Ruling Congress-led UDF in Kerala on Saturday suffered a setback in the civic elections, billed as the semifinal ahead of next year's assembly polls, as CPI-M-led LDF won a majority of local bodies while the BJP made inroads improving its performance.
32 years ago, CPI-M activists hacked both the legs of Sadanandan Master, a former party member who has moved over to the RSS. Master learnt to walk using prosthetic legs and rebuilt his life. Today he is the BJP candidate highly-sensitive Koothuparamba constituency of Kannur. He told Shobha Warrier/Rediff.com his story.
A minor fire followed by smoke at the venue of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy's mass contact programme held here amid tight security gave tense moments to police and other officials on Friday.
P Rafeeq's comment on the burkha led to his studio being razed.
As counting is on in the five states - Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Assam and West Bengal -- here's a look at where the heavyweights stand.
The IMD said that there has been an increase in the rainfall activity in Kerala and monsoon could hit the state anytime now.
'Those who were not co-operating are co-operating now.' 'Now, our facilities are fit, our doctors are fit and we have a better protocol of how to do isolation, how to do the collection.'
'It would be interesting to see how Yogi Adityanath is received in Tamil Nadu, where he is due to end his Ram Rajya Rath Yatra in Rameswaram on March 23.'
Not many have seen the Kerala in which coconut trees are sparse but waterfalls, lush valleys, and deep forests are abundant.
'Kerala is probably the only state, where (with regard to) the clinical management and the overall protocols, we have an infectious disease team heading the whole containment plan.'
She alleged that by continuing in the position of Jalandhar diocese Bishop, Franco Mulakkal and his close associates "are using the wealth of the diocese to divert" the course of the police investigation.
Temple priest performed a 'purification' ritual for an hour before the doors were opened again.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Saturday dissociated itself from a controversial article published in its Malayalam mouthpiece that Nathuram Godse should have targeted Jawaharlal Nehru instead of Mahatma Gandhi as he was responsible for Partition, a view that came under attack from political parties.
The preliminary forensic sciences laboratory report on the Bodh Gaya blasts may have ruled out the use of RDX to trigger the blasts, but investigators say that the attacks bear resemblance with the blasts carried out at Ahmedabad and Jaipur by the Indian Mujahideen
There are 13 new faces, including two women, in the cabinet. Five ministers had held positions in previous LDF ministries.
Women's rights activists and political leaders -- cutting across party lines -- have voiced concern against the murder, which they believe was a first of its kind in the state for the sheer brutality of the crime.
'We fear worse things to happen. We feel this is just a teaser.' 'I wonder whether later, the Christian community will be targeted.'
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Saturday
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, however, told reporters that no one would be allowed to block devotees from proceeding to Sabarimala.
With mercury level soaring, Kerala is likely to face drought-like situation amid fears of drinking water scarcity and power crisis in the poll-bound state as water bodies are fast drying up.
GVK Group that runs the swanky MIAL (Mumbai international airport) pipped rival GMR Group to bag the contract for the proposed facility in Navi Mumbai which will ease the severe congestion at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
Shah also attacked the Congress and said "the party was finished in the country due to corruption and family rule."
The bitter political rivals -- the ruling LDF and the UDF -- close ranks in the state assembly to oppose the ban.
A photograph of Kumar snapped while scurrying across the bridge with the child two days ago, has gone viral on the social media with people showering praise on him.
The Indian Navy has stepped up its game with new surveillance and modernised equipment and ships that enables it to combat any challenge
The Lok Sabha election will be held in 7 phases, beginning on April 11, 2019 and ending on May 19, 2019.
Nearly four lakh people have been affected across seven districts of Assam.
'It's doubtful if serving defence personnel and their families will retain their faith in this government if such gimmicks allowing political considerations to over-ride security issues are allowed to prevail,' warns Brigadier S K Chatterji (retd).
Prohibitory orders were imposed in Delhi and parts of Karnataka. Police kept tight vigil in Kerala. In Gujarat, 50 people were arrested for Thursday's violence.
The NDA candidate tells the Election Commission that the Maoists plan to kidnap him.
Eleven persons, three of them local Communist Party of India-Marxist functionaries, were sentenced to life imprisonment in the sensational T P Chandrasekharan murder case by a special court in Kozhikode on Tuesday.
Shutters of at least 22 reservoirs in the state have been opened to drain out excess water.
'It is not impossible that there will be some arrangement with the Congress in West Bengal after the ongoing local body polls.'
'I always say I am a teacher by choice and an entrepreneur by chance.'
The BJP president hit out at Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, alleging that the maximum killings of BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers have taken place in the latter's home district.
Venu Muruvelil reports on the Outrage over thriving child marriages in Kerala as the state government looks the other way.
'It is true that we changed our opinion.' 'I feel the BJP or any other political party is guilty of not understanding the real mood of the people.'
These foodies will take you on a memorable gastronomical journey across Kerala.
Even if the government didn't plan for demonetisation properly, it could have taken steps on a war footing later to ensure the situation improves.
An internal communication of the home ministry states that the Naxal movement is fast spreading to the southern states, and if immediate action is not taken it could blow up into a full-fledged menace, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
