Left, Right & Centre

The Supreme Court after a meeting of the collegium said a decision on the appointment of Justice KM Joseph had been deferred. The collegium, or a group of five most-senior judges, is, however, firm on its recommendation to elevate Justice Joseph to the top court. At its meeting today, the collegium had also considered names of judges from three other high courts in view of what the court called, was the "concept of fair representation". No formal announcement was, however, made today.

The Prime Minister began his series of election rallies in Karnataka today, spending much of them attacking Rahul Gandhi. From jibes against the dynasty to a dig at his mother's Italian origins, everything was on the table.

Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says that the resolution of the Doklam conflict showed great maturity on India's part because it was an out-of-the-box move by the Prime Minister. Speaking on the recent Kathua rape that generated nationwide outrage, the minister tells NDTV that "women need a lot more attention, they can't be left feeling insecure". NDTV speaks to the minister about a range of current issues. Ms Sitharaman was speaking to the Ladies' Study Group, Kolkata.

Since the advent of social media, one thing that has consistently stood out is the filthy abuse and harassment that women in particular have had to face over the years. Platforms like Twitter and Facebook have been forced to take things more seriously but even now, they just aren't doing enough. What is worse is just how organised the abuse has become. Organised and more vicious than ever before. Journalist Rana Ayyub has faced this consistently for many years but last week the abuse took on a more dangerous and menacing turn leading her to hire a lawyer and file a complaint with the cyber cell of the Delhi Police which is now investigating her claims. She says she was sent a barrage of abuse over fake tweets that were sent out in her name.

It's the big thing the government has been talking about - that all villages in India are now electrified. But when you look at the government's own data, it turns out that almost 30 million rural households don't have power. That's because of the government's own definition of what 'rural electrification' means. A village is declared electrified if just 10% of its households have power connections - whether they are actually have regular electricity supply is not a factor. The Modi government realised this wasn't going to wash and so has set a target of electrifying all homes by December 31 this year but it's a tough task.

CPM's General Secretary Sitaram Yechury leader dismissed any talk of differences with Prakash Karat, who was dead against any kind of understanding or deal with the Congress. "Inside the party we are used to a very vibrant inner party democracy. We often have contending views that come up -- they are discussed and then we come to a conclusion and that's exactly what happened at this party congress," Mr Yechury said, adding that "differences are thrashed out in the party fora. Once they are thrashed out in the party fora and we come to a definite conclusion, it is on the basis of that conclusion that the entire party moves as a single person".

The India-China bilateral relationship cannot be held hostage to the differences that exist at various levels and dialogue at the highest levels between the political leadership of both sides can never end - this was the key message at the end of the two-day informal summit between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Wuhan. As PM Modi, Xi Jinping hit the reset button, will the military get the message too? Does this mean no more Doklam like military stand offs?

As their first informal summit got underway in the Chinese city of Wuhan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping talked about what India and China can do as the two nations look to the future. Setting aside the many irritants that have seen ties plummet to a new low in the last year, both leaders focused on the strengths of the relationship. PM Modi talked about this being a meeting "between two major world players". Xi said the meeting was happening with the "international situation at a crucial period", and that a "good China-India relationship is an important and positive factor for maintaining stability in the world". The two leaders will take a boat ride tomorrow. But is this really a reset in India-China ties? Can the two sides overcome trust deficit? Or is this a temporary reset factored in by the changing global situation? Vishnu Som reports.

PM Narendra Modi has arrived in Wuhan, China for a series of meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The talks are being described as an 'informal summit.' The summit is being seen as a move by the two countries to get their ties back on track following the Doklam stand-off last year, wherein troops from the two nations were engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball standoff near Sikkim border between June to August.

Our big focus tonight is on the crisis in the judiciary and the confrontation with the government. A huge row has broken out after the government returned to the Supreme Court collgium its recommendation to make the Uttarakhand Chief Justice a judge of the top court. The centre cleared the name of another judge Indu Malhotra who will take oath tomorrow, but its rejection of Justice KM Joseph's name has created a storm with many lawyers calling it an attempt to encroach on the independence of the judiciary. The government has given several reasons for returning Justice Joseph's name, including that he's not the most senior nor the most meritorious and the Chief Justice has said there is nothing wrong with what the government has done. The ball is now in the collegium's court. If they send back Justice Joseph's name to the centre, the government has to accept it, though they can delay the appointment for a long time.