Venugopal is valued highly by Mrs Gandhi and Mr Gandhi. They consider him a loyalist, more to the point, one who can deliver.
The 10-day-long annual Ganesh Chaturthi festival began on a low-key note on Friday with several state governments prohibiting public celebrations due to the Covid pandemic and devotees taking the virtual route to pay obeisance and join the festivities.
Goa's poll panel chief has already taken cognisance of similar remarks allegedly made by the Delhi CM.
India will witness its first major cricket tournament in the country since the COVID-19 disruption when the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy begins the much-delayed domestic season from Sunday, presenting a platform for the hopefuls to impress before the Indian Premier League players' auction.
Modi, who came to Hangzhou from his first visit to Vietnam, met Xi and held talks on a host of issues including bilateral tensions between the two countries over a raft issues.
With demand drying up, hotels are surviving on quarantine centres and isolation facilities.
Goa's Salgaocar Sports Club won the South and West Zone qualifying round of the Nike-MUPC under-15 football tournament at the Nehru stadium in Chennai on Saturday. They beat Cosmos, Tiruvallur, by a 15th minute goals, scored by Pandhari Chopdekar off a pass from Godfrey Silva.
The hotel has currently turned into a high security zone with guests living there moved out to other facilities of the Taj group.
Intimate getaways offered in the form of homestays by hotels are proving to be the flavour of this extraordinary and difficult time. Not far from cities, they offer a pleasant respite from homebound lives, says Pavan Lall.
All eyes are on the parties to see which of them can stake claim to power.
As ferry services increase and remote working becomes the norm, the rural beach town has turned into a sought-after refuge for city slickers from Mumbai and Pune.
Other world leaders too voiced concern against terrorism and vowed to fight it collectively.
According to the officials, the funds to the Congress were sent by Hyderabad-based Megha Infrastructure and Engineering.
Sanju Samson replaced Virat Kohli for the three-match T20I series against Bangladesh, while Mumbai all-rounder Shivam Dube earned his maiden call-up to the Indian team.
Distress sales, market closures and anchoring of fishing fleets have been reported from West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Sixteen deaths in rain and flood-related incidents have been reported from western Maharashtra in the last seven days, while the toll in Karnataka rose to five since Sunday.
The prime minister also visited the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi after the milestone was achieved and interacted with hospital officials.
Mumbai and certain adjoining areas experienced pre-monsoon showers, sources said on Sunday.
There is concern about the poor state of readiness of the navy's 140 warships which face severe shortages in sonar equipment, helicopters and torpedoes.
Hotels are also relying on couples who had earlier planned destination weddings but are now considering options within the country.
'The last time we had such a late withdrawal of monsoon was in 1960 or so.'
The reshuffle had politics at its heart, so the biggest complement of new ministers, both Cabinet rank and below, came from UP, which will see assembly elections in a few months.
The BJP on the other hand is in power in 16 states in the country.
'What is refreshing is that we're back to work in such times, when things are really looking low all over the world,' says supermodel Lakshmi Rana.
Celebs follow a template for their special day -- an intimate ceremony with few people and a keen eye for a touch of luxury in every aspect.
This is the first time that 'Exercise IBSAMAR' is being conducted in Indian waters and it will conclude on February 29. All previous editions were held off South Africa, Navy said in a release.
Parrikar had moved to the South Block at the insistence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2014.
Factories are shutting down owing to a shortage of labour and raw materials, and a lack of logistical support amid the ongoing nationwide lockdown against the coronavirus pandemic.
'.. if the cost is its own survival,' says Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
A total 95 deaths deaths were reported since Friday morning, of which 37 in Maharashtra, 24 in Gujarat, nine in West Bengal, seven in Madhya Pradesh, four each from Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, three from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu and two from Delhi and one each from Punjab and Haryana.
The cyclone would bring light to moderate rains at most places and 'heavy to very heavy downpour' at some places on November 6.
Nearly 6,000 passengers were stranded as train services on the Konkan Railway route in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district were suspended on Thursday after a river overflowed following heavy rains, while incessant downpour badly hit road and rail traffic in several parts of the state, including around Mumbai, as authorities called in NDRF to help the administration in rescue efforts.
Former Union minister and Congress leader Rajeev Shukla was re-appointed chairman of the powerful IPL Governing Council on Monday, ending a month-long suspense over the selection for the top post in the cash-rich Twenty20 league.
Mahindra United registered two impressive victories on the second day of the Nike-Manchester United Premier Cup (under-15) South and West Zone football qualifiers in Margao, Goa, on Thursday. First they beat Sporting Clube de Goa 1-0, and followed it up with a 2-0 win over Air India 2-0.
The airline is inducting two more 70-seater Embraer planes, which will be based in Bangalore and will be used to connect Bangalore and Chennai with Pune and Goa, and then other cities in western India.
It was the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew, the Navy said.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Ayanagar weather station recorded 99.2 mm rainfall, the maximum in the city, during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday.
Boko Haram and Dawood Ibrahim have struck a deal to sell drugs in India, discovers Vicky Nanjappa/Rediff.com
Nitin A Gokhale, Co-founder, BharatShakti.in and long-time Rediff.com contributor, remembers a most unusual politician.
Cosmos club Tiruvallore beat Sporting Club de Goa 2-0 in the South Zone semi-finals while in the West Zone semi-finals, Salgaocar Sports Club, Goa, defeated Mahindra United via the tie-breaker 6-5 in the West Zone semis, in the Manchester United Premier Cup qualifiers.
