Resentment in the ruling Samajwadi Party is gradually coming to the fore with more and more party leaders voicing their dissent on issues related to cabinet expansion and distribution of tickets.

With poll surveys projecting a major setback for the CPI(M) which may have lost further ground in West Bengal, the major Left party blamed the Trinamul Congress for it, saying such a thing can happen only if “rigging takes place” like the one which took place in the just-concluded panchayat elections in West Bengal.

In the run-up to the general polls, the BJP is eyeing youth and first-time voters to increase its base. Aiming to win comfortable numbers in the general polls, the party on Friday held a workshop for its functionaries to reach out to the target voters through social media, digital, mobile and Internet to achieve “Mission 272+”.

Even though the BJP has given a free hand to Rajasthan state president Vasundhara Raje to run the party on her own, murmurs of discontent can be heard within the BJP. Sources said most of the RSS-backed leaders have made peace with Ms Raje or have been sidelined in the party.

The stalemate on the abrupt and premature adjournment of the Monsoon Session of the Madhya Pradesh Assembly on July 11 continues as state governor Ramnaresh Yadav, instead of signing on the note-sheet forwarded by the chief minister and Vidhan Sabha Speaker to ratify the adjournment, has chosen to write to the state government asking that the Assembly be reconvened.

India is planning a major initiative to study the impact of the Polar regions on the Indian monsoon which forms the backbone of the Indian economy.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh may have assured visiting Bangladesh foreign minister Dipu Moni on Friday that his government intends to introduce the Land Boundary Agreement in Parliament, but there was little coming by way of any substantial assurance from the BJP on the proposed pact except that discussions would be held within the party on this.

Recognising adverse impact of e-cigarettes (electronic nicotine delivery systems-ENDS) and hookah bars, which are a new fad among tobacco users, India has decided to initiate steps to ban both E-cigarettes and Hookahs (water pipes) through appropriate legislation.

In another setback to the Mamata Banerjee government, the Calcutta high court rejected its proposed date for civic polls and accepted the date suggested by the state election commission.

A trawler carrying around 16 fishermen capsized in the Bay of Bengal near Jambu Island in South 24 Parganas. While 11 of them managed to swim across to another trawler, five including the driver Swapan Das have gone missing.