A select list of stories to read before you start your day
In Maharashtra, the ‘might of 56’ takes on BJP-Sena combine
As Maharashtra prepares for a four-phase voting in April, a curious calm prevails over the political camps in the State. With 48 constituencies, Maharashtra is the State with the second largest number of Lok Sabha seats.
Narendra Modi didn’t seek nod for TV address: Election Commission
The Election Commission said a committee of officers was examining the responses received from Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation on Wednesday, announcing India’s successful demonstration of anti-satellite missile capability. The committee, which has held two meetings so far, is likely to finalise its report by Friday evening on whether any content of the Prime Minister’s speech violated the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). Based on the findings, the EC will take the final decision.
Income Tax searches trigger political storm in Karnataka, Kumaraswamy leads protest
Searches by Income Tax officials on premises linked to leaders of the Janata Dal (Secular) and their associates across six districts in south Karnataka triggered a political storm on Thursday. The searches, coming just 20 days ahead of the election, were conducted in Bengaluru, Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga.
National security is Modi’s pitch in U.P.
Hitting back at Congress president Rahul Gandhi for mocking him with a “Happy World Theatre Day” greeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he didn’t know whether to “cry or laugh” at those “intelligent people” who confused ASAT (anti-satellite) with a “set” used in theatre performances.
Seek remedy from legislature, CJI tells Assam NRC petitioners
Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi said that it is within the domain of the legislature to carve out an appellate forum, where people who have been declared “foreigner” by Foreigners Tribunals and their names deleted from the Assam NRC list can seek relief.
Arun Jaitley says Art. 35A iscurbing J&K’s progress
In a blog entitled “The Rule of Law and the State of Jammu and Kashmir”, Mr. Jaitley said the seven-decade history of the State confronts changing India with several questions, adding that the “Nehruvian course” was a “historical blunder”. “Does our policy today have to be guided by that erroneous vision or  ground reality?” he queried.
U.K. parliament to debate Brexit on March 29 as E.U. wants a ‘yes’
The British government is set to make a last-ditch attempt to avoid a longer delay to Brexit or crashing out of the EU, by putting part of its controversial withdrawal deal to MPs in a vote on Friday. While the Speaker of the House of Commons has allowed the motion to be put to MPs on Friday, it remains uncertain whether Prime Minister Theresa May will command enough support.
‘Super Deluxe’ review: believe the hype
"In more than one way, Super Deluxe can be seen as a spiritual successor to Aaranya Kaandam. If the latter was about male impotency, Super Deluxe embraces the idea of sexual fantasies; Kumararaja delves deeper into the darker side of human mind, without being least judgemental about his characters," writes our reviewer Srivatsan S.
 Is Modi the best communicator of them all?
Whether it is his monthly radio broadcast programme, Mann Ki Baat, or his tweets, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s outreach is unlike anything seen before. Sudheendra Kulkarni and Pankaj Pachauri analyse Mr. Modi’s speeches and compare his communication strategy with those of previous Prime Ministers in a conversation moderated by Anuradha Raman.