A White House statement in this regard along with other objections of the administration to NDAA-2017 came as the bill made its way to the House of Representatives from House Armed Services Committee.

Business reacted with caution to the reforms of 1991, and demanded protection from multinationals and imports. Twenty-five years later, traces of that demand can still be found, reports Bhupesh Bhandari.

There is no hacking nor any leakage of IRCTC ticketing website and everything is safe, railway board member (Traffic) Mohd Jamshed told PTI.

Opposition to tri-service structures comes not just from bureaucrats and politicians as the generals like to lament, but equally from within the military. Neither the army, navy or air force chiefs want to relinquish control over their theatre commands, with these cutting edge units placed under some commander who reports elsewhere, says Ajai Shukla.

The Centre needs to have dialogue with the Opposition instead of letting politics come in the way; it needs to stoop to conquer, says Aditi Phadnis.

Rejecting Rajya Sabha's five amendments and opposition's appeal not to make "haste", the Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed the legislation that aims at better targeting of subsidies through the Aadhaar unique identity number within hours of the Upper Housing returning it.

'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.'

'On the tax front, most of the Budget proposals are sensible'.

"Selling military hardware to Pakistan -- with a generous subsidy from American taxpayers -- is no way to convince them to become responsible players in the international community and assist in the fight against terrorism," Rand Paul said.

As India expressed 'displeasure and disappointment" over the United States's decision to sell F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan, California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez said that the she will patch things up with India soon on the issue.

The three Mi-35 Indian multi-role helicopters donated to Afghanistan have made a big difference in the offensive against militants in the war-torn country, the outgoing commander of US forces in Afghanistan has said.

'The clique that runs that country is treating us like suckers. We are very foolish, giving people money who involve themselves in activity that's harmful to America.' 'When you look at the cold hard facts, Pakistan is not an ally to the United States. They have facilitated, they have encouraged, they have been a protector of enemies.'

'These ISIS terrorists want to smash Western civilisation, smash India. For the time being though, their main target would be the US and Europe.'

Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last week, in 10 images

'Think about this: A widow of a jawan is drawing only Rs 3,500. If OROP is implemented, she will get additional Rs 1,500. These poor girls are young and have no source of income; they are trying their best to just make ends meet. It is the pain of these situations that has driven me to this.' 'We don't want to put pressure on the government -- that's not our intention. We have full faith in our prime minister. We are asking for a meeting with him, and when we get that, we are sure he will not only give us what we are asking for, but 10 per cent extra.' Major General Satbir Singh, who headed the OROP agitation at Jantar Mantar, speaks out.

We can learn much from China with regards to making civil service recruitment more efficient, says former diplomat Kishan S Rana.

The top commander of United States and allied forces in Afghanistan was on an unannounced visit to India recently to hold talks with senior Indian leadership on the country's role in the war-torn Afghanistan vis--vis Pakistan and China.

'In the first meeting of this new year, we took a joint new year resolution that we will complete it this year. At the time things were not very clear, but the mood was clear that yes, we must resolve it.' 'Yes, details have to come out, but there are some sensitivities, there are some stake-holders not yet on board, especially other Naga undergrounds etc, we would like them to come on board... So at a proper time it has to be revealed to the country, and to the legislature. Perhaps, we may have to wait for some more time.' 'With better understanding of the Indian system, many of them have learnt, realised, appreciated that Naga nationalist aspirations can be accommodated in the Indian system. The Indian system is pretty comprehensive and flexible.' 'A Naga has as much stake, claim over India as any other Indian. There is no distinction. This, Nagas have realised, that yes, Naga nationalist aspirations and Indian nationalism are not mutually exclusive.' Ravindra Narayan Ravi, the Government of India's Special Interlocutor for the Naga talks, explains how the Naga Peace Accord was reached in an exclusive interview to Saisuresh Sivaswamy/Rediff.com

The National Security Agency lost its authority to collect the phone records of millions of Americans, thanks to a new reform measure Congress passed on Tuesday

What is the road ahead for Rahul Gandhi? Shehzad Poonawalla offers a blueprint.

Pakistan-based terrorist outfits like Lashkar-e-Tayiba are likely to turn their attention to India with the drawdown of US forces from Afghanistan, a top Pentagon commander has told lawmakers.

'Growth is predicated on the misery of large sections of people.' 'Maybe Hindutva will be used to suppress any such unrest.'

The year threw up quite a few shockers, some rather rude one. Below are Rediff.com's 12 picks that made us sit back and think, 'Did that really happen?'

Australia's intelligence agencies have uncovered a plot by the Islamic State militants to launch a "Mumbai-style" terror attack on the parliament with Prime Minister Tony Abbott and other top officials being the prime targets.

In a major development, US House of Representatives has voted to train and arm Syrian rebels so that they can take on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, a designated foreign terrorist organisation.

Union Minister of Environment and Forest Prakash Javadekar on Friday expressed anguish over the unabated poaching of the rare one-horned rhinoceros in Assam's Kaziranga National Park and the rapid shrinking of forest cover in the northeast region.

The man who led this journey is 50-year-old Kalanithi Maran, chairman and managing director of the Sun Group.

Finance minister tries to put house in order before reforms are unveiled in February.

Armed with a list of issues to target the Narendra Modi government in the forthcoming Budget session of Parliament, the Congress is making one last attempt to gain the leader of opposition status.

Sri Srinivasan, the first Indian-origin federal judge in the United States, is India Abroad Person of the Year 2013

No ransom was paid for the release of Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, who was held under Taliban captivity for 5 years, the US has said, refuting all such reports in this regard.

Reduced to a mere shell of its former glorious self, it now mechanically sticks to the form while substance was frittered away a long time ago, says Virendra Kapoor.

Reflecting concern about Internet security, the United States has said it won't tolerate government-sponsored cyber theft of trade secrets even as it brought cyber-espionage charges against China's five military officers for allegedly stealing classified corporate information.

'India-US relations seem to have soured when the US expected India to not only balance China in the Asia-Pacific, but also make concessions to Pakistan as a price for US technological help,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).

A Parliamentary panel on Monday rapped the defence ministry and the Maharashtra government on the Adarsh Housing Society scam, saying there was "monumental failure" at all levels of governance with certain officials abusing their position.

The India that needs strategic alliances, defence cooperation and engaging meaningfully with neighbouring countries is quietly moving ahead with confidence, says Tarun Vijay

There is speculation that China released the White Paper on Tibet in a hurry after a Spanish court agreed to hear charges of genocide against former Chinese president Hu Jintao. Ajai Shukla reports

A parliamentary panel has rapped the Defence ministry and the Maharashtra government for "monumental failure" at all levels of governance with certain officials abusing their position leading to the Adarsh Housing Society scam.

United States President Barack Obama faced stiff resistance from the opposition Republican senators and skepticism from his own Democrats, forcing the Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to postpone the vote on military intervention in Syria.