Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s trip to Islamabad in January 2004 to attend a summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) hosted by Pakistan marked a powerful breakthrough in the recurrent India-Pakistan logjam. While regional cooperation was the backdrop, the bilateral importance of the visit more or less pushed everything else to […]
A woman shows her inked finger after casting her vote at a polling booth during the third and final phase of the Assembly election, at Tangmarg in Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir, on October 1. | Photo Credit: PTI In the contested and storied valleys of Jammu and Kashmir, the political atmosphere teems with unprecedented […]
Ahead of his first and likely only national debate of the presidential cycle, JD Vance prepared for the event at his home in Cincinnati and virtually on Zoom. He recruited Republican Rep. Tom Emmer of Minnesota to play his opponent in mock sessions. And he brought in Donald Trump’s campaign strategist Jason Miller and his […]
The year-long celebration of the birth centenary of the late Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi, former Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chief and five-time Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, which concluded a few months ago, has left his party, which also celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, in a jubilant mood. Kalaignar (the moniker means a “scholar of […]
A BJP leader from Madhya Pradesh’s Indore has urged garba organisers to make participants sip “gamutra” (cow urine) before their entry to pandals, PTI reported. BJP leader Chintu Verma’s statement sparked a row and triggered a severe backlash from opposition parties which termed it as a “new tactic of polarisation.” Garba is an energetic folk […]
In September 2023, the Narendra Modi government set up a high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to examine and give recommendations on the issue of holding simultaneous elections in the country. A year later, on September 18, the new Modi Cabinet accepted the committee’s recommendations, which proposed elections in two phases. (In […]
“Hope is a dangerous thing,” Red (played by Morgan Freeman) tells Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) in the movie The Shawshank Redemption. “Hope can drive a man insane,” he adds. Andy does not react, but he leaves a letter for Red to find, much later: “Remember, Red, hope is a good thing, may be the best […]
Bordering national capital Delhi, Haryana is among the richest states in India, with a per capita income ( ₹2.96 lakh in 2022-23) about 1.7 times the national average. While the numbers would suggest people in the state are better off than their compatriots elsewhere, the locals do not quite see things that way. Kulana, for […]
The Assembly election in Jammu and Kashmir is happening after 10 years, and the people have voted not merely to elect their representatives or their government but also to participate in elections and draw attention to some of the challenges they face. The voting happened in three phases, on September 18, 25, and October 1. […]
The BJP expelled eight leaders on Sunday evening after they opted to contest the upcoming Haryana Assembly elections as independent candidates. The list includes former minister Ranjit Chautala and former MLA Devendra Kadyan. The development also comes mere days after the Haryana Congress took a similar decision for 21 leaders. Several ticket hopefuls from […]
