Visakhapatnam gears up to showcase Indian naval power

Once in each President's five-year term in office, he or she carries out a "naval fleet review", a deliberately public assembly of the entire fleet, except forwarships on essential patrols. Behind the ceremonial pomp and show lies a simple strategic signal: "Here is our fleet; it is ready for war."

In earlier days, fleet reviews were "a prelude to war or an explicit show of force to deter adventurism by a potential adversary", says Raghavendra Mishra of the National Maritime Foundation. Possibly the first ever fleet review was held in 1415, when British monarch, Henry the Vth, inspected his navy before embarking on war with France.

Anupam Kher denied Pak visa for literary festival

Non-issuance of a visa by the Pakistani government has led to the cancellation of actor Anupam Kher's participation in the Karachi literary festival starting February 5.

Kher was one of the 18 Indians invited to the four-day festival by the organisers but he is the only one whose visa has not been cleared. The other 17 Indian participants have been given visas.

Kher, who has just been honoured with Padma Bhushan by the Indian government, was to participate in at least two sessions and his name figured prominently in the festival schedule.

68 years on, has nothing changed for Dalits?

Business Standard asked five eminent thinkers of Dalits issues whether anything had changed for the community in 68 years after independence. What is responsible for this change, or lack of it? Is it politics, economics or the society?

Social reform most important for amelioration of Dalits: K N Govindacharya

Ultimately, a democratic society should be considered responsible for the continuing alienation of the Dalits and the status quo of the mindset of theBharatiya elite. Read More.

PM Modi upset over complaints regarding customs, excise sector

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today took strong exception to people's complaints and grievances related to thecustoms and excise sector and directed strict action against the officials responsible.

He also asked all Secretaries, whose departments have extensive public dealing, to set up a system for top-level monitoring of grievances immediately, a PMO statement said.

His directions came while chairing the 9th meeting ofPRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation), an IT-based multi-modal platform under which he interacts with top officials of various central departments and state governments via video conferencing.