The sky outside was a perfect blue with fair winds on that hot day in July, but inside the Jaguar an emergency was unraveling with every passing second. Wing Commander Vernon Desmond Keane had two options: Eject and see his beloved aircraft crash -- which would come at a great cost to the nation and cause harm to civilian life and property on the ground. Or try the limits of his training; push the aircraft and his flying skills to the edge of technical and human endurance and save them both.
He said that the Sri Lankan authorities have arrested more of their associates but it won't be right to reveal any more details on them as the investigation is going on.
Term life insurance policies, and senior citizens' health insurance premium are likely to be exempted from GST as most members of a state ministerial panel favoured cutting taxes to benefit the common man, an official said on Saturday. The GoM to decide on GST on health and life insurance premiums in its meeting on Saturday decided to exempt GST on premiums paid by individuals, other than senior citizens, for health insurance with coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh. However, 18 per cent GST will continue to be levied for health insurance cover of over Rs 5 lakh.
'Everyone knows there is no point in contesting elections from Gujarat as a Congress candidate because they know they will be wiped out.'
'Can we force somebody to contest and fight an election when they don't want to contest an election?'
'People worship Krishna. People don't worship Ved Vyas, who wrote the Mahabharata.' 'It's a cultural thing because we don't see the heroes behind the screen, we see the heroes who are in front of the screen.'
This would give BJP the chance to explore Constitutional options for government formation if there is no clear-cut mandate, explains Sheela Bhatt.
A Gujarat high court judge on Wednesday recused herself from hearing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's appeal challenging the order of the Surat sessions court that declined to stay his conviction in a criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
Addressing the 'parivartan sankalp rally' in Ahmedabad, Gandhi made a host of promises to people of Gujarat, where the assembly polls are due later this year, including creation of 10 lakh new jobs, building 3,000 English medium schools and free education to girls.
The more than a century-old bridge in Morbi caved on Sunday when it was crammed with people.
His cinema of compassion inspired me, gave me tools to develop empathy for others. But it also made me understand that serious, socially committed cinema with deeply engaging narratives and great performances is an art form to admire, appreciate and explore. Aseem Chhabra remembers Shyam Benegal, who passed into the ages on Monday evening.
Incumbent MLA Kandhal Jadeja of Samajwadi Party on Thursday retained the Kutiyana assembly seat
Long caught between two polarities, Gujarat's electoral field has expanded to include a third party with the Aam Aadmi Party challenging the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party as well as the opposition Congress that has lost ground but still has significant presence.
More than 17,000 people living near the coastal areas in Gujarat have been evacuated by authorities in view of the approaching tropical cyclone Nilofar which, however, has gradually weakened and is expected to hit the state merely as a "depression".
Pawar's comments were at variance from ally Shiv Sena-UBT, whose leader Sanjay Raut had said PM Modi should come forward to inform about his academic qualification and that his degree should be displayed at the entrance of the Parliament building.
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Congress workers stormed into the Gujarat party headquarters in Ahmedabad on Monday and burnt posters of senior leader Bharatsinh Solanki to protest against the party's decision to give a ticket to sitting MLA Imran Khedawala from his Jamalpur-Khadia seat in the city.
The Aam Aadmi Party alleged on Wednesday that its Surat East candidate Kanchan Jariwala was abducted at the behest of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which "feared" a defeat from the seat during the Gujarat assembly election.
Kejriwal asked whether the BJP-led central government was waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to make a move in this direction.
The milestone broadcast was an occasion for Modi to walk down the memory lane as he asserted that it was not merely a programme but a matter of faith and spiritual journey for him.
It was a high-stakes three-cornered fight between the BJP, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party.
'The new cabinet intends to create an impression in people's minds that even if it is new, it is performing from day one.'
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
'Already, the temperature has touched 39 degrees in some parts of Gujarat and now we are in the last week of February.' 'We need to activate the heat action plan from March 1.'
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Three national highways in Kutch, Navsari and Dang districts were blocked due to damage caused by rains. Fifty one state highways and over 400 panchayat roads have also been damaged, state Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi told reporters.
A sessions court in Ahmedabad on Saturday rejected the bail applications of activist Teesta Setalvad and former director general of police R B Sreekumar, arrested for allegedly fabricating documents to 'frame innocent people' in 2002 riots cases.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Sunday that he would resign after two days and sought early polls in the national capital while vowing not to sit in the chief minister's chair till people give him a 'certificate of honesty'.
Modi was born on September 17, 1950 in a small town in Gujarat.
Political analysts say the Congress appears on the backfoot this time after one of its senior tribal leaders from the region joined the BJP, which has a stronghold in urban areas where civic bodies, leaders and the network required to win the election are firmly with the saffron party.
At least 23 persons, including four children, were killed in a massive fire that swept through a game zone teeming with people enjoying a summer vacation outing in Gujarat's Rajkot city on Saturday evening, officials said.
Mining magnate Anil Agarwal has said Gujarat was picked over Maharashtra for the Vedanta-Foxconn's Rs 1.52 lakh crore semiconductor project based on 'professional and independent' advice, as the political row in Maharashtra over the facility escalated on Thursday.
Heavy waterlogging was witnessed in several towns and cities, while roads were closed in rural areas on Friday morning due a heavy spell.
The Aam Aadmi Party has claimed its internal survey has found it could win around 58 seats in the Gujarat assembly polls, likely to be held in December this year. The halfway mark in the state assembly is 92.
The Aam Aadmi Party on Friday demanded an accommodation for outgoing Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, saying he is entitled to it on account of being the convener of a national party.
The Election Commission on Thursday said that there were 'multiple factors' leading to the delay in the announcement of the Gujarat assembly polls, adding that the recent Morbi bridge collapse tragedy was one of them.
In a tweet, TMC national spokesperson and Rajya Dabha MP Derek O'Brien detailed the circumstances under which the arrest was made.
The Tirupati Laddu row intensified on Friday with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), which is managing the super-rich temple, backing Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu's claim that the famous 'prasadam' had animal fat and Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy dubbing the accusations as 'atrocious'.
As the Congress plans to field Rahul Gandhi for campaigning in poll-bound Gujarat, Chief Minister Narendra Modi has challenged the young leader to "convince" people of the state "about his politics".