Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan on Tuesday underlined the evolving nature of warfare and said a combat has always been between humans but now the world is going to enter an era in which it may be between a machine and human being and later between machines.

We asked colleagues, present and past, to reflect on a man who has made such a difference to their lives and careers. Here it is then, a rich collection of memories that offer enchanting glimpses of the enigmatic Ajit Balakrishnan.

By proposing the addition of six permanent members this year, it may appear that it was a major concession, but in actual fact, it will make no difference to the privilege of the permanent five as the new six will have no veto, ever! points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.

'I promise you, you've never seen her do anything like this.' 'It is a complete reinvention of Janhvi Kapoor.'

'The problems that the film explores still remain. It was a different time when we made the film. We were young and we thought we could change the world.'

2019 was the Bharatiya Janata Party's breakout year, when it stretched the boundaries of what was thought possible and ended up with 303 seats on its own steam. Now it is forced to play defence, on a pitch queered by too many variables, asserts Prem Panicker.

'The fraud is the electronic voting machine is being manipulated by humans, and not counting the votes that is shown on VVPAT.'

Prabha Atre, the woman who could have been lawyer, scientist or doctor but became a globally renowned Hindustani classical vocalist instead, died in her Pune home on Saturday hours before she was to leave for a concert in Mumbai. She was 92.

Sukanya Verma picks the best of OTT from 2023.

'The BJP is trying to change this mantra.'

Having created businesses ranging from world's largest single-location oil refining complex to nation's largest mobile network operators in just few years, billionaire Mukesh Ambani says his group Reliance Industries Ltd will never be complacent and will grow to be among the top 10 business conglomerates of the world. Addressing employees on Reliance Family Day - the birthday of the group's founder Dhirubhai Ambani, he said Reliance is now aiming to consolidate a place among global leaders in digital data platforms and AI adoption. "Today, the domestic and global environments for business are changing very fast.

If only you had thought ahead, you would have stocked snacks and biscuits, bread and cake, and vegetables suited for Amma or pondatti to make your favourite bajji and pakoda, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.

'This incident offers ammunition to those inside the US government and elsewhere who question the wisdom of trusting India, so it will have a lasting consequence no matter how it is managed.'

'The moment the Army approved the script, they told us that they will give their full support and asked us for our full dedication.'

'My wife, family members as well as members of the workers will be trustees.' 'The trust will take all decisions -- no family member can individually take any decision.'

10 non-bank and non-finance stocks from the BSE500 Index universe that offer an optimal blend of low valuation, reasonably robust revenue and earnings growth in recent quarters, a strong balance sheet, and most importantly, positive cash flow from their operations.

Pratinav Anil is able to foresee some agency and assertion on the part of India's Muslims. His hope emanates from the citizenship rights movement of Muslims in 2019-2020, notes Mohammad Sajjad.

India scripted history as the ambitious third Moon mission of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) touched down on the Moon's south pole, propelling the country to an exclusive club of four and making it the first nation to land on the uncharted surface.

Krithi Krithivasan is the kind of person one might look to when the need is to calm things down and put things back on track.

'The linking of Aadhaar to births and deaths will revive the debate around citizenship.'

'Investors should ideally consider equity allocations from a medium-to-long term perspective.'

Few people know Ratan Tata as well as R K Krishna Kumar does. Widely perceived to be among the managers closest to Tata, Krishna Kumar assesses Ratan Tata, the man and business leader, in this exclusive interview to Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.

Varsha Bhosle salutes that effervescent icon of Indian cinema, Dev Anand.

Is self-reliance the right approach in a mega-buck game, or better to be part of a network? asks T N Ninan.

The Indian Navy has a big role to play in support of our strategic objectives in the Indian Ocean. The increasing Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean is a matter of concern and need to be factored. Hence, the requirement of an Aircraft Carrier is a foregone conclusion, asserts Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).

One wonders what, given the recent past, the next quarter century holds in store for India, asks Aakar Patel.

Dear Friend is for those who idealised Dil Chahta Hai all out of proportion, and then warmed up to the premise that friendship could be a lot more complicated, and transient, observes Sreehari Nair.

The army has long been deficient in artillery, the modern battlefield's most lethal killer, says Ajai Shukla.

Avinash Sable's national mark headlines strong showing in IGP 2

On December 10, Kissinger began to encourage the Chinese to take action against India: 'If the People's Republic were to consider the situation on the Indian subcontinent a threat to security, and if it took measures to protect its security, the US would oppose efforts of others to interfere with the People's Republic.' On the 50th anniversary of India's greatest military victory, Claude Arpi recalls how the US suggested that China intervene militarily on Pakistan's side.

As a model of transport, the A380 strikes a parallel -- a shared fragility -- with giant container ships, observes Shyam G Menon.

'There is a lot of interest from potential clients who have remained away from the markets in past years.' 'They are evaluating whether this is a good time to enter, especially since there are very few alternatives to earn meaningful returns.'

High cost of acquisition due to a variety of reasons, including higher GST than all other major countries, is slowing down car demand in the country and unless the Centre and states take steps to reduce it, the industry is unlikely to experience reasonable growth, according to Maruti Suzuki India Chairman R C Bhargava. Addressing shareholders in the company's Annual Report for 2020-21, he said after the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic hitting the first quarter of FY22, the performance in the next three quarters will largely depend on how effectively people get vaccinated and observe safety protocols.

'Personally, I have reached that stage where I think material things can't give you any satisfaction.'

The project shows a lack of respect for history, even if an inalienable part of it is colonial history, asserts T N Ninan.

Designer Namrata Lodha has been winning hearts with her sustainable hats.

The five-year (2015-16 to 2020-21, or FY21) compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of the overall auto industry is now negative at 2 per cent, against 5.7-per cent growth it saw in the previous five years (from 2010-11 to 2015-16).

Ajit Balakrishnan on learning from past technology revolutions.

Wrapped in blue and orange wax paper, it's a familiar sight on the shelves of kirana stores across the country. Given how well travelled and mobile it is - starting its journey in Chennai, then turning to Singapore and now landing in Mexico - you could say it lives up to its name: Modern. Modern Food Enterprises, the company that manufactures and sells the bread in question as well as other bakery products under the "Modern" brand name, has recently been sold to the world's largest baking company, Grupo Bimbo, for an undisclosed amount. This latest transaction is the second change of guard at Modern within five years and third since the government divested the company at the turn of the century. At a time, when the National Democratic Alliance government has decided to privatise, or shut down, public sector enterprises except for those deemed strategic, Modern makes for a promising case study of how divestment led to the brand's growth, both in revenue and reach.

'Who are these people on the streets?' 'They are youth and students who were hoodwinked, bluffed by Modi for the last seven years, with a promise of 2 crore jobs every year.' 'And Mamata sings the same tune.' 'But the youth can see that as long as there is Mamata or Modi, there is no hope.'