While security agencies have been able to prevent any major terror strikes since the Mumbai attacks last November, we should not lower our guard, writes security expert B Raman.

The current IOC chief should be fired because this fire occurred during his tenure. He should have ensured that safety audits are done seriously. If he is fired, his successor will take safety more seriously, says Sudhir Bisht.

India's pluralist character, vibrant democracy, assertive intelligentsia and all attendant principles/institutions are the best assurance to allay the misgivings of the minorities.'

When business interests begin deciding who will rule, democracy is in trouble, writes Mahesh Vijaypurkar

Chinese-made goods are in abundant supply in Africa and Arab world due to strong economic relations

Beijing says US president's visit will help push bilateral relations to 'new historical starting point'

Regional political analysts say Bangkok, Phnom Penh relations are the worst they have been in several years

Both soldiers reportedly swept away into river while trying to save supply boxes that fell into water after being air-dropped

Deal means that South Asian country's Central bank now has tenth largest gold holdings in world

Gordon Brown warns Afghan government to take action against corruption, saying he would not risk more British lives there unless it reforms

Fighting between army and Taliban militants in South Waziristan hit peak in mid-October when army launched air, ground offensive to dislodge Islamic militants from their sanctuary

Top UN official in Afghanistan warned President Hamid Karzai to combat corruption or risk losing international support

Troops were wounded Friday while looking for two missing US soldiers who are believed to have drowned in river in western province of Badghis

Accounts of Pakistan army's offensive in tribal region near Afghan border are difficult to verify, as journalists, aid workers are not allowed into battle zone

Oil ministry announces agreement to give companies, which include Royal Dutch Shell, 20-year contract to develop West Qurna

Israel has spared no effort in bringing the world's attention to its seizure of a ship carrying tonnes of apparently Iranian-supplied weapons bound for Hezbollah in Lebanon, via Egypt and Syria. If history is any guide, the incident could be

This week's landmark visit by senior United States officials to Myanmar featured meetings with military leaders, pro-democracy figure Aung San Suu Kyi and ethnic groups, but none led to any diplomatic breakthrough. Critics claim Washington's engagement gambit, far from being

The Pentagon well knows that AfPak is the key land bridge between Iran to the west and China and India to the east; and that Iran has all the energy that both China and India need. The balkanization of AfPak

Allegations in a wiretapped conversation involving businessman Anggodo Widjojo, police and prosecutors, in which they appeared to plot against Indonesia's top anti-graft body, have also mentioned President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. The shadow over Yudhoyono's hitherto squeaky clean image is darkened

In an echo of the protests that demanded the ouster of dictator Suharto more than a decade ago, Indonesians this month put pressure on President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono over the arrest of two anti-corruption commissioners, subsequently released. This time around,