A week before Pakistan human rights activist Ansar Burney was barred from entering India by immigration officials at the Delhi airport, former Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga faced a similar threat at Srinagar airport. Kumaratunga, who had come to attend a SAARC function and a conference at Kashmir University was told that her tourist visa was not good enough and she had to get special permission from the Union home ministry for attending the conference. A major diplomatic faux pas was averted after a call to the ministry from the Sri Lankan embassy. Until then the airport authorities refused to yield even after being told who Kumaratunga was.

Royal challenge

Many Congresspersons, from S.M. Krishna to Veerappa Moily and Virbhadrappa Allam, are keen on a Rajya Sabha seat from Karnataka. Although the Congress has 80 newly elected MLAs, it is assured of only one RS seat. The party will have 35 surplus votes, but it needs ten more to get a second MP elected to Rajya Sabha. There is no prospect of securing votes from either the BJP or Deve Gowda’s JD(S), with 26 and 28 surplus votes respectively. In a scenario where none of the three main parties is prepared to make a deal with the other two, a candidate will probably have to tap individual MLAs for support rather than appeal to the party leaders. Liquor baron Vijay Mallya is believed to have an edge in this regard.

Cricket vs hockey fans

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