In the year since Modi cast the spotlight on Pakistan's human rights violations in Balochistan, India has not done much more than raise the issue at the UN a few times.
Pakistan will work to improve ties with all countries in the region, including India, by seeking the peaceful resolution of issues like Kashmir while ensuring that its soil is not used for terrorism against any other nation, President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday said.
The seven participants due to represent Pakistan at next month's Games have all been given wildcard entries.
Mudslinging and verbal attacks will definitely surge once the poll dates are announced, but as with any state, there are some crucial issues which will play a significant role in influencing voters in Assam too, says Devanik Saha.
'Islamic State has declared that the liberation of Islamic Xinjiang from China is an objective. Beijing may well find that Pakistan is unable to assist in any meaningful way,' says China expert Jayadeva Ranade.
A substantial part of a catholic church in northeast Delhi's Tahirpur area was gutted when a fire broke out at its premises on Monday morning with the Christian community suspecting foul play in the incident.
Barring Maharashtra, the poll percentage in rest of the states was in excess of 60 per cent while in Puducherry it was 80.47 per cent.
Rediff.com presents a selection of the year's most enduring moments year from around the world
'Most Hindus believe in living in peace with their Muslim neighbours and vice versa.' 'It is this India we have to preserve.'
'Modi's political economy is more inspired by Indira Gandhi than Vajpayee.' 'She so wanted an Opposition-mukt Bharat.' 'Sounds familiar?' asks Shekhar Gupta.
Its promise has fallen short before the onslaught of the votaries of the old order and ruthless extremist forces, notes Talmiz Ahmad.
'His poise and body language were 'cool. He brought a whiff of fresh air to our television screens, a welcome break from not-so-fit loud politicians and male anchors,' says Neeta Kolhatkar.
Trinamool leaders have claimed the NRC process and subsequent verification is vote bank politics. Other critics call it as modified ethnic cleansing. But putting poll rhetoric aside, the issue dates back to a time when many of these leaders had no political relevance.
Aseem Chhabra lists the movies that taught him about the Idea of India.
'For years, a whispering campaign against the non-Nagas -- and occasional violence -- has dominated the local discourse, but Farid Khan's lynching was unprecedented in its ferocity.'
Pakistan National Security Advisor Sartaj Aziz brings to New Delhi a newfound Pakistani confidence, stemming from its leverage in Afghanistan, says Ajai Shukla
This is just a brief reminder, dear fellow citizens, that none of us needs permission or sanction to be Indian, in whatever way we choose, as long as it doesn't break the law.
'Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will have to treat these militias for what they are: Criminals armed with deadly weapons. Otherwise, nothing will distinguish the National Democratic Alliance government from the ten-year long perfidy of the UPA in Assam.'
'All the anti-India groups like LeT, Jaish-e-Mohammad, Hizb-ul Mujahideen have been activated with terrorist camps and launching pads in place.'
'Modi deliberately chose such unhinged people because they said what he wanted to, but couldn't,' says Aakar Patel.
After all the drama that preceded the book launch of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri's book launch, the discussion that ensued on the book the same evening turned out to be a fiasco. Here's why
'There are many able, good, police officers in Bengal who are capable of handling this situation, but without Mamata Banerjee nothing moves.'
Much of the pre-2014 peace in our hotspots is diminished. Kashmir is on the boil and the Northeast is anarchic, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Year 2013 saw business leaders facing the ire of hostile investigative agencies.
According to a confidential government paper seen by Reuters, several states want to do away with obtaining landowners' consent altogether in some cases and to cut through red tape which they say holds up development.
India must watch for signs after Peshawar that Pakistan is waking up to the dangers of Islamism, muses Ajai Shukla
A time comes when the distance between words and meaning becomes unbridgeable. Or, words become shells, which hide the real intent of the speaker. To understand how language works in the case of a person like the present prime minister, you'll have to analyse the way language is practiced by the RSS, says Apoorvanand.
Sharad Yadav says that reports about disquiet among the factions are 'sponsored'.
The MEA insists that as far as the government is concerned the hostages are alive. But the families have grown tired of these assurances. They are clueless and so it seems is the government. Rashme Sehgal reports.
Sparks flew in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday as the raging Jawaharlal Nehru University row and suicide of Dalit student Rohith Vemula was taken up for discussion, with opposition accusing the government of muzzling the voice of the youth and "mercilessly crushing" the principles of democracy.
New Delhi remains a priggish suitor to Washington's overtures, but it has begun appreciating potential tech benefits to ties with the US.
'How can we be silent when we see millions of Adivasis being displaced? Do we have a choice whether to speak or not?' 'My treatment this time was worse. Last time at least they didn't deny me medicines; those bought from outside were given to me. This time, even medicines bought at my expense were not given to me.'
'Human rights violations are there in rural areas and in cities. In rural areas it is crude and in the open. In urban areas it is well hidden.' 'Awareness has grown several fold. India has 160 national and state human rights institutions. No other country in the world has this.' 'Unfortunately the right to association, right to assembly, freedom of expression, right to protest and discuss are all being curtailed systematically one by one.'
A group of retired civil servants also called upon the PM to reach out to the families of the victims in Unnao and Kathua and "seek their forgiveness on behalf of all of us".
The nation wants an ex-ante body for endorsing "public purpose" during land acquistion process.
'The Senators were playing safe, not angering either the pro-India lobby or the pro-Pakistan lobby, but perhaps more importantly, the military-industrial complex -- the most powerful lobby of all -- which the majority of Senators are beholden to in terms of largesse to their campaign coffers.'
This will, of course, go a long way in meeting the promised fiscal deficit target of 3.6 per cent of GDP in 2015-16.
From Aurangzeb to Sangh Parivar, the year 2016 offers plenty of hope in historical and modern literature.
The AAP's mandate in Gujarat is similar to the one in Delhi -- address issues related to corruption and other grievances of the common man, says Vinay Umarji and Premal Balan
Much of the negative perceptions of the north-east diaspora owe their origin and existence to the perverse policies of the central government toward the region and its people. This realisation must be the beginning of an earnest endeavour to address the issue, says R N Ravi.
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