'It's the most transparent deal in Indian history' 'People say it is not transparent. Four times, Parliament has discussed it clause by clause. It is the most transparent, most written-about and most analyzed agreement in the history of India.'
'Once a Hindu converts, his loyalties shift' 'Regarding the attacks on churches, I can say that most were politically motivated. When some activists were protesting against conversions, vested interests in some cases have taken advantage and gone on a rampage. I blame the politicians for this,' says M B Puranik, VHP's Karnataka convenor.
'No tangible proof of Muslims' involvement in terrorism' The same security and intelligence agencies which did not know anything about an impending attack a minute before it took place, suddenly and within minutes know every detail of the persons, organisations, funders etc behind the incident. They want to cover up their abject failure, and as the Muslims are the weakest section at this moment, the blame is safely pinned on them, says Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan.
US VP debate: Biden, Palin spar over policies Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and US Senator Joseph Biden of Delaware sparred over both domestic and foreign policy on Thursday night in this 2008 election season's first and only vice-presidential debate.
India and France: From bonhomie to mon ami The traditionally close ties between the two nations were further cemented recently when France, and not the US, signed a nuclear deal with India. Claude Arpi, a long-time watcher of the ties between his home country and adopted land, presents his take.
Dandiya nights Navratri, which began on September 30, heralds the season of festivities in India.
India: Not the first to ban smoking Smoking kills. That's the message countries around the world are trying to put across their citizens -- some strictly, some by word of mouth.
Inviting Durga Ma back The Goddess Durga comes down to earth every year for just four days. But preparations for her arrival start seven days before.
Welcoming goddess Durga Durga puja is celebrated all over India, though with differing rituals.
Hundreds die in stampede in Jodhpur temple A stampede caused by rushing devotees crushed nearly 150 people to death and injured 100 in the famous Chamunda Devi temple in a 15th century fort in Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Image: A woman surfs the internet on a WiFi network.
Photograph: Janek Skarzynski/AFP/Getty Images
M P Anil Kumar: Heed the cry of the armed forces A nation neglects its soldiers at its peril. Instead of structural tinkering through pay commissions, it makes sense to have a separate pay commission for the defence forces.
Brahma Chellaney: Deal with US raises troubling questions The deal on offer creates a Tarapur-style trap of gigantic dimensions. In fact, the latest Act specifically empowers the US to do what it did in 1978 -- retroactively rewrite the rules of cooperation with India by enacting a new domestic law.'
T P Sreenivasan: N-deal: A dream come true The US Senators, who sat through the night to vote on the Bill to clear the 123 agreement till the dawn of October 2 in India, must have been unaware that they were linking the new dawn in Indo-US relations to Mahatma Gandhi. The proverbial Gandhi magic may have played a role in persuading the reluctant Senators to remove the last hurdle in India's 34-year-old struggle to end India's nuclear isolation.
Mahesh Vijapurkar: Why can't we be careful and change? Safety consciousness of the people and the authorities is abysmally low to the extent of being non-existent. Care, caution and concern are always missing. The absence of a sense of safety and the required discipline to secure it in our daily lives is appallingly missing.
Sreenivasan Raju Aiyer: Why bother with news about blasts! A time may come when human rights activists, liberals, intellectual elite, eminent persons, secularists and other lumpen elements may argue that it is okay for the State to fund the activities of such violent groups who according to them mean well to "liberate" those people who vibe on the same wavelength with them!
B S Prakash: Hey, where did my country go? I look for signs of India or Indians. And see none. To live in this day and age without the daily diet of Bollywood masala, cricketing capers, and fellow argumentative Indians seems strange.
Neerja Chowdhury: Reprieve for Shivraj Patil sends the wrong message And yet Patil's continuation raises a different question: What is going to be the criteria for becoming and remaining a minister? Wearing good clothes? Keeping the leader happy? Or should it also have something to do with performance?
Mahesh Vijapurkar: Time for the police to come clean The country could ill-afford such a situation where innocents are made to pay a price because an incompetent police wants to keep the record books filled. It is time now to ask sharp questions. And time has come for the investigating agencies to answer them. Quickly.
Image: French Foreign Affairs minister Bernard Kouchner (R) and Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission Anil Kakodkar (L) sign a cooperation agreement between France and India for the development of civilian nuclear technology as France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (R Rear) and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh look on at the Elysee Palace in Paris, September 30, 2008.
Photograph: Philippe Wojazer/AFP/Getty images
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