Left, Right & Centre

The Karnataka government wants a separate state flag. The opposition says it should be one nation one flag. Does a state flag undermine the nation's unity?

China says India is trespassing on its territory as it ups the rhetoric. The Foreign Secretary tells MPs that Beijing is being unusually aggressive in its public statements. As the standoff at the border shows no sign of ending, is India's China policy working?

On a day MPs and MLAs voted for the President of India, battle lines for the race for Vice President are also clearly drawn - its Venkaiah Naidu vs Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The battle for Raisina is a foregone conclusion. The NDA has the numbers - what's interesting is their margin of victory. The Opposition of course says it is a battle of ideologies. Meira Kumar, the opposing candidate to the NDA's Ram Nath Kovind even invoked inner voice of conscience today but is unlikely to change the numbers - especially given the cross voting in the opposition camps.

D Roopa, the officer who made allegations that the AIADMK's Sasikala was being given special treatment in the jail, has been transferred to the traffic department. Her earlier boss, DG Prisons Sathyanarayan Rao, has also been transferred from his post. An officer paying the price of honesty and doing her job?

Home Minister Rajnath Singh this evening briefed opposition leaders on the month-long stand-off with China at the border in Sikkim. The government is seeking to build support for its action ahead of the monsoon session of parliament that begins on Monday. China has been warning that it will not allow any resolution without India withdrawing its soldiers from what it claims is its territory. India has so far refused, though unlike China, which has been much more belligerent in its statements, it has said that it is using "diplomatic options" to help resolve the conflict.

She may be in jail, but is AIADMK boss VK Sasikala being treated like a VIP? A senior police officer makes an explosive allegation, says top officers have been bribed to give Ms Sasikala special privileges. It is not the first time that jails have turned into hotel rooms for well-known prisoners. What is wrong with India's prison system and what can be done to change it?

Faced with a crisis on the China border and the trouble in Jammu and Kashmir, the Home Minister will meet all parties tomorrow. Does the Centre need to be more forthcoming on national security issues?

Author Devdutt Pattanaik joins us on his latest book on mythology and why he's dedicated it to trolls.

The censor board wants to beep Amartya Sen in a documentary from saying "cow". The Nobel laureate has to be beeped also when he says the words "Gujarat", "Hindu India" and "Hindutva view of India". Is it time to disband the censor board? Professor Amartya Sen joins us on Left, Right and Centre.

Historian Ramachandra Guha has a solution for the opposition's problems - retire Rahul Gandhi and get Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to lead the Congress. Watch him with us on Left, Right and Centre talking about his new book.