All the action from around the world last week, in case you missed it.
'Extravagant new promises can buy him time, but far from solving the problem, they compound the risk.' 'His main alternative is to stress not aspirations, but resentments.' 'He has already de-emphasised aspirational appeals: Nothing has been heard for over two years of the coming of achhe din,' points out James Manor.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
'Most likely scenario is Modi comes back with either a much smaller majority and no majority at all and a coalition.' 'Very hard to imagine him doing better than he did last time.' 'He will then be a weaker prime minister,' the author of The Billionaire Raj tells Rediff.com's Vaihayasi Pande Daniel.
Ex TRAI chief says Manmohan Singh warned him of harm on 2G issue
If Tamil Nadu is to avoid a hung assembly, it is up to the silent voters, whose combined strength is more than that of the two major combines in the fray, says N Sathiyamoorthy.
The spat began when Shree Chauhan, living in Washington, DC, asked US Press Secretary Sean Spicer if he had committed treason at an Apple store.
He said the NDA's work culture was different from that of the previous governments.
When political parties opt for alliances, it is to win an election, and if post-poll, to come to power by cobbling together the numbers to secure a majority. This has been a striking feature of Indian politics, throwing up such screens as 'coalition dharma' to hide all ills, including corruption, says Mahesh Vijapurkar.
'From chaiwala he has now become Rafalewala. He speaks a bunch of lies,' the West Bengal CM said.
Brazil arrested 10 people on Thursday suspected of belonging to a poorly organised group supporting Islamic State (IS) and discussing terrorist acts during the next month's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The differences with the BJP over contentious issues like Article 370 and AFSPA have been ironed out.
Kasaesbeh was captured in December after his F-16 jet crashed in ISIS territory
When Rajni Kothari pointed towards a new democratic alignment in India.
Amid a controversy over the recent the JNU row, the BJP said freedom of expression does not give a right to call for the country's destruction.
However, the tilting factor still remains: Can the rivalling 'Modi brand' of 'soft Hindutva' and 'hard-sell nationalism' garner more votes for the NDA in Tamil Nadu, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
Sri Lanka's newly elected president Mithripala Sirisena waves at media as he leaves the election commission in Colombo. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/ Reuters
A double-quick analysis of the Lankan election results would show that the relatively narrow victory margin of challenger Maithripala Sirisena was made up by the three minority communities of Tamils, Muslims and Christians, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
The letter, to maintain the current policy of denying Narendra Modi a visa to the United States, was released just as the BJP president arrived in Washington DC for a round of meetings with US lawmakers. Aziz Haniffa reports
Soon after the BJP lost the 2004 election, the stockmarkets went into unprecedented free fall. Then SEBI Chairman G N Bajpai reveals how his firm handling of the situation restored confidence and soon the markets were back to doing what they do best -- make money. A revealing excerpt from his book, A Game Changer's Memoir.
'We could crack IM modules in the country because one arrested member would spill beans on the other.' 'With ISIS, every module is different and is possibly being handled by different operators abroad.'
While the ruling combine faces strong anti-incumbency factor, opposition Shiv Sena-BJP needs to strive to win majority. Sanjay Jog reports
"It is wonderful. I had been living a double life, wearing a turban only at home," Simratpal Singh said, adding, "My two worlds have finally come back together."
Rahul Gandhi, who was also present at the event, refused to comment on UP CM's proposal.
The US wants to split Sino-India ties, says the Chinese media.
India is being fed on false homilies by those who have been either elected or appointed to be guardians of the Constitution and public faith. The shameful ordinance episode should be reviewed objectively in Parliament and outside by the intelligentsia -- and appropriate correctives applied, says C Uday Bhaskar.
The Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena were on Sunday trying to make last ditch efforts to salvage their alliance in Maharashtra for the upcoming Assembly polls after the Uddhav Thackeray's final offer of giving 119 seats to the coalition partner was rejected.
Critics have even suggested that India is doing this because it is not prepared to take on the requirements of TFA, with a relatively weak trade infrastructure.
A leak of 11.5 million tax documents has revealed how the rich and powerful use tax havens to hide their wealth.
'It is not possible for New Delhi to take sides between Beijing and Washington.'
During last week's Nuclear Security Summit, President Obama asked the media to leave and then screened videos depicting plausible scenarios pertaining to nuclear terrorism.
Though May won her Maidenhead seat in south-east England with 37,780 votes, she faced pressure to resign after losing her parliamentary majority.
The AAP has adopted policies in an ad hoc manner, without thinking them through or deriving them from a broader framework. This must change if the AAP is to become a credible alternative, says Praful Bidwai.
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday confirmed that Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar would be the Janata Parivar's chief ministerial candidate for the upcoming Bihar assembly polls.
United States Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel resigned on Monday amid reports of differences with President Barack Obama who apparently wants to install a new leadership at the Pentagon as he enters the last two years of his presidency facing new global challenges like the rise of IS.
DMK leader MK Stalin is concerned that a no-trust move would force the EPS faction to patch up with not only the OPS group but also the TTV camp and also get the 'Two Leaves' poll symbol unfrozen, which could upset his party's electoral apple cart, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
''The avoidance of the 'P' word had less to do with reality and more to do with the politics -- domestic and international -- of Mr Modi and his efforts to both appear statesman-like (vis-a-vis Pakistan) and rid himself of the taint of being some kind of Muslim-baiting hardliner.'
R Rajagopalan, who travelled through Tamil Nadu, says it will be an election of many firsts.
"We have removed the leader of an organisation that has continued to plot against and unleash attacks on American and coalition forces, to wage war against the Afghan people, and align itself with extremist groups like Al-Qaeda," the US president said in a statement.
'I would personally like to see Rahul Gandhi continue as party president.' 'I genuinely believe he has far more to offer to the party still, particularly in leading us in these challenging times that we find ourselves in.'
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