Renowned playwright Lolita Chakrabarti's stage adaptation of the story of 16-year-old Indian boy Pi (Piscine) Patel stranded in the ocean on a lifeboat with a Royal Bengal Tiger named Richard Parker opened at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on March 30.
Eleven people died during a havan at Beleshwar Mahadev Jhulelal temple in Madhya Pradesh's Indore after they fell into a well as its cover caved-in under the weight of a huge crowd, while three others got fatally electrocuted during a Ram Navami procession in Rajasthan's Kota.
The BJP has fielded Rajya Sabha MP Swapan Dasgupta as its candidate for the Tarakeshwar seat in the upcoming West Bengal assembly elections.
'Somehow, Rahul Gandhi is not able to connect with the youth of the country.' 'While Modiji is 72, Rahul is only 52.' 'But the popularity of the prime minister among the young population is a lot more than Rahul's.'
"Congratulations to Mamata Didi for @AITCofficial's win in West Bengal. The Centre will continue to extend all possible support to the West Bengal Government to fulfil people's aspirations and also to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic," he tweeted.
The Bengal Tiger, the Asiatic Lion and the more widespread leopard have had to swallow their pride. Rarely has the prime minister turned up in person, sun hat and camera at the ready, to welcome a member of the big cat family, notes Shyam G Menon.
'Mamata is campaigning hard and not giving the BJP a walkover.'
India and Bangladesh on Tuesday signed an interim water sharing agreement for Kushiyara river, the first such pact since the signing of the Ganga water treaty in 1996.
This star designer who has now found an audience on foreign shores, all thanks to her minimalistic style, and worship of Indian fabrics.
'The power sector accounts for much of the financial burden of state governments in India.'
Last week, Dabur India Private Limited had withdrawn its Fem cream bleach advertisement, which showed same-sex couple celebrating Karva Chauth and watching each other through a sieve, after minister Mishra termed the ad as objectionable and warned that legal steps would be taken against it.
From small restaurants to mighty software companies, it is businesses, not the government, that create jobs. Yet, in a cruel irony, they have to fight extortive and brutal State power every step of the way, says Debashis Basu.
'CUET follows multiple choice questions which are very superficial, and don't test a student's understanding or ability to express or analyse.' 'This is not a good way to select students for undergraduate courses.'
The youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Assam on Monday claimed its activists have filed more than 1,000 complaints against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at various police stations in the state over his tweets that left the Northeast out of India's geographical expanse while he talked about the country's unity.
'He is exposing the failings of the BJP, which is rankling the party.'
UNESCO is looking at adding another Indian locale to its prestigious index of World Heritage Sites -- Meghalaya's Living Root-Bridges.
What we have in the Congress is a useful glue to hold a non-cultural, unified Opposition together. That is the sacrifice the Congress must be willing to live with if showing the BJP the door is what the collective Opposition wants, observes Shyam G Menon.
'No right thinking student of politics can name one state where the BJP gains in double digits.'
The elections in two eastern Indian states were keenly observed in Bangladesh for two major contentious issues, writes Prakash Bhandari from Dhaka.
81 per cent voter turnout recorded in West Bengal, 80 per cent in Assam.
Shah attacked Banerjee over the alleged culture of political violence in the state, saying the only industry that was flourishing in Bengal was that of "crude bombs and illegal weapons".
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party managed to notch up a morale-boosting win on its 'Mission Northeast' on Thursday by retaining Tripura emphatically, despite anti-incumbency and newcomer Tipra Motha playing spoilers to its party, while also piggy-backing to power in Nagaland on Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP's shoulder.
'For the first time one single party is getting 49% which is a record of its own.'
'Finally after 11 years of love, romance, friendship and fun, I got married to my everything today.'
'The food security along the coastal region will be severely affected.'
The prime minister said that Netaji is the biggest source of inspiration for the dream of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat' (Self-reliant India) and 'Sonar Bangla' (Golden Bengal).
Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Sarma said a total of eight sub groups will be formed with members from the indigenous Muslim community to suggest various developmental measures.
Former Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday, weeks after he announced quitting his Rajya Sabha membership on the floor of the House deploring 'violence' in poll-bound West Bengal.
'Unlike on the western and eastern borders where there is an enemy at the gate, here there is an invisible enemy which is building its own capability and can come into play at a time and place of his choosing.'
Noting that Goddess Durga was worshipped as a symbol of 'Shakti' (strength), Modi said his government was consistently working for the empowerment of women.
'Mamata is synonymous with Bengal, its culture, language, traditions.'
The estimated size of the Durga Puja economy could be about Rs 2.75 trillion in 2021 had there been no pandemic, points out Atanu Biswas.
'They have a voracious appetite.' 'But there are many places where they go and they lose.'
'In his first speech in Parliament, Modi spoke about the slavery of 1,400 years, and though he didn't say in so many words, the meaning was that he had come to re-establish a Hindu Rashtra.'
Reaching out to politically crucial Kurmi caste population of the Purulia district, Shah promised jobs for their every family and education in their language.
'Partition was a two-sided story in a very big way.' 'We've oversimplified it, blamed the British, thought of ourselves only as victims.' 'We've been both victims and perpetrators.'
Had he not taken his final curtain call on April 23, 1992, Satyajit Ray would still, undoubtedly, have been making movies.
Why are the poor turning Right instead of turning toward far-Left parties, ponders Pranab Bardhan.
