President Droupadi Murmu on Saturday conferred Bharat Ratna, the country's highest civilian honour, on former prime ministers P V Narasimha Rao and Chaudhary Charan Singh, agriculture scientist M S Swaminathan and two-time former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur, posthumously at a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi.
Five army personnel were killed and six injured on Monday when terrorists ambushed their vehicle in the remote Machedi area of Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district, officials said.
Vasundhara Raje may have had her faults but she is an unconventional and brave leader who deserves better, observes Aditi Phadnis.
Rajasthan is all set to vote on Saturday to elect members of a new assembly with the Bharatiya Janata Party aiming to unseat the ruling Congress, which is fighting hard to change the trend of alternate governments in the state.
The fact that Gehlot has stayed relevant these five years with his populist schemes is one reason why he may beat incumbency in a state that votes for change every election, observes Ramesh Menon.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot's speech in Dholpur reflects that his leader is Vasundhara Raje and not Sonia Gandhi, Sachin Pilot said in a no holds barred attack against his party colleague on Tuesday.
Among the ministers in the new cabinet are 8 Lingayats, 7 Vokkaligas, 7 OBCs, 3 SCs, 2 Brahmins, 1 ST and 1 Reddy, and a woman.
Most of them said 'everything is fine' in the state Congress after landing at the airport in Raipur in a special aircraft.
Addressing a kisan sammelan in Jhunjhunu, Pilot also targeted the government over the political appointments of retired bureaucrats instead of party workers.
The Andhra Pradesh unit of the Congress is heading towards a major crisis. Several leaders of the party are reportedly planning to walk out after the Congress's dismal showing in the assembly polls in four states.
According to sources in the Congress, eight legislators are likely to be sworn in as ministers along with them.
Despite a warning issued to him by the Congress, former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot sat on a daylong fast at the Shaheed Smarak in Jaipur on Tuesday, demanding action in cases of alleged corruption related to the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state led by Vasundhara Raje.
The All Assam Students Union on Wednesday launched statewide protests against Assam Congress' decision to field a candidate from outside the state, Sanjay Singh in Rajya Sabha election in Assam bowing to the dictate of party high command.
Cyberspace is a battleground as important as the traditional domains of air, land, sea and space, says US Defence Secretary Ash Carter, who visits India next week.
The Jats are a political force in Rajasthan and the community's presence in 85 assembly constituencies may tilt the balance in electoral politics.
Siddaramaiah seems overwhelmed by problems coming at him from every direction, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Sidhu resigned as the PCC chief and sent his resignation to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday.
By comparing I.N.D.IA. with banned terror outfits, Modi has exhibited the kind of nervousness never ever associated with him even at the height of the Gujarat riots, and certainly since his prime ministerial days, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Congress is not listening to its young leaders. That is why the situation of the party is worsening in all states'
All India Congress Committee in-charge for Chhattisgarh P L Punia and AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal were also present during the meeting convened by Rahul Gandhi at his residence.
The Modi-Shah duo are standing with B S Yediyurappa: But B L Santhosh refuses to be silenced.
'There is a need for a younger person at the top, but the old guard wants to grab the post themselves,' points out Amulya Ganguli.
The AIADMK is convinced that the BJP will remain an electoral burden for a long time to come, beginning the Lok Sabha polls next year, reveals N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Feeling claustrophobic and humiliated by the manner in which the Congress vice-president was treating him, he started toying with the idea of floating his own party.'
The Congress refrained from commenting on any peace formula between Gehlot and Pilot.
'Sachin Pilot had every legitimate right to demand to become CM.'
The fact that Home Minister Amit Shah recently met Raje was a marker that Delhi will be compelled to take her more seriously than it would care to. Like B S Yediyurappa, she's a regional chieftain who can't be discarded at will, reports Radhika Ramaseshan.
Azad, 73, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, ended his five-decade association with the Congress on Friday, terming the party "comprehensively destroyed" and lashing out at Rahul Gandhi for "demolishing" its entire consultative mechanism.
Modi's inability to make peace with a renewed Opposition will only embolden his coalition partners and it is just a matter of time before they begin asking probing questions besides politely disagreeing with his tactics, predicts Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The 79-year old veteran leader, who has already announced his retirement from electoral politics, said there is no question of him sitting at home, and after the assembly session he will tour the state and campaign for the party and its candidates.
Raje however, said that "Gehlot's 'praises' is a big conspiracy" against her.
'Modiji and Amit Shahji should see my work.' 'Everybody gives me a lot of respect.' 'National leaders should see that.'
"Our party was defeated in unambiguous terms," she says about the defeat to the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013.
Committee sources said that Nirupam has been asked to respond within a few days over the articles in the magazine 'Congress Darshan'.
Congress MP from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh Sanjoy Singh is one of the Congress candidates who have filed nominations for the February 7 election to the three Rajya Sabha seats from Assam.
Sidhu made the remark welcoming the change, ushered by the people and emphasising that their verdict should be 'humbly accepted'.
Keen to rejoin the Congress after being expelled from the Bharatiya Janata Party, Harak Singh Rawat on Tuesday said he is ready to apologise to former chief minister Harish Rawat any number of times for the sake of Uttarakhand's interests.
Siddaramaiah, who is upset over his loyalist former Union Minister C M Ibrahim being denied nomination, said he has already shot off his resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi and state party chief G Parameshwar.
Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday issued a new mobilisation order for the training of armed forces with a focus on developing an elite force capable of fighting and winning wars.
Expressing concerns over another round of crisis in the Punjab unit of Congress, Anandpur Sahib MP Manish Tewari said that he is 'extremely distressed' after Navjot Singh Sidhu's resignation as party's state unit chief and claimed that the only people who are happy with what is going on in the border state is the 'deep state of Pakistan.'
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