Iran signed a $3 billion deal with Boeing, backed Qatar against the Saudis, scored a big victory in Syria and reached out to Hamas. Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar examines how the Qatar versus Saudi Arabia standoff is quickly changing alignments in the Middle East.
'For the BJP to lose this virtual pocket borough of the saffron brotherhood demonstrates how resolutely the people of Gorakhpur have turned against the party,' says Amulya Ganguli.
SAD leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that during three poll related meetings with the BJP, his party was asked to consider its stand on CAA. "But we declined to do so. SAD is of the firm stand that Muslims cannot be left out of CAA," Sirsa said.
Siddiqui, who hails from Banda, was earlier removed as the party in-charge of Uttar Pradesh and was appointed as the MP unit in-charge after the assembly poll debacle.
Taking a veiled swipe at the Congress party, he said one of the things he found when he came to Delhi was that those who got opportunity to rule the nation for "many, many years, loved to keep things in a pendulum mode".
MNS president Raj Thackeray is all praise for Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee and does not mince words to express it.
A number of Union ministers including Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reached the residence of Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in New Delhi to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr on Wednesday.
'The Christchurch awful day and the shootings, they've got some sort of brotherhood there now'
Leaders hope the Ayodhya temple ceremony would pave way for harmony.
Fandom of Kejriwal, who led the AAP to a scintillating win in the February 8 polls bagging 62 of the 70 seats, was visible as people chose innovative ways to express their sentiments at the venue that was transformed into a sea of colours as the crowd waved party flags and the tricolours.
'But for Rajiv's bloopers, the Hindutva campaign would not have got off the ground,' Amulya Ganguli points out.
'People think Sonia, Rahul and Dr Singh are honest people. They are not burdened by ideology,' says sociologist Dipankar Gupta.
"The new sarsanghchalak, Mohan Bhagwat, is perhaps the most politically inclined head of the RSS since its founder Keshav Baliran Hedgewar some eight decades ago," says American expert Dr Walter Andersen.
All political parties have appeal for peace and harmony.
An intruder stole valuables including a Louis Vuitton bag, 11 luxury watches, various items of Cartier jewellery and 10 glasses studded with diamonds and pearls, two police sources told news portal RBC.
Trump says his visit to the Middle East is "paying off" to end the "horror of terrorism"
Every prime minister believes that peace with Pakistan is simply a matter of time -- after which an applauding world shall hang the Nobel Prize around his neck. Is it Dr Manmohan Singh's turn to add his name to the list, asks T V R Shenoy.
Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi on Monday termed as "illegal" his trial on charges of inciting murder and violence during his year-long rule and demanded that leaders of the "military coup" should be tried instead of him.
A report released by Human Rights Watch states that police regularly disregard arrest procedures and torture suspects in custody to death. The police often blame the deaths on suicide or illness.
Sukanya Verma looks at notable troikas in Bollywood's catalog of three hero vehicles.
Here's a wishlist for great pairs we'd love to see back on the big screen together.
Interestingly, the choice of August 5 as the day of the bhoomi pujan coincides with the abolition of Kashmir's special status on the same day a year ago. Perhaps the RSS-BJP wants August 5 to be remembered as the date on which the foundation stone of their cherished Hindu rashtra was laid, notes Amulya Ganguli.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and Environment Minister Gopal Rai visited the Eidgah in Mustafabad and interacted with locals besides taking stock of facilities being provided by the government at relief camps.
Baaghi 3 is a senseless beast of a movie that solely exists to rupture the screen in images of broken, blasting, blaring men or machines flying mid-air and slow motion, feels Sukanya Verma.
However, two districts -- Pilibhit in Uttar Pradesh and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar in Punjab -- which did not record a fresh case in the last 28 days, reported new COVID-19 cases on Monday, it added.
The Congress requested the President to remind the central government of its 'raj dharma', Singh said.
The petition sought directions for taking steps to promote brotherhood and national integrity in the country.
India, with the right blend of the physical and the virtual, can emerge as the global nerve centre of complex modern multinational supply chains in the post COVID-19 world.
Several protests -- some peaceful, some violent -- erupted across India on Monday against the police crackdown in Jamia Millia Islamia and the controversial citizenship law as students and political leaders took to the streets, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi called these protests "deeply distressing" and appealed for peace.
The All India Chess Federation on Thursday felicitated Grandmaster Viswanathan Anand for retaining the world chess championship title.
He will be remembered not only as a writer but as one of the great chroniclers and interrogators of the history of our times, says Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that with pro-people measures and infrastructure development, Modi has not only prepared a blueprint for making a strong 'new India' but also a self-reliant one for the country's 'golden future', while party president J P Nadda declared that the period will be known for taking tough and big decisions and turning challenges into opportunities.
The politicisation of ethnic sentiments in the state has coincided with the ascent of the BJP and increased activities of far right Hindu outfits, which organised rallies and other events on religious occasions such as Ram Navami a festival not very popular in West Bengal- unlike states in north India.
Egypt was on the edge on Sunday as protest rallies demanding Mohammed Mursi's ouster and early elections kicked off across the deeply polarised country on the first anniversary of his presidency, raising fears of an escalation in violence.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Sena had said last January that it would go it alone in all future elections.
The affidavit, filed by B C Joshi, Director in the Ministry of Home Affairs, said the CAA does not confer any arbitrary and unguided powers on the executive as the citizenship to the persecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh would be granted in a manner as specified under the law governing grant of citizenship.
Modi said the way each section of the society welcomed the verdict reflects India's ancient traditions of amity and harmony.
The Amarnath row had been solved after an accord was signed.
Lauding the contribution of non-resident Indians in the development of the country, he said, 'Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, B R Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru were all NRIs. They travelled the world and helped India with new perspectives.'
