'Virat and Rohit not playing (Duleep Trophy) was not good for Indian cricket, nor was it good for the two players. Had they played the Duleep Trophy and had some time in the red-ball cricket, things would have been different.'
The two-time Rajya Sabha MP will be succeeding Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who has been elected to the Lok Sabha.
What some of our leaders were up to on the weekend.
Hospitality players want the government to accord infrastructure status to hotels to make investments on new properties more attractive rather than categorising them as luxury or even 'sin goods' in the upcoming Union Budget considering the sector's potential to play a key role in India's growth. They also want the government to consider incentives in the form of tax breaks or subsidies for adopting sustainable and eco-friendly practices, while asserting that the upcoming budget must accelerate the tourism agenda saying it is an opportunity to make Indian hospitality the emerging engine for GDP growth and employment generation.
Among the BJP rebels, a notable figure is Gopal Shetty, a two-time MLA and former Lok Sabha member from Mumbai. He has filed his nomination as an independent candidate against the party's official nominee, Sanjay Upadhyay, in Mumbai's Borivali assembly constituency.
Earlier this week, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said a law on population control would not serve any purpose but insisted instead on education for girls and women.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD-U launched a frontal attack on ally BJP, asking it to rein in 'loudmouth leaders' whose 'arrogance' had cost it an old partner like the Shiv Sena.
The Bombay high court on Friday said it will have to hear senior IPS officer and current acting director general of police of Maharashtra, Sanjay Pandey before passing an order on a petition seeking permanent appointment of an officer to the post.
The party rank and file seemed bewildered at the sudden turn of events which has taken the spotlight away from the "Har Ghar Tiranga" programme which the BJP was planning to hold with much fanfare.
While the outcome will be known once the meeting is over, more than one of the prospective attendees denied the party's ties with the BJP having worsened to an extent to call for a realignment.
'The issue has been cleared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief J P Nadda much before the elections'
An ugly spat ensued after a JD-U spokesman took potshots at state BJP president Sanjay Jaiswal over his offer of help to family members of those who died in a hooch tragedy in West Champaran district last year.
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam MP D N V Senthil Kumar on Wednesday apologised in the Lok Sabha for his controversial 'north-south divide' remark which had sparked a backlash.
As per the trends, the NDA was leading in the elections.
Parliament witnessed another round of adjournments on Monday as the Bharatiya Janata Party created uproar demanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's resignation over coal allocation issue and CBI affidavit on it.
Reports in a section of the media in Patna, however, stated that the number of people found infected was as high as 75. Jaiswal, nonetheless, maintained 'only 24 samples are positive. These reports are of preliminary rapid tests and we are still awaiting the results of the comprehensive QT-RPR. None of those who have tested positive are having any symptoms. Yet, by way of abundant caution, they have all quarantined themselves at home'.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday alleged that Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad had placed wrong facts in the Lok Sabha on 15 occasions in the last three years and insisted it will move a Privilege Motion against him for "misleading" the House. BJP Member of Parliament from West Champaran Sanjay Jaiswal told reporters that Azad has been misleading the House for the past three years on issues.
It was a hit and miss for some but each one of them revelled in the opportunity to showcase their talent.
In an embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar, one of its MLAs has been accused of hurting Hindu sentiments by allegedly berating Goddess Lakshmi and Saraswati and Lord Hanuman.
The BJP MLAs, who had staged a demonstration outside the assembly during the first half and marched to the Raj Bhavan during the lunch hour, were summoned by the speaker when the House reassembled at 2 pm.
The bids on Rishabh Pant could well soar like his audacious no-look six in the ongoing Perth Test, as he seems poised to become the highest paid player among the 577 who will go under the hammer at the two-day IPL mega auction, starting in Jeddah on Sunday.
The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar came under fresh attack on Monday from state Bharatiya Janata Party president Sanjay Jaiswal whose party seems annoyed with junior ally Janata Dal-United's shrill demands for special assistance from the Centre.
Union minister RCP Singh, who was recently denied another term in the Rajya Sabha by the Janata Dal-United he formerly headed, should "heed the message" and resign from the cabinet, a key political aide of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has said.
The BJP's Bihar unit responded to the tweet saying, "The first picture is your future and the second is of India. Understood?"
The BJP held a meet amid hints that the central leadership may bring in new faces at key positions in the state.
Presence of Fadnavis will be keenly watched in view of recent tug of war between his home state Maharashtra and Bihar over death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a Patna born Bollywood actor.
Singh, considered close to RJD president Lalu Prasad and his family, was charged with raising slogans against Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on February 13, during a heated exchange in the House.
BJP leaders hit back at the DMK and asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi if he agreed with the insulting remarks of its Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) partner against the north Indians.
The Janata Dal-United parliamentary board chief latched on to reports of KS Eshwarappa, a minister in the BJP-ruled southern state, having said that the tricolour may be replaced by a saffron flag sometime in the future.
The former skipper called Rohit an "old-school" long-format batter. He added that there will be np competition if Rohit extend his career.
BJP backed to the hilt Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as its leader in the state and rebuffed a rebellious Chirag Paswan, while acknowledging his Lok Janshakti Party as an ally 'at the Centre'. At a press conference which was attended by top leaders of the JD-U headed by Kumar and the BJP, it was made clear that 'only those who accept the chief ministers leadership will be deemed to be a part of the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar'.
'We are allies and equals. We have to run Bihar collectively'
State minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, a national spokesman of the party, made the averment in Patna at a press conference he addressed jointly with Sanjay Jaiswal, the Bihar BJP president.
Normal life in Bihar was on Friday affected by a dawn to dusk `bandh' called by students' bodies in protest against anomalies in the format of exams conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board and police high handedness against protesting students.
'The discussion before this innings with Dhruv was 'go down to the level of your practice and everything will be fine'. The talk is always about staying hungry.'
Stalin said he spoke to Nitish Kumar over phone and assured him that no harm would befall workers and conveyed to him that 'all workers are our workers who help Tamil Nadu's growth and nothing will happen to impact them, I have assured him'.
Patkar and his three partners allegedly bagged Mumbai civic body contracts fraudulently for managing COVID-19 field hospitals during the pandemic, the official said.
'Our approach is forward-looking. The central leadership wants young leaders to lead the charge now. This will also send a clear signal that lapses will not be tolerated. We are targeting beyond 2025.' Satyavrat Mishra reports.
Iyer is a player who primarily plays with hands with not much pronounced footwork.
History, incidentally, has often been the stick that the BJP and the JD-U have used to beat each other with.
