FEATURE STORY
Sonia Gandhi has long occupied the centre of Indian politics while revealing little about herself. She has been most ubiquitous and elusive for three decades.
Ladakh’s newly created districts have finally received their own Autonomous Hill Development Councils—an institutional shift expected to bring governance and development closer to every remote corner of the Himalayan region. Until now, decentralised administration in Ladakh functioned only through the two principal councils based in Leh and Kargil. “With the extension of this framework to all seven districts, Ladakh enters a new phase of grassroots empowerment,” said an official.
Several states, part of phase three of Special Intensive Revision of voter list, have pushed forward dates from 11 to 28 days to publish their respective final electoral rolls citing various reasons.
Ahead of crucial state assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party has overhauled its nationwide organisational apparatus, naming central leaders as prabharis and co-in-charges across all 28 states and eight Union territories. Key postings see Vinod Tawde assigned Uttar Pradesh, Ram Madhav given Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand, Sunil Bansal overseeing West Bengal and Telangana, and Anil Baluni elevated to coordinate the party’s combined media and social media wings.
Indian benchmark indices plunged to three-month lows on Thursday, September 24, with the BSE Sensex tumbling 1,247.71 points to 73,580.54 and the Nifty 50 sliding 1.64% to close at 23,063.10. An overseas bond rout that took US 10-year yields to a 19-year peak, combined with crude oil rebounding past $102 and proposed IRDAI caps hammering insurers and banks, triggered broad-based capitulation despite the historic debut of the Rs 22,569-crore NSE IPO.
India narrowly averted a historic upset at the Sano International Cricket Ground on Tuesday, edging out Japan by 2 runs in a rain-curtailed 5-over exhibition marking the 75th anniversary of diplomatic ties. Restricted to 32/4 by Charles Hinze’s tight bowling, India relied on Washington Sundar’s 2/13 to stop Kendel Kadowaki-Fleming’s charge and restrict the hosts to 30/3.