Dipankar Ghose

Banerjee indicated that many political leaders and non-politicians had sought time to meet her over the next few days, signalling that she is keen to play a national role.

The visit comes at a time when Parliament is in session, and there have been talks about Opposition unity ahead of the 2024 general election.

The global human rights organisation issued a statement debunking the “false rumours” and “inaccurate media stories”, and stressing that it “categorically stands by” the findings of the investigation.

Jha began his address with an apology to those who died in the second wave, but whose deaths were not even being acknowledged.

Reuters said Siddiqui had been embedded as a journalist earlier this week with Afghan Special Forces based out of Kandahar and “had been reporting on fighting between Afghan commandos and Taliban fighters”.

There is no shortage of issues for the opposition to raise, and their strategy should be based around “real issues”, the RJD leader said at the Idea Exchange programme of The Indian Express.

On the streets of Lutyens' Delhi on Wednesday night, there was almost a foolproof way to tell who was in, and who wasn’t. Outside the homes of the new entrants were rows of cars — of well-wishers, bouquets in hand, waiting to register their presence.

Lalu Yadav, who is being treated at AIIMS in New Delhi after being released on bail, said he would return to Patna soon, and “register his presence” in every district of Bihar.

Nearly 20 years after A K Sharma emerged as one of Modi’s most trusted men, and six months after he took voluntary retirement from the IAS, and became a BJP MLC, Arvind Kumar Sharma, 58, is now a vice-president of the party in Uttar Pradesh.

The RJD leader’s offer has come while Chirag is preparing to regain lost political ground by launching his Bihar yatra from Hajipur

Chirag Paswan also said that while he still has belief in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the LJP would be “forced to look at alternatives” if that belief was “one-sided”.

Five of the six MPs of the LJP have revolted against Paswan, son of the late Ram Vilas Paswan, and elected his uncle and leader of the rebellion, Hajipur MP Pashupati Kumar Paras, the party's leader in Lok Sabha.

On Monday, Paras, himself an MP, had claimed support of four of the five remaining MPs of the LJP barring Chirag, and removed Chirag as the parliamentary party leader. Paras claimed he was "not breaking the party", but "saving it".

The five MPs — Pashupati Kumar Paras (Hajipur), Choudhary Mehboob Ali Qaisar (Khagaria), Chandan Kumar (Nawada), Veena Devi (Vaishali) and Prince Raj (Samastipur) —met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday evening and again on Monday, saying that they have elected Paras as LJP parliamentary party leader and Kaiser as deputy leader.

Beginning his political career with the Youth Congress, Mukul Roy co-founded the Trinamool Congress with Mamata Banerjee in 1998, became her lieutenant, worked towards a stunning TMC win in 2011 against the Left, and retained power in the next term as well.

Apart from the shortage of vaccine, these are some of the other key factors that are hamstringing the vaccination drive across Maharajganj district in rural Uttar Pradesh.

On May 11, the Allahabad High Court asked the UP government to consider giving Rs 1 crore to families of those who died of Covid after poll duty.

What really makes the Prime Minister's constituency stand apart from other districts in Uttar Pradesh is the one-of-its-kind Covid Integrated Command and Control Centre, just 3 km from the ghats.

At the Kumbh in Haridwar last month, several measures were in place to curb the spread, including mandatory negative tests for entry. But none of them were strictly implemented even as the crowd swelled to over 30 lakh on days of the shahi snan (royal bath).

Interviews with next of kin, officials, eyewitnesses and local residents in Unnao and Ghazipur reveal that behind the bodies lie long-held traditions, deep economic distress and the sudden rush to lay the dead to rest.

Rae Bareli is among the predominantly rural districts in India's most populous state that have been buffeted by the second Covid wave.

Aligarh is among the several smaller cities in UP that are reeling under the second Covid wave. It is also under a “partial lockdown” till May 17, with essential items such as fruits, milk and vegetables allowed to be sold from 7 am to 11 am and 4.30 pm to 7.30 pm.

Ten days ago, on April 29, Kasganj had 271 new cases, an active caseload of 706 and 16 deaths. On May 8, it had 149 new cases, an active caseload of 723 and recorded 33 deaths.

Primary Health Centre is shut, CHC not declared Covid centre yet, both wait for stocks of vaccines.