Glimpses from India and around the world that will make you smile and cry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the NDA's victory in the Bihar assembly elections as a win for good governance, development, and social justice. He congratulated alliance partners and thanked the people of Bihar for their support.
The Congress's performance in the Lok Sabha elections showed that it may be down but not out, and Modi is determined to ensure that in the next round in 2029, it is consigned to irrelevance, points out Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
A new report indicates that increasing unconditional cash transfer schemes for women across 12 Indian states are impacting their fiscal health, with six states projecting revenue deficits.
"In 1948, Indian armed forces were in a decisive position to take back Pakistan-occupied Kashmir but then PM Jawaharlal Nehru declared unilateral ceasefire," Amit Shah said. In 1971, Shah said, 93,000 Pakistani soldiers surrendered and India had 15,000 sq km Pakistan territory under control, but still PoK was not taken back. During the 1962 war with China, then PM Nehru bade goodbye to Assam in a speech on Akashvani, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticized the Congress party for allegedly neglecting the tribal community's contributions to India's freedom struggle during its 60-year rule. He spoke at an event marking Janjatiya Gaurav Divas and inaugurated development projects for tribal communities.
Democracy in India is too important to be left to a leader with a limited appeal. If Rahul Gandhi cares for India, he should step aside for a new crop of leaders, suggests Harishchandra.
Protests against the Waqf (Amendment) Act turned violent in Cachar district of Assam on Sunday, with protesters throwing stones at police and the police using batons to disperse the crowd. The incident occurred in Berenga area of Silchar town where around 300-400 people protested without permission. The Cachar district administration imposed prohibitory measures across the district under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to prevent further unrest. The order prohibits gatherings of five or more people without permission, carrying weapons, organizing protests, and traffic disruptions.
'You cannot 'clear' your way to peace.' 'You need intelligence, calibrated force, impartial law enforcement, political neutrality, humanitarian returns and a sustained reconciliation plan.'
The partition of Bengal in 1905 split more than a province, it touched people's hearts and awakened India's fight for freedom.
Assam is hosting over 60 ambassadors from various countries on a trip to showcase its potential. The ambassadors will visit Kaziranga National Park, witness a Jhumur dance performance, and attend a business summit. The state government aims to highlight the peaceful atmosphere and convince countries with negative travel advisories to withdraw them.
'...in the minds of the youth of Assam.' 'Now, no protests happen in Assam because of fear of police encounters.'
Reciting Islamic verse 'Kalma' saved the life of Assam University Professor Debasish Bhattacharya by a whisker from the terrorists' bullets in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam where he was holidaying with his family.
The district administration said that air pollution is still within the acceptable limit and the local office of Pollution Control Board, Assam is closely monitoring the situation.
An agitated mob attacked a convoy carrying the accused in cultural icon Zubeen Garg's death case in Assam, leading to violence, property damage, and internet shutdowns.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma believes that the BJP could win more seats in the state by aggressively campaigning in minority-dominated areas. He attributed the party's recent success in the bypolls to its beneficiary schemes, which he claims have garnered support from the minority community. Sarma emphasized that the BJP will continue with its development work for all communities and has no plans for appeasement. He also gave an update on the Guwahati-North Guwahati bridge project, which is progressing well and is scheduled to be opened to the public in July 2025. Sarma also hinted at a possible cabinet reshuffle in the coming months.
If he cannot do it this term by using his bureaucracy and experts from different fields, it will be a tragedy, asserts Ramesh Menon.
The Congress on Friday posted its second worst performance in Bihar's electoral history, managing to win only six of the over 50 seats it contested and losing deposits in most seats as its 'vote chori' pitch failed to make any impact on the ground.
Sarma also claimed that marriages of minors were registered by the Kazis earlier, but the proposed bill will prohibit any such move.
Under this programme, selected students will receive an annual scholarship of Rs 30,000 for the full duration of their undergraduate course.
