The United Kingdom on Sunday handed over its last base in Afghanistan to the Afghan forces, marking an official end to the 13-year-long combat operations that claimed over 450 British lives in the war-torn country.
The LDF was also leading in 10 out of the 14 district panchayats and 108 block panchayats of the total of 152, according to the State Election Commission figures.
If there is unity in the Opposition, it is only about regional parties other than the DMK not wanting Rahul Gandhi or any other Congress leader for prime minister, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
India's formidably consistent match-winners have a date with history in the New Year when they take on an out-of-sorts South Africa in the second Test in Johannesburg from Monday in pursuit of a coveted first-ever series win in the Rainbow Nation.
The street-fighter attitude is what keeps Rane going even at 69. The expectation is -- at least in the BJP camp -- that he will be itching for a battle royale with the Shiv Sena in its bastions.
The Nationalist Congress Party, which is part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra, on Friday won Aurangabad and Pune graduates' constituencies of the state Legislative Council.
Modi will start his Sunday election tour with a rally in Chapra, the political bastion of Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad. As per the itinerary, from Chapra he will go to Samastipur to address a public meeting in Housing Board ground, then at Gandhi maidan in Motihari and will end the campaign trip with a rally in Bagaha.
Banerjee scored a personal point with a massive victory in the bypoll with a record margin of 58,835 votes.
Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi last appeared in 2014 during a sermon at the Great Mosque in Mosul. The speech marked the rise of self-declared "caliphate" of IS in Iraq and Syria.
The MNF came to power in the state winning 26 of the 40 seats in the state assembly uprooting the Congress from its last bastion in the Northeast.
The only facesaver for the Gowda family was Deve Gowda's another grandson Prajwal Revanna, son of PWD minister H D Revanna, who won from Hassan seat.
Sachin Tendulkar has many firsts to his credit but a 'first shave' from female barbers Neha and Jyoti
The Lok Sabha constituencies that JD-S will contest are Uttara Kannada, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Tumkur, Hassan, Mandya, Bengaluru North and Vijayapura.
Ending its decade long stint in the opposition, even relegated to the third spot in the House in 2011, the M K Stalin-led Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam made a spirited comeback to the ruling saddle to unseat its rival the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam.
This unprecedented entry of Muslim candidates as BJP nominees has been a shot in the arm for the party cadres in the Muslim-predominant Malappuram district, a citadel of Indian Union Muslim League.
Deve Gowda indicated on Sunday that they were ready to compromise.
"You take any section of society be it Dalits, weavers or Brahmins, everybody has been exploited. The administration of Yogi Adityanath ji is working completely against the 'vichaar' (thoughts) of Guru Gorakhnath," she said at a rally, taking a swipe at the BJP leader who is also the head of the prominent Mutt in Gorakhpur named after Saint Gorakhnath.
Shah said Banerjee will not be in a position to oppose the implementation of the CAA as she will cease to be the chief minister after the assembly polls likely in April-May this year.
With political equations changing in bastions of Left unionism, stiff challenges await the soldiers of strikes and bandhs.
'Please do not threaten us with street violence.' 'Do you have some humanity left in you?'
Assembly elections in Gujarat will be held in two phases on December 9 and 14.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called for developing a template by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to effectively deal with the challenges of extremism and radicalisation.
'Entry and qualification must not be through concession and must be reserved for only those who meet the stringent standards of the institution'.
'A setback in UP will be nothing short of a political disaster on the eve of the 2024 general election.' 'Will it mean that Modi will be able to stay in his new house only for a year after it becomes ready?' asks Amulya Ganguli.
Chhagan Bhujbal, Jayant Patil (both from the NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (both from the Congress), Eknath Shinde and Subhash Desai (both from the Sena) took oath as ministers along with Thackeray.
Since the formation of the CPI-M, following a split in the Communist Party of India in 1964, the party never drew a blank in the state in Lok Sabha elections.
However, Bajpai ruled out any possibility of an epic battle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections between Sonia Gandhi and Arun Jaitley.
He is now the first non-Congress chief minister to win a second term in office in the state, seen as a Congress bastion until just five years ago.
Before filing her nomination papers at the Collectorate Rae Bareli, the UPA chairperson held a roadshow and offered puja at the Congress central office.
Prior to filing his nomination, Rahul Gandhi held a road show during which he was accompanied by Priyanka Gandhi and her husband Robert Vadra alongwith their children Raihan and Miraya.
On Sunday, after 13 years of war, over 500 deaths and over 20 billion, United Kingdom withdrew from Afghanistan. In a touching ceremony, the Union Jack flag was lowered at Camp Bastion, which has been the center of UK operations in Afghanistan since 2006. British Prime Minister David Cameron vowed that Britain will 'never forget those who made the ultimate sacrifice' and Labour leader Ed Miliband said the handover was a "time to remember those who have served Britain so courageously in Afghanistan over the last decade".
The MNF returned to power in Mizoram by bagging 26 seats of the 40-member state legislature after a decade which saw the crumbling of the last Congress bastion in the north east.
The party also announced that Kamal Nath will contest the bypoll for the Chhindwara assembly constituency.
Having emerged as the face of opposition resistance to the Narendra Modi juggernaut after the TMC's triumph in the assembly elections, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is locked in an unequal battle as she squares off with "lightweight" rivals in her own lair--Bhabanipur.
Sri Lankan security forces on Saturday captured the strategic northern town of Pooneryn, the last Liberation Tigers of the Tamil Eelam bastion in the west coast, giving the forces a vital land link to Jaffna.
BJP's resurgent performance prompted the state leadership to describe it as a 'saffron strike', while party in-charge Bhupendar Yadav said it has now emerged as the 'only alternative' to the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led regional dispensation with people accepting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's brand of good governance.
Meet Manju Devi, porter number 15, who overcame all odds to stand tall and become one of the 112 women achievers of the nation.
Both Hassan and Mandya, where the BJP's strength is negligible, are currently held by JD-S, which Congress too is eyeing this time.
"I am totally humbled by what he has said. But Mr Pawar has categorically, very humbly told the prime minister that it is not possible," Sule told PTI.
