Opinions and Editorials

I feel sure that a debate is going on between the hawks and doves in the Kremlin. [There] must be equally patriotic Russians, in senior official positions, who see the Georgian campaign as part of Vladimir Putin's restoration of Russian self-respect or as dangerous adventurism. [In] Russia, there is no doubt that the hawks are in the ascendant.

So it's a case of Pappu can't dance. Or is it? Many, including General Musharraf, believe he has done all he could for his country, short of dancing to its unruly political tunes.

He, who had strutted on the international stage with great confidence, enamoured of his own ability to make persuasive pleas, convincing the audience of his sincerity and his earnestness in partnering them to resolve common problems, had begun to look like an actor past his prime mouthing his lines.

Most of us take for granted that our sex lives are strictly private. So imagine, just for a moment, what it means to fight for that right. To march down a busy street in bizarre fancy dress, wearing your sexual preference on your sleeve, under the greedy glare of voyeuristic television cameras and the sneer of India's most liberal city.

The contrasts are too stark. You don't know how to write about the volatile and tragic events in Jammu & Kashmir in the same sentence as Shilpa Shetty's voluptuous and startling appearance on Big Boss. How to compare Akhil Kumar's combative performance in the ring with Dr.

Does the politics of principle have a direct bearing on the efficiency of a government? Nepalis were hoping that the country would have a government based on certain core values, one that would deliver long-awaited peace, consolidate democracy and steer the country out of economic crisis.

The protests in Kashmir over the economic blockade of the valley continued with a Hurriyat march to the UN offices in Srinagar to present a memorandum urging UN intervention for a permanent solution to the Kashmir problem.

I do not know how to address Kashmiri leaders. All the appellations that would be used to establish a connection, common citizenship, shared nationhood, cultural bonds, pragmatic affiliations, appear to be little more than rhetorical pretences, hollowed out by unmeaning overuse. I also cannot address them without a guilty conscience: the Indian state has so often let Kashmiris down.

The piece by Mihir S. Sharma 'Olympian envy,' is refreshing as it highlights the importance of taking China's ways with a pinch of salt.

Just as he lingered on despite wearing out the popular welcome that greeted his military coup nine years ago, Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf took nearly an hour on Monday afternoon to announce his resignation.

The arrest of 10 activists of SIMI in connection with the Ahmedabad blasts is impressive and, in a way, startling: the dishearteningly dilatory approach of previous, similar investigations has caused our expectations from our investigative agencies to be at an all-time low.

Something is clearly very wrong with our government's strategy for tackling child malnutrition. Over 46 per cent of our children are stunted or wasted, which is more than even sub-Saharan Africa. Though the Indian government spends more on child nutrition programmes than any other country in the world, in the last five years malnutrition rates in India declined by a mere one per cent.

There was a moment during Doordarshan's telecast of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games that neatly encapsulated how India has been dealing with the latest achievement of our northern neighbour.

Pakistani papers were filled with commentary surrounding the possible impeachment of President Musharraf, his increasingly likely resignation and his address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day.

The Georgians have now been punished enough, declared Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday. Or maybe not. At press time, Russian tanks were reportedly rolling through the Georgian city of Gori, in violation of a cease-fire agreement.

Taslima Nasreen has been allowed to return - for how long is anybody's guess. There has been much debate on the primary issue at stake - an individual's freedom of speech. She keeps company with other free-speech martyrs of independent India - Salman Rushdie who offended Muslim sensibilities, M.F.

In India's seventh decade as a sovereign nation, it is worth pausing to ask how much of the promise of Independence has been fulfilled, and how much still remains to be done.

The Monica Devi drug scandal is another blotch on the already tainted reputation of Indian athletics when it comes to drug-testing.

This piece has been triggered by the old editorial on the frontpage of The Indian Express, marking the 66th anniversary of the Quit India Movement.

After the completion of his Orissa foray as part of an all-India exercise a few months ago, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi made certain observations on the "high command culture being the problem in the Indian political system" that didn't go down well with some of his aides.