Left, Right & Centre

Finally, after much controversy, the Election Commission announces the poll dates for Gujarat. As the battle heats up, who has the advantage?

Led by the Finance Minister, the top brass of the government's finance departments announced what they called the 'take-off point' for the Indian economy - Rs 2.11 lakh crore for recapitalising government banks that currently face bad debts worth approximately 700,000 crores. Facing criticism over growth slowdown and creating few jobs, the government also announced a massive road construction programme called Bharatmala.

What happens to children when couples can't stay together and one of them leaves their country of residence to back home, taking the child along? As you can imagine, there are no winners in such an arrangement, the children stand to lose the most and that's where talk of the Hague Convention comes in. The Hague Convention was concluded in 1980, to facilitate the quick return of children removed by a parent from the country of habitual residence of the child to another country. This convention was premised on the assumption that removal of a child from their place of habitual residence is not in her interest, and is likely to be detrimental to her mental well-being.

In Tamil Nadu, the BJP's politics took what some critics thought was a regular film to blockbuster status. What's more, they threw in religion talking about actor Vijay's Christian roots but its only done the film a whole lot of good - it's a superhit having made some Rs 150 crore in all.

There's not a dull moment in Gujarat politics. Hardik Patel aide Narendra Patel's dramatic late night allegation that he was offered a crore to join the BJP, has spurred another former member of their group to quit Gujarat's ruling party. The BJP blames the Congress who is going all out to woo three youth leaders - with great clout with Patidars or Patels, OBCs and Dalits. One of them Alpesh Thakore, the OBC leader joined the Congress today, but can it make a dent in the fortunes of the BJP with experts saying it's still advantage for the ruling party.

Its fight for clean air and it is no longer limited to Delhi. There was a ban on sale of crackers but not on bursting them and the capital woke up to another haze filled morning today. Yes, it wasn't as bad as it was last year, in fact it was the best in three years, but far from the safe levels we would like our children to breathe in. Cities like Delhi and Mumbai so far considered safer due to their geographical locations were not spared either. This even as an explosive Lancet Medical Journal study says in 2015, five Indians died, every minute due to pollution-related illnesses.

Rahul Gandhi has been creating quite a stir on Twitter as the Congress finally catches up in the social media game. But will it be enough to win elections?

President Xi Jinping of China is all set to get another term as he consolidates his position to become possibly China's most powerful leader. Does this spell trouble for India?

Author and historian Upinder Singh's new book looks at kingship and political violence in epics, religious texts, political treatises. It covers history of over 1,200 years and reveals a range of perspectives that defy rigid religious categorization

An 11-year-old child dies in Jharkhand because her family's ration card was not linked to Aadhaar. Should the state take responsibility? Has Aadhaar failed the most vulnerable?