In Kerala, the use of black ranges from such convenience to strictures by community and religion to fashion and personal choice. One would have to be really insecure or too fond of the well settled life to see black solely as a badge of protest, points out Shyam G Menon.
Following is a brief chronology of major developments related to the formation of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and his abrupt move to dissolve Parliament.
A day before her scheduled appearance before the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise policy case, Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha led a hunger strike here on Friday seeking the passage of the long-pending Women's Reservation Bill in this Budget session of Parliament.
Learning perhaps from the Kargil debacle, Musharraf tried hard to evolve as a statesman in his dealings with India, recalls Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.
Bugti announced that he would support the Opposition in the wake of the no-confidence motion submitted against Imran Khan. Imran Khan's party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf set to face a no-trust motion in the National Assembly.
Expelled Aam Aadmi Party leader Yogendra Yadav on Wednesday said he has not received any official communication from the party regarding his expulsion, and still considers himself to be a part of the 'movement'.
'...only if we sort it out with Pakistan.'
'Since the party is at a stage when things are very bad, this is the best time to experiment.'
'An international survey has shown that India figures high in the list of countries on people's approval of torture.' 'What is surprising is that even if you look at the many vibrant social movements we've had, there's been no campaign that predominantly focuses on police torture.'
Keeping trusted men in key positions at Lahore, Rawalpindi and Peshawar has become vital for Bajwa, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
Hours after the macabre crime, a man wearing the blue robes of the Sikhs' Nihang order appeared before the media, claiming that he had 'punished' the victim for 'desecrating' a holy book.
After videos went viral on social media showing actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu handing over a flag to a man to hoist on the ramparts of the Red Fort on the Republic Day during the farmers' tractor rally, farmer leaders on Wednesday raised doubts over his political affiliation, claiming that "he is a worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party".
Here's the full text of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address to a joint session of the United States Congress, delivered on Thursday.
'The 10% increase in women voters was a determined bloc of voters.' 'They were willing to try this third party, specially because it seemed it had done something in Delhi.'
'This is a historical moment in the political history of Sri Lanka.' 'You can see the amount of pressure that is coming from the people because nobody addressed the policy blunders, multiple corruption charges and huge scandals.'
'The government is trying to give a message that we as political bosses have discretion of deciding what people will read and what people will not read.'
India has called the remarks by foreign leaders on protests by farmers as "ill-informed" and "unwarranted" as the matter pertained to the internal affairs of a democratic country.
With the National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejecting the no-confidence motion moved by the Opposition, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that the conspiracy hatched by a foreign country to topple the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in the country has failed.
'The negotiation was a result of -- based on the judgment that we weren't winning the war and therefore time was not on our side and better to make a deal sooner than later'
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), a forum comprising 40 farmer unions, called for a Bharat Bandh on Monday against the Centre's three agriculture laws. Here is its impact across the country:
The administration started preparing for the demolition of two precariously standing hotels in subsidence-hit Joshimath in Uttarakhand on Tuesday, but faced protests from their owners and locals on the issue of compensation, while more families were evacuated from the danger zone as the number of affected houses rose to over 700.
'The cabinet approval is a logical step. It doesn't hold any more significance than what we have already stated on November 19.'
The Chinese military, on the last day of its largest-ever military exercises to vent out its anger over United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, carried out island saturation attack drills in the Taiwan Straits, amid global concerns of a full-scale attack to annex the breakaway island which Beijing claims is part of its territory.
'Our villagers used to go up to Finger 4 and Finger 6, but today the Chinese are there.' 'Since April 2020, Chinese troops have blocked Indian troops from reaching at least ten patrolling points running from the Depsang plains in the north to Pangong Tso lake in the south.'
In a series of tweets, Faisal spoke about his idealism letting him down in 2019 when he resigned from government service to join politics.
'We felt it is our responsibility to stand by the farmers' and extend support of the whole of Maharashtra, Shiv Sena and Uddhav Thackeray saahab'
In Tokyo, hundreds of Japanese citizens came out on the streets to express solidarity with the oppressed people of Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
'Welfare schemes are not a necessary evil, they are a necessary good.'
The parties also said that the decision has come in late and had the Modi government shed its 'arrogance earlier' and repealed the laws opposed by farmers, a number of precious lives lost during the nearly year-long agitation could have been saved.
India in the past rejected similar reports.
A Supreme Court bench of Justice M R Shah and Justice Bela M Trivedi in a special sitting on Saturday upheld the Maharashtra government's plea and suspended the Bombay high court order acquitting former Delhi University Professor G N Saibaba in a case relating to his alleged Maoist links.
The 77-year-old former US vice president on Friday night took his tally of pledged delegates over the halfway mark of 1,991 from a total of 3,979, thus becoming eligible to earn the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.
People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) leaders, including three former chief ministers, were put under house arrest on Saturday before a protest against the proposals of Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission, prompting angry reactions from political parties which said such steps will only 'incentivise and facilitate' violent agitations.
'If you persist in opposing the government, they set the ED or the NIA on you. And the courts have not given us much hope.'
The rather amateurish, even ham-handed, attack would lend some credence to a 'false flag' theory, of the PTI leadership staging this incident, to provide new impetus to a flagging agitation, notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RAW, India's external intelligence agency.
The longest-serving chief minister of any Hindi- speaking state, Nitish Kumar seems to have acquired an aura of indispensability when it comes to the highest seat of power in Bihar.
'Whatever comes in the minds of the Pakistani generals and Pakistan military, they just go for it.' 'They do not care about the consequences for their country or the consequences to the people of Pakistan.'
The Jadavpur University vice chancellor and registrar, who were gheraoed by students demanding a fresh probe panel on an alleged sexual harassment of a girl student inside the campus, were freed in the wee hours of Wednesday by a strong contingent of police force, which arrested 35 students.
Claims over leadership became the focal point at the former All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam supremo J Jayalalithaa's death anniversary event held in Chennai on Sunday with the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu, led by O Panneerselvam and K Palaniswami, asserting that it is a 'fortress' that cannot be shaken by anyone.
The home ministry has taken cognisance of the "serious security lapse" and has sought a detailed report from the state government. The State Government has also been asked to fix responsibility for this lapse and take strict action.