A simple Independence Day advice: Don’t ask what you can do for your country. Ask what your country can do for you, writes Indrajit Hazra.

In several areas the government appears confused, contradictory or, worse, paralysed, writes Karan Thapar.

The director of the Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, and principal scientific investigator of the data Chandrayaan-I brought to earth, Jitendranath Goswami, told Sanjib Kr Baruah in an e-mail interview that the most significant finding was water on the Moon's north pole.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has made every individual taxpayer richer by at least a few thousand rupees a month, hoping they would oblige by spending more and spur demand and growth. Mukherjee, who said “it has been a long three days,” after presenting the UPA government’s second budget on Friday, spoke to Hindustan Times on a range of issues.

Obama’s critics see him as being soft on foreign policy. To think that America needs to throw its weight around more, however, is foolish and dangerous. Fareed Zakaria writes.

This is an important year for Africa. The World Cup is putting the continent at the centre of global attention. Its strengths and frailties will be under greater international scrutiny than ever before. What will the story be? Kofi Annan writes.