Amid talks of a change in leadership in Karnataka, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday did not categorically deny the rumours but instead passed the buck to the party’s high command.

Mamata Banerjee, scrambling to douse the Kasba gang-rape flames from behind the scenes, has been left “very displeased” by the public fight on the issue between party MPs Kalyan Banerjee and Mahua Moitra and the insensitive comments from MLA Madan Mitra.

A day before the Rath Yatra festival, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday held a high-level meeting with officials of Digha Shankarpur Development Authority (DSDA), police and ISKCON monks at the newly constructed Jagannath temple here.

A little more than a week after disassociating itself from a statement by the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) condemning Israel’s attacks on Iran, India joined other members of Brics in expressing grave concern at the military strikes on Iran and the escalation of the security situation in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the 50th anniversary of the Emergency with a scathing attack on Congress on Wednesday, saying that no Indian will ever forget the manner in which the spirit of the Constitution was violated during that period.

The escalation in the Israel-Iran conflict and Tehran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz are likely to push Indian refiners to further ramp up oil purchases from non-West Asian suppliers — mainly Russia, West Africa, the US and Latin America — as shipping routes to Indian ports from these suppliers are detached from the critical choke point in the Persian Gulf, according to industry sources and experts.