The warmth and respect for India were evident wherever I went and noticed how most Latin Americans have Indian gurus either directly or online and yoga was very much in vogue, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
A high voter turnout was recorded in West Bengal, Assam Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry assembly elections on Tuesday. The massive polling exercise following COVID-19 health protocol and involving lakhs of personnel began at 7 am and the last hour from 6 pm to 7 pm was set aside for COVID-19 patients and those under isolation. The counting of votes in the states will be held on May 2.
The Supreme Court on Monday deferred the hearing on the Tamil Nadu government's plea alleging delay by Governor R N Ravi in granting assent to bills passed by the state assembly to December 1.
He also rejected queries on whether a "cleansing act" was going on in the universities.
A total of 11 special economic zones had been sanctioned in Kerala, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan informed the state assembly on Friday.
The Kerala Assembly on Thursday witnessed uproarious scenes over the solar scam with the Communist Party of India-Marxist-led Left Democratic Front opposition and ruling United Democratic Front headed by Congress coming face-to-face, leading to the adjournment of the House for the day.
'Its people are either victims of corruption or witnesses to it.'
In a blow to the Congress in poll bound Kerala, Senior leader P C Chacko on Wednesday announced his resignation from the party, alleging group interest in deciding party candidates for the assembly elections.
Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party chief K Surendran said the BJP's central leadership alone will decide on the party's chief ministerial candidate.
After the Onam festivities, medical experts had predicted that the TPR would go beyond 20 per cent and that the number of infections would rise further.
In yet another instance of his confrontation with the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam dispensation in Tamil Nadu, Governor R N Ravi on Monday concluded his customary address to the House within a few minutes, making certain remarks over the content of the address that were 'expunged'.
The global meltdown has significantly brought down the number of visitors from abroad to God's own country, prompting the government to now focus more on the domestic market.
'If Pinarayi Vijayan gets another term, Kerala will be a state where everybody has a house.'
Sources within the Congress, including those who have been members of the teams that drafted its 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha poll manifestos, said the Karnataka government decision lacked any empirical basis.
Catch the latest election results as they emerge, LIVE!
'Chandrababu is wiser and a very good administrator.' 'Jagan is the opposite. He is not very wise, not a good administrator.'
'After giving my own money to this party, I was insulted.'' 'Neither this party nor its leaders have no respect for women.'
With scorching summer pushing Kerala to unprecedented drought, political parties have voiced concern in the state assembly over the acute water and power crisis even as the government said it has already taken all possible measures to tackle the "grim situation."
The Governor of a state cannot refer bills passed by the legislature and readopted by it for presidential assent, the Supreme Court ruled on Friday, and asked Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi to hold a meeting with Chief Minister M K Stalin in an effort to end the impasse over 10 such pending bills.
'If Kerala votes back the LDF, if Tamil Nadu brings the DMK and if Bengal votes for the Trinamool, we will project a formidable opposition to the BJP.'
In yet another blow to the Congress in poll-bound Kerala, All India Congress Committee member and Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee vice-president K C Rosakutty on Monday resigned from the party's primary membership and decided to associate with the ruling CPI(M)-led LDF.
Against the backdrop of Kerala's appetite for commonsense, it was assumed that this controversy would pass. Respect for rationalism and scientific outlook is strong in the state despite political forces gnawing at it for their own goals, observes Shyam G Menon.
The elections will also see for the first time a symbol, which has been created by the National School of Design, allotted to 'None of the above' that will be placed at the bottom of the list of candidates.
The poll panel has convened a press conference at 4.30 pm.
'The first and most basic responsibility of any government is to protect its people from external threats and internal harm.' 'Budget 2025-2026 has to focus on meeting this responsibility,' asserts R Jagannathan.
The grilling of Brigadier-General Dyer by Akshay Kumar's Sir C Sankaran Nair, as shown in Kesari 2, is purely an imaginary sequence, proves Utkarsh Mishra.
'I have never seen a common man tapping a chief minister on the shoulder and giving him his petition, like needing money for a child admitted in a hospital.'
Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala demanded a judicial probe into the circumstances that led to opening of shutters of 40-odd dams at a time in the state.
The BJP is focusing determinedly on the seats it lost in 2019, with the hope of winning these either independently or with the aid of its allies.
The Tanur police said a case was registered on Sunday itself against the owner of the boat, which reportedly did not have a licence to function.
'Metroman' E Sreedharan's decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party has given a boost to the saffron's hopes to make huge electoral inroads in Kerala, one of the toughest political terrains for the party, in the assembly polls likely to be held in April.
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.
Kerala has not yet recieved any details of the package announced by Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss for prevention of diseases like chikungunya, Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan said on Tuesday.
On one hand, South Indian states have been complaining about denial of a proportionate portion of the sharable funds from the Centre, based on population. On the other hand, they stand to lose Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha seats that again are based on population, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Amid protest over the proposed ambitious semi-highspeed SilverLine rail project, also known as K-Rail, the Kerala government on Saturday published the detailed project report that estimated the cost of project to be Rs 63,941 crore.
Kerala Chief Minister Oomen Chandy says the state is not a haven for terrorist.
In four years, the state has had to battle cyclones, two floods, and two epidemiological disasters. If people bring Pinarayi Vijayan back to power, he must have done something right, obsevers Aditi Phadnis.
"Everybody in this country has the responsibility to implement the law which has been passed in Parliament,", the minister, who was in Chennai as part of the BJP's nationwide 'Jan Jagran Abhiyan' campaign in support of the Act, said.
The Bharatiya Janata Party lined up several promises, including a legislation to protect traditions of the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and a law against "love jihad", while assuring employment for at least one person from each family and free laptops to high school students, in its manifesto for the assembly polls unveiled in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President PT Usha has proposed that only disciplines featuring in the Olympics, Commonwealth and Asian Games be considered for inclusion in the future National Games,
