India took a stranglehold over the West Indies on the opening day of the first Test at the Eden Gardens on Wednesday. Having restricted the visitors to 234 in the first innings, the home team put up 37 without loss in 12 overs in reply by stumps.
Outgoing Chief Minister Omar Abdullah categorically said on Thursday night that there was "no deal" or any "discussion" going on between his National Conference and the Bharatiya Janata Party over the issue of government formation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Campaigning for the first phase of the five-phased assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir is in full swing as the top leaders of various political parties are criss-crossing 15 constituencies which will go to polls later this month.
Ahead of the budget session, PM Narendra Modi appealed to the opposition to allow Parliament to function. While his call was taken positively by most of the parties, the Congress signalled that disruption will be their main weapon to raise several issues.
Rajneesh Gupta surveys the bowling landscape in India-Australia Tests.
'And the old war horse has left nothing to chance. He campaigned vigorously in the by-election defying his age,' says Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir.
Tuesday was the 12th day in a row that Parliament did not functioned and the current stalemate has entered the third week.
The ruling National Conference on Friday demanded a CBI enquiry or a high-level probe into the functioning of a top secret intelligence unit set up by the former Army chief, General V K Singh. The unit is alleged 'to have used secret service funds to destabilise the Omar Abdullah government in Jammu and Kashmir.'
With no signs of improvement in the situation in Kashmir, community schools are the only hope for students in the valley.
'Why isn't the BJP ready to give reservations to Muslims despite the high court telling it to do so?' 'A K Antony said the Congress lost the 2014 election because of Muslim appeasement. Antony should have gone to the jails of Maharashtra and found out how many Muslims were arrested during Congress rule. I don't know what kind of appeasement this is.' 'We reposed faith in so-called great secular leaders and they deceived us.'
Amid continuing suspense over formation of new government in Jammu and Kashmir, Governor N N Vohra on Friday invited the People's Democratic Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, the first and second largest parties in the elections, which threw up a highly-fractured verdict with no clear winner.
'Karpoori Thakur must be remembered by people today who are tired of witnessing fractious politics where corruption, bigotry, hatred and violence seems to have become distressingly recurrent,' says Mohammad Sajjad.
The apex court also put embargo on filing of any fresh writ petition challenging constitutional validity on abrogation of Article 370.
'As PDP chief, Mehbooba has every right to raise issues in her party's interest.'
Much of Bangladesh was paralysed on Monday by the latest strike called by Jamaat-e-Islami, with two powerful explosions rocking Shahbag Square, the epicentre of a massive campaign demanding toughest punishment for leaders of the fundamentalist party for war crimes during the 1971 war.
A man of perseverance and great survivor, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed had an astute political sense honed by decades of experience in Kashmir politics that has stood him in good stead in crafting a delicate alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party to return as chief minister for the second time.
All opposition parties from J&K to apprise President of Kashmir situation.
The NHRC issued notice to the Union ministries of home and human resource development seeking a report over the reported ill-treatment of Kashmiri people in the aftermath of the attack.
Where do the big guns stand as counting underway for the Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand elections?
Whether the Udta Punjab makers cave in remains to be seen but here's a list of the ones who did.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the government has no other option but to extend President's Rule in Jammu and Kashmir as the Election Commission wants to hold assembly elections in the state by the end of 2019.
What connection does Qaumi Tarana -- Pakistan's national anthem, which millions of Indians heard at the Eden Gardens on Saturday -- have to Bombay?
While the Punjab CM expressed grief, his Congress colleagues targeted Sushma Swaraj for misleading the families.
Dinesh Raheja salutes the legend's versatility in her heyday.
Enthusiasm to take part in the democratic process by exercising their right to franchise transcended the age boundaries on Tuesday as old and young alike, the many-time voters and the first-time ones, came out to vote in the first phase of elections in Kashmir.
The four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha pronounced the single-word judgement at the tense courtroom.
Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday attacked the coalition partner on issues like Pakistan, beef, Ram temple and inflation but ruled out walking out of the Maharashtra government any time soon.
Bangladesh's fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami was on Wednesday sentenced to death by a special tribunal for his role in the killing of thousands of people during the nation's independence war against Pakistan in 1971.
'Compared to other social groups, managing the Muslim constituency has always been easier for the secularists.' 'Just some symbolic measures and window-dressing would keep the Muslim flock together.' 'Having been betrayed by all the supposedly 'secular' political parties, Muslims should turn into citizens without any ascriptive identity marks,'says Mohammad Sajjad.
'It is a matter of regret that the BJP and PDP refused to take the Pandits aboard in this government.' 'The present government is following a policy of soft secessionism.'
If the Opposition is bent upon shouting its own agenda on a deaf ruling dispensation, then it becomes binding upon the chair to ensure that the parliamentary affairs aren't reduced to a farce.
Jammu and Kashmir was bracing for a fresh spell of rains as predicted by Met department, leading to nervousness among the people who were heaving a sigh of relief as flood situation was showing improvement on Tuesday after causing the death of 17 people.
Government formation in Jammu and Kashmir remains a puzzle with the Bharatiya Janata Party looking for a partner among the state's mainstream parties but the National Conference has virtually ruled out a tie up with the saffron party.
The new PDP chief will have to work hard to keep everyone in the state happy.
The main opposition party alleged "trampling" of democracy by the BJP-led government which hit back by reminding that Congress had "butchered" democracy by misusing Article 356 about 100 times.
'No amount of economic measures or prosperity in Kashmir will make any dent in the situation there. The average Kashmiri understands the Pakistani game and is unlikely to prefer Pakistan over India. But the Pakistanis have made clever use of religious symbols and slogans to force religious-minded Kashmiris to support them. India has failed to counter this posturing by the separatists,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Dadri was an extension of the cultural fascism that was happening in the country.' 'All the people in the country suffered under the Emergency, but now we see one community trying to crush the other community. Do they know what is brewing in the minds of the other side? What is happening today can lead to a very dangerous situation in the country.' 'We have lost religious tolerance in today's India.' Writer Sarah Joseph on why she returned her Sahitya Akademi Award.
'Muslims, like people of all other faiths, are quite comfortable with the idea of nationalism and democracy today. But are they following Islam in its spirit? That is a different question.'
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