its committees, the two states and the central government must become objective and take the present and not just the past in mind.
There are signs of China's external behaviour becoming more aggressive in the coming years. If that happens, strategic implications for neighbours having territorial disputes with China can become deeper and imperatives can rise for the former to counteract, says D S Rajan
Considering the common linkages, high-level trust, complementarities, and convergent interests between the two nations, Malaysia has the potential to become India's key partner in Southeast Asia, says Dr Rahul Mishra.
Seeking to boost the strategic ties, India and the US finalised the text of the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement.
From early indications, the Modi government's foreign policy seems to be pragmatic and reciprocal, says K G Suresh.
'If an 'informal meeting' with Xi Jinping materialises before the SCO summit in June, that itself could be regarded as a significant breakthrough in India-China relations,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Police on Wednesday brought former Star India CEO Peter Mukerjea face to face with his wife Indrani and the two other accused in the Sheena Bora murder case and questioned them extensively.
'Very few are lionised like Dhoni anywhere in the world, perhaps not even Messi,' says Dhruv Munjal.
Right from conducting nuclear deterrence patrols in 2015 to its destructive space programme, from its back-tracking on economic commitments to its hardened positions on Sino-India border deal -- its approach with India spells Adversarial with a capital A, says Shehzad Poonawalla
The joint statement issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Barack Obama's first-ever summit is high on intent and ambition. Notably missing from the statement is India's refusal to be America's partner in its war against ISIS.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoys a close relationship with Shinzo Abe. For Abe, "a strong India is in the best interest of Japan, and a strong Japan is in the best interest of India."
Indrani is easily the most striking woman arriving in the court complex from jail on trial days. For those who don't know who she is, there is absurd puzzlement written large on faces when they bump into her. When she reaches or leaves the premises, one notices heads swivelling in jaw-dropping curiosity, as did a pair of transsexual undertrials who crossed her path at the last hearing of 2018, who were, not surprisingly, a less unusual sight than Indrani.
Modi's arrival has changed the optics of the visit. There is a different demonstration of the confidence level in the Indian leadership, but not much has changed beyond that, reports Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com.
A simple explainer to the Indus Water Treaty.
Describing Bangladesh as an 'exceptional neighbour', India on Friday said Modi's 'historic' visit there from Saturday will help the two countries.
US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter will sign a fresh 10-year defence framework agreement with India on Wednesday
'India is no longer the India of the '70s and the '80s.' 'It's a large country with the fastest growing economy.' 'In working with India, you just can't go and humiliate the nation publicly.' USIBC President Mukesh Aghi tells Aziz Haniffa/Rediff.com about how he advises American companies to do business with India, what he thinks of Modi's government and the way forward for the India-US relationship.
52 world leaders, including Narendra Modi, will attend this week's Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC. Obama will meet separately only with the Chinese president.
The United States has asserted that it will continue to gather foreign intelligence, which it argued is essential to keep the nation and allies safe, amid report that National Security Agency monitored the phone conversations of 35 world leaders.
'I like him as a person, and as a politician.'
The 19th edition of the Malabar naval exercise saw the Indian, US and Japanese maritime forces participated jointly in the routine.
Driven from its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria, Islamic State is down but not out. Where once they confronted armies, the extremist Islamist group's adherents have now staged hit-and-run raids and suicide attacks. In some cases, the group has claimed responsibility for atrocities, including the bombings of churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed at least 253 people. Its involvement is not always proven, but even if the link is ideological rather than operational, Islamic State still poses a security threat in many countries.
Western businesses and diplomats in Delhi privately say Modi's reputation as a man of action has been hurt by setbacks on economic reform.
'For over a decade, the United States has been shaping the contours of Hinduism. It has been doing this from the perspective of upper caste and conservative interests,' Professor Shefali Chandra tells Rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
China's official media on Thursday warned India against using the Dalai Lama "card", saying New Delhi should stop behaving like a "spoilt kid"
'Instead of isolation, India should respond militarily to every act of terrorism assessed to have come from across the border, unilaterally declare Pakistan a State that supports terrorism and cease all economic dealings with it.'
Thailand's importance to India's Act East policy is too significant to be overlooked.
'It is unrealistic to expect that security dilemmas and strategic distrust to disappear or even diminish any time soon,' says Rup Narayan Das.
Both nations have to find ways to be sensitive to each other's politico-strategic and economic concerns, say Dr Rahul Mishra and Sana Hashmi.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to India is a time for the two countries to get away from the haze of rhetoric and stale euphoria, says Sana Hashmi.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Issues related with intellectual property rights, including piracy of films and software, figured prominently during the India-US CEO Forum in New Delhi attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama.
'The regional context and the personal ties between Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to a large extent contributed to this dawn of a new era in bilateral relations,' says Srikanth Kondapalli.
India on Monday voiced its concern to China over its plan to build a multi-billion dollar Economic Corridor to Pakistan through POK, even as it assured Beijing of its commitment to consolidate strategic bilateral ties.
'India's military posture has become significantly stronger than China's on the 3,500-kilometre Line of Actual Control.' 'This is enhancing confrontation between the two sides,' points out Ajai Shukla.
Without proper files, approaching the court isn't quite helpful.
Vietnam is a key player in India's act east policy under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. From India's perspective, a strategic partnership with Vietnam will only deepen political, economic, and security ties and be a bulwark against China, say Melissa S Hersh and Dr Ajey Lele
India has never sought Dawood's extradition, the Pak high commissioner has said.
