Left, Right & Centre

Home Minister Amit Shah says the situation in Kashmir is now normal and gives statistics on why he believes this is the case, but there are still no signs of political leaders who remain in jail emerging. Mainstream Kashmiri politicians, the handful of whom are not in custody, ask, what sort of normal is this?

Pollution took centre stage in parliament today. Finally, MPs from across party lines speak about the crisis that we face. But the big question remains: Will there now, finally, be a political push to ensure that the battle against air pollution truly begins because at a profound level. It has not started as yet, not as a national mission. China has fought and to a large extent won its battle. We have failed ourselves.

In an exclusive interview on Left, Right and Centre, Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who released the report, tells us he is willing to take on the Aam Aadmi Party government when they insist that the government report on water was a political gimmick.

We are looking at key pollution issue - water pollution - with the Bureau of Indian Standards stating that Delhi has drinking water not fit for consumption, the worst of any of our major cities. In an exclusive interview, senior Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, who released this report, says he is willing to take on the AAP government when they insist that the government report on water was a political gimmick.

A massive protest by students of Jawaharlal Nehru University led to traffic jams in south Delhi. Clashes with the police were reported, and some 100 students were detained and later released. The services of Delhi Metro were affected at several stations in central Delhi. The students were unable to march to parliament. Their demands remained the same, that they want a complete rollback of the hike in student fees. On the show, actor and JNU graduate Swara Bhaskar and BSP MPs who raised this issue in parliament and those who believe that the demands of these students are unviable and need to be rejected discuss the issue.

JNU students claim that police beat them during their march to parliament against the fee hike. Central Delhi was blocked; metro services were restored after being disrupted earlier in the day. Actor and former JNU student, Swara Bhasker, speaks to NDTV who says If this fee hike comes in to play, 43 per cent of JNU students stand to lose the possibility to have an education, they would have to stop studying.

NCP chief Sharad Pawar met with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday over the process of government formation in Maharashtra. If one was expecting any big announcements, it did not happen. Mr Pawar has kept the mystery boiling. Is an alliance with the Shiv Sena truly a done deal, or this is going to go down to the wire?

The opposition parties have flagged several key issues including economy, unemployment and the continued detention of Kashmiri leaders at an all-party meeting held ahead of parliament's winter session that begins on Monday.

Maharashtra's new political alignments were clearly visible at a ceremony to mark Bal Thackeray's anniversary, where leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party and the Congress attended, but Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived only after the Thackerays had left. The Chief Minister was taunted by Shiv Sena workers.

Hours before the Sabarimala temple opened for the 41-day annual pilgrimage season today, 10 women from Andhra Pradesh were sent back from the hill shrine in Kerala. The state government on Friday said the shrine is "no place for activism" and activists hoping to make a statement by going on pilgrimage will not be given police protection. The Kerala government's non-committal stand about giving protection to women between the age of 10 and 50 years comes after Supreme Court on Thursday referred review petitions against its 2018 verdict to a seven-judge bench.

In a huge win for the government and the Indian Air Force on the Rafale case, the Supreme Court dismissed the review petitions filed by Prashant Bhushan, Yashwant Sinha and Arun Shourie in this case, making it clear that "that the endeavour of the petitioners is to construe themselves as an appellate authority to determine each aspect of the contract and call upon the Court to do the same." At the same time, the Congress says the order by one of the judge, Justice KM Joseph does leave open an avenue for those opposed to the deal to approach the CBI. But whats the bigger story here? What does this mean for scrutiny of defence deals in the country?

Writer Aatish Taseer, whose Overseas Citizenship of India status was revoked last week, has spoken to NDTV over the issue. Calling himself an Indian, the UK-born writer has said he is being sent into exile for being a critic of the central government.

It's Children's Day today but there is hardly any celebration for children out there in the open in North India which is facing the brunt of extreme air pollution. We look at the impact of this devastating air pollution crisis on street kids, those most susceptible to the air pollution and those most helpless in protecting themselves.

BJP chief Amit Shah today rejected the Shiv Sena's claim that it was promised rotational chief ministership in a new Maharashtra government, and instead accused its estranged ally of coming up with post-electoral conditions that could not be accepted. In an exclusive chat with Shiv Sena's Arvind Sawant, we find out if the Sena would be open to a 50-50 formula with the Congress-NCP.

In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court has ruled that it is not beyond the Right to Information Act. The judges, led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi along with 3 future Chief Justices, ruled that "in a constitutional democracy, judges can't be above the law.'' The court said in a majority judgment that said the Chief Justice's office comes under the transparency law. ''The Right to Information and Right to Privacy are two sides of the same coin. None can take precedence over the other," the court said. At the same time, there are exceptions on whether the deliberations of the Supreme Court collegium comprising five senior most judges in the appointment of judges or lawyers should be made public. The top court ruled that it should be decided on a case-to-case basis. We will be joined by three of India's finest lawyers - Harish Salve, Prashant Bhushan and Aryaman Sundaram.