Security forces in Manipur have launched a major crackdown on the banned People's Liberation Army (PLA) following an ambush on an Assam Rifles convoy. Fifteen cadres have been arrested, including suspects directly involved in the attack. Investigations are underway to determine if the PLA has political patronage and if weapons looted during ethnic clashes are being used against security forces.
The National Democratic Alliance was set to sweep the Bihar assembly polls, surging ahead in over 200 of 243 seats on Friday with the Bharatiya Janata Party emerging as single largest party with about 90 per cent strike rate, reaffirming the popularity and campaign clout of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the face of the ruling alliance through the poll battle in the highly sensitive political state.
'Rahul Gandhi's problem is that he doesn't think big.' 'He looks more like an activist, while politics is like a game of chess. You attack and then defend and have a game-plan.'
Olympic medallist Lovlina Borgohain and six-time Asian champion Shiva Thapa secured impressive victories in their respective boxing bouts at the 38th National Games in Dehradun.
Left to its machinations, the BJP would have loved to cut Nitish down to size, but it can't afford to do so as the JD-U is in alliance with the BJP at the Centre, and cannot form a government on its own in Bihar. For now, both need each other: Nitish for legitimacy, the BJP for numbers, points out Ramesh Menon.
If they act now, they can reshape the strategic map of Asia without firing a shot. If they wait, the next opportunity will come only after a serious Taiwan Strait incident -- by which time the price will be far higher, and the room for boldness far smaller -- the opportunity may well be lost by then. The question is no longer whether this can or should be done, points out Varun Arya.
Sarma said his government was looking forward to the legislation on the Uniform Civil Code, which will be considered during a special four-day session of the Uttarakhand assembly that is starting from February 5.
Issuing a notification, the Revenue and Disaster Management Authority claimed that the intelligence agencies have informed the government of several cases of attempted transfer of land by fraudulent means in some places.
The wife and sister of singer Zubeen Garg are seeking answers and demanding justice following his death in Singapore last month. They have taken to social media to express their grief and call for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) has been extended for six months in parts of Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh due to the prevailing law and order situation.
There were wounds and bruises on the bodies, including in private parts, of the three youths who were killed in an alleged encounter with Assam Police in Cachar district last month, according to post-mortem and inquest reports.
After big win in Bihar, the BJP is likely to push harder in Tamil Nadu, where the DMK government and the uneasy BJP-AIADMK alliance are preparing for a tense election filled with seat-sharing fights, changing alliances, and the unpredictable entry of Vijay's TVK party, predicts N Sathiya Moorthy.
Addressing a massive Martyrs' Day rally in Kolkata, Banerjee gave a clarion call to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2026 assembly elections and eventually oust it from power at the Centre, declaring, "If this linguistic profiling doesn't stop, our resistance movement will reach New Delhi."
Thousands of TMC supporters thronged the rally route, waving the party flags, raising slogans and holding aloft colourful posters.
Nine migrant workers died after an under-construction building collapsed at the Ennore thermal power station in Chennai. Authorities have responded, and compensation has been announced for the families of the deceased.
The CM also said that to prevent the sale of land from the indigenous communities like tribals and Adivasis to others in undivided Goalpara district, a strong law will be brought.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Mizoram and Manipur on September 13. He will inaugurate the new Bairabi-Sairang railway in Mizoram and may visit Manipur for the first time since the ethnic violence broke out.
The BJP's MoSha leadership are past masters in encouraging defections from their allies if it helped their party capture the chief minister's chair. In Bihar, they are not sure if JD-U MPs and MLAs would be willing to cross over to the BJP if the Nitish leadership came on top -- and the NDA crossed the halfway mark together, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Centre on Monday decided to extend the ban imposed on the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang [NSCN-K)] along with all its factions, wings and front organisations for five more years due to its involvement in activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India.
The Assam government released full-page advertisements in newspapers claiming Bhimashankar as one of the 12 Jyotirlingas in the state, Mahesh Pathak, president of All India Tirth Purohit Mahasabha, told reporters in Mathura.
