Here's a recap of events that occurred in India in the past 24 hours.
With banks struggling to cope with rush to get alternative currency, the government has extended use of old defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes for paying household utility bills, fuel, taxes and fees and purchases from co-operative stores till November 24.
Commuters were hit hard for the second day on Tuesday due to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's dharna in the heart of the capital with authorities shutting down four metro stations and buses being diverted.
'Will Pakistan allow R&AW and Indian armed force officers access to roam around their strategic bases?' 'Is there any precedent anywhere in the world of such permissions being granted?'
Foot-tapping music and soulful classical renditions rent the air as Republic Day celebrations culminated with the Beating Retreat ceremony in New Delhi where President Pranab Mukherjee rode the ceremonial buggy down the Raisina Hill on Sunday for the last time during his tenure.
India on Friday blamed Pakistan for an Islamabad court ordering release of Mumbai terror attack mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, saying Islamabad did not produce the evidence against him despite having enough of it.
'Dr Singh, visibly relieved, said, 'Yesterday night I couldn't sleep. I stayed awake, praying throughout. You have saved the country'.' A fascinating excerpt from former atomic energy chief Dr Anil Kakodkar's memoir Fire And Fury: Transforming India's Strategic Identity.
The Narendra Modi government on Monday appointed Arvind Gupta, a former Indian Foreign Service officer, of the 1979 batch, as Deputy National Security Advisor. This appointment comes within days of Nehchal Sandhu quitting as deputy NSA, citing personal reasons.
No headway was made on Thursday in resolving sticky issues for OROP implementation during talks between agitating ex-servicemen and government even as two more veterans on indefinite hunger strike were shifted to the army hospital following doctor's advice.
Ajai Shukla presents an action plan for Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to fix the systemic weaknesses in defence.
In an afterthought, the contingent of camels caparisoned in rich bridal attire and silver bracelets jingling has been finally called in to march down the Rajpath, keeping alive the 66-year-old tradition of the country's main parade on January 26.
At least 20 other soldiers are injured including some very seriously.
The President has begun studying Constitutional and Presidential precedents in anticipation of a fractured mandate in next year's general election, reveals R Prema.
All ministers in the Narendra Modi government will have to submit details of their assets, liabilities and business interests to the prime minister within two months.
A day after taking charge as Defence Minister, Manohar Parrikar on Monday said he would focus on "targeted completion" of works to strengthen the armed forces.
Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said that India is in for joint military exercise but not for joint patrolling.
In an incident that has caused flutters in government circles, a top Air Force official who retired from service on Sunday attended a farewell party hosted in his honour in which a large number of arms vendors and officials dealing with procurements in the force were present.
"The force is to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border but it will not shy away from flexing its muscles, if the need be," Gen Rawat said.
While it took the Congress nearly a half century to earn the hatred of other political outfits, the BJP appears set to reach there in around six years, says Arun Bhatnagar, former secretary to the GoI.
'The biggest challenge Swaraj and Sitharaman will face is how far they can take their counterparts Pompeo and Mattis seriously.' 'One just doesn't know how long they will even keep their jobs.' 'They are basically salesmen peddling American wares.' 'Actually, there is nothing like 'American policies' in the Trump era,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Munich-based Giesecke and Devrient supplies security features to the RBI for currency notes, and machines to bank branches across the country to detect counterfeits.
India rejected Pak's proposal to hold FS-level talks on Kashmir.
'Perhaps it isn't protocol at all, but power before which we abase ourselves,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
A serious debate in the Rajya Sabha on alleged destruction of files by the Home Ministry on Monday witnessed some lighter moments when a Congress member shared with the House his experiences on "simian trouble" in the corridors of power.
The lack of an informal communication channel is what should bother the government and the RBI, if they want to eliminate the undesirable outcomes of the current tension between the two, says A K Bhattacharya.
He said the country has witnessed a journey from indecisiveness to clarity and decisiveness.
'It must be rendering Modi, Amit Shah and Adityanath speechless that the Indian diplomat who lifted the Azhar trophy at the UN in New York is also a Muslim. 'Yes, this is the wonder that was India,' says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Sri Lanka's Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Jayantha Perera on Monday allayed India's fears on increasing Chinese military presence in the island nation, as he categorically stated that his nation will never compromise on India's national security or for that matter of any other country.
Making it clear that one car cannot travel on two roads at the same time, India said all future deals for Rafale fighters would also be through government to government route, indicating that the USD 20 billion MMRCA tender has virtually been scrapped.
Thousands of security personnel, 200 CCTVs and two high-mast, high-resolution cameras and 60 sniffer dogs of paramilitary forces and Delhi Police will also be part of the extensive security arrangement.
In its first comments on the sexual harassment allegations against Akbar, the BJP said the minister has given his version on the row and that it is not about whether the party agrees or disagrees with him.
The February 13 meeting between Nancy Powell, who quit as United States ambassador to India on Monday, and Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate, was frosty enough to convince the Roosevelt House (the official address of the US embassy in New Delhi) and the White House in Washington DC that much had to be done before US diplomats could aspire to any significant access to a Modi-led government in India.
Corporates understand that the PMO drives all key decisions in this government.
Officials said the 90-member Border Security Force camel-mounted troops and band contingent has not been practising during the dress rehearsals of the event.
Sushma Swaraj's suave moves helped Narendra Modi pull off a diplomatic coup, helping regain her standing.
'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.
Obviously, the not-so warm vibes between the two during the recent election season is a thing of the past, with Jaya scheduled to offer the Tamil angavastram as a mark of respect to Modi in his South Block office.
Taking a leaf from the US, Canada and the UK, where students and research scholars get to work with Parliamentary panels, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan is pushing for induction of interns in the Parliamentary standing committees.
A potpourri of political parties are in the fray in Goa.
The Delhi high court on Tuesday sought a response from the Central Bureau of Investigation on a bail plea of Lt Gen (retd) Tejinder Singh who was arrested for allegedly offering Rs 14 crore bribe to the then army chief General V K Singh for clearing file pertaining to procurement of Tatra all-terrain vehicles.
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