Amidst speculation that veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani and his protégé Sushma Swaraj, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, could quit their posts if the party declares Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate ahead of the coming Assembly polls, party president Rajnath Singh appears determined to go ahead with the announcement, perhaps even on Friday or early next week.

The most direct and open call within the BJP to party patriarch L.K. Advani asking him to make way for Narendra Modi’s projection as the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate came on Thursday from senior Bihar leader Sushil Kumar Modi, known for long for his pro-Advani leanings. In two back-to-back Twitter messages, the former Bihar deputy chief minister made an impassioned pitch for ending the current logjam in the BJP’s top echelons over a reportedly stubborn Advani blocking the Gujarat leader’s prime ministerial path.

Barcelona have been careful to break new recruit Neymar in gently during the opening weeks of the La Liga season and Real Madrid are likely to follow a similar policy with Gareth Bale, even with several key players carrying injuries.

Thousands of fans — including the president — on Thursday gathered to cheer Afghanistan’s victorious national football team as they returned home after winning the war-wracked country’s first international soccer trophy.

With President Pranab Mukherjee giving his assent to the National Food Security Bill on Thursday, the Right to Food has become a law. The bill was earlier passed by both Houses of Parliament.

In a tactical move apparently to render “rebellious” former CM Ajit Jogi politically ineffective ahead of the November Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, the Congress leadership has taken the initiatives to rein in his youth brigade in the party as well as woo the Satnamis, a dalit community, from him.

Satish Narredu-trained Super Storm looks set to win the Maharaja’s Cup, the feature event of the races to be held here on Friday.

With the disruption of the international break over, Premier League clubs will be looking for their late additions to make an instant impact this weekend.

Industrial production rebounded in July, growing by 2.6 per cent due to a spurt in capital goods. Retail inflation, based on the consumer price index, also eased slightly to 9.52 per cent in August, down from 9.64 per cent in July.

RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav’s younger son Tejaswi Yadav is likely to play a major role in the RJD to retain his family’s tight hold on the party as his father and former Bihar strongman faces political uncertainties due to the nearing verdict in a fodder scam case against him.