President Who??!!

But when was the last time you were presented with a complete unknown as your next president? Kalam, Zail Singh, Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, V.V. Giri, Sanjeeva Reddy were all people you had seen long enough in public life, so you were unlikely to discover any surprises about them. This is where the Congress went wrong with Pratibha Patil. The Congress’s guilt is not so much about who they chose for the job as it is about how it trivialised that job, to begin with. - Shekhar Gupta, Indian Express, 30 June 2007

Terrorism Backfires in Pakistan

Altogether 102 people have died in the operation, including 10 Army officers, a Ranger and 91 civilians according to a report in the Dawn which quoted the interior minister Mr Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao. The admission came two days after President Pervez Musharraf hinted in a televised address to the nation, that some women and children had died in the fierce clash which turned the capital into a battleground. - The Statesman, 14 July 2007

US Missile Chaos

The US will not allow Russia to stop it from deploying anti-missile defences in Europe, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said in Moscow. "I don't think anyone expects the United States to permit a veto on American security interests," she said after meeting President Vladimir Putin. But she also said: "If there are concerns about how the United States has and is continuing to exercise power, absolutely, we can have that discussion." - BBC, 15 May 2007

Presidential Puppet Show

Leader of Opposition L K Advani has “appealed” to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) to withdraw its candidate Pratibha Patil from the race for the president of India taking into account the “list of scandals and controversies with which her name is associated.” - Indian Express, 29 June 2007