Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked 50 years of Prashanti Kutiram, the Bengaluru campus of S-VYASA University. He also honoured H.V. Sheshadri, a former RSS general secretary, on his 100th birth anniversary.
Modi kicked off work on a new administrative block at the university and released six of Sheshadri's books. He also said yoga is spreading worldwide, citing Saudi Arabia's move to recognise it as a sport.
He cited a World Bank report saying nearly 50 crore Indians have left extreme poverty in 12 to 13 years. He urged the university to draft a 25-year roadmap for Viksit Bharat.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Bengaluru on Friday that India's initiatives have made yoga popular worldwide. He spoke at the golden jubilee of Prashanti Kutiram, a centre run by S-VYASA.
Saudi Arabia has recognised yoga as a sport and signed an agreement with India's AYUSH ministry to promote it. India has also signed memoranda of understanding with 28 countries on Ayurveda cooperation.
The government has also set up a National Turmeric Board and introduced an e-AYUSH visa for foreigners seeking treatment in India.
Rahul Gandhi has again pressed PM Modi to join a face-to-face public debate, saying Modi would not remain prime minister afterwards. He made the remark during an Instagram Q&A on Friday.
Gandhi says he was not allowed to speak on farm laws, SIR and China, and that his mic was switched off. He wants a short exchange with no long speeches, and would accept Gautam Adani or Mohan Bhagwat as the judge.
The BJP has dismissed the challenge and accuses Gandhi of avoiding debates in Parliament, which Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman says is already available for discussion.
Union Minister HD Kumaraswamy led a groundbreaking in Tumakuru, Karnataka, for the newly set up Adarsha Specialty Chemicals. He said industry is driving growth in many ways and credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for the sector's expansion.
The company is home to India's largest factory for silicone adhesives and sealants, and its founder, Omkar Murthy Siddaramappa, attended the event.
In a post on X, Kumaraswamy said the government is working under Modi to strengthen manufacturing, create jobs and build a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
PM Narendra Modi has urged farm equipment makers, startups and small manufacturers to build machines that run on solar power. He says the government is working to give all farms access to solar energy.
Speaking at a conference in New Delhi, he said solar could drive a shift in farming much like electric vehicles did for cars. Around 12 lakh solar pumps have been provided under the PM-KUSUM scheme so far.
He also pointed to AI-equipped sensors and mobile soil tests that can show what fertiliser a field needs, and said such tools could be affordable for small farmers too.
PM Narendra Modi will open and lay foundation stones for projects in Karnataka valued at more than Rs 15,600 crore. Among them is the Pink Line of Bengaluru Metro, linking Kalena Agrahara and Tavarekere, a Rs 3,470 crore project.
He will also open the country's biggest underground LPG storage cavern in Mangaluru, an Rs 850 crore facility holding 80,000 metric tonnes.
The programme also includes the Vande Bharat Express between Bengaluru, Mangaluru and Madgaon, which he will flag off, and the golden jubilee of the S-VYASA yoga institute in Bengaluru.
Indian Overseas Congress head Sam Pitroda has spoken warmly about PM Narendra Modi, saying he holds him in personal regard even though the two differ sharply on politics.
In an interview, Pitroda called Modi hardworking and said the Prime Minister has been very friendly and caring toward him personally. Asked about Sonia Gandhi's earlier description of Modi as a strong speaker, Pitroda said he sees Modi as a friend from Gujarat who wishes him well.
Pitroda said his disagreements are with Modi's view of the world and his ideology, not with the man himself.
The BJP is gearing up for the 2027 Gujarat Assembly polls, kicking off with a visit by PM Modi.
Modi is expected to stay overnight in Gandhinagar on November 13. On November 14, he is due to pray at the Ambaji temple in Banaskantha, coinciding with Labh Pancham.
On November 22, the party will hold Snehmilan gatherings in all 182 constituencies. MLAs have been asked to stay in their seats, and CM Bhupendra Patel, Deputy CM Harsh Sanghavi and the state BJP president will address the events virtually.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked Bhai Dooj on Wednesday by sending festival wishes to people across the country.
In a post on X, written in Hindi, he said the day reflects the affection and closeness between siblings, and he wished everyone happiness and prosperity.
The festival has much in common with Raksha Bandhan, where sisters fasten a thread on their brothers' wrists. On Bhai Dooj, sisters apply a tika to their brothers' foreheads to show affection and pray for them to live long, healthy lives.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi marked the birthday of Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio with a message on X. Modi commended Rio's work to lift Nagaland's development and address the hopes of young people in the state, and said he hopes Rio stays healthy for years to come.
Several other leaders also reached out. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma described Rio as an experienced politician and an important ally in the NDA, while Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, the Odisha Governor and Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini posted their own messages online.
PM Narendra Modi will remotely open the Ropuiliani Tribal Freedom Fighters Museum in Kelsih, Mizoram, on November 15. The date coincides with Janjatiya Gaurav Divas, held on Birsa Munda's birth anniversary.
Built by the Union Tribal Affairs Ministry at a cost of Rs 25.59 crore, the museum highlights what tribal communities contributed to India's independence struggle. The site will also have an open-air theatre and a heritage walk.
Mizoram Governor V.K. Singh (retd) recently reviewed the preparations. It is one of 11 such museums planned across 10 states.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh has attacked Sonia Gandhi over her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, which came out on Tuesday. He claimed her account of crying after the Babri Masjid incident shows she sheds tears only for Muslim votes.
Singh said her sympathy vanishes when Pakistani militants kill Indians or when Naxalites carry out killings of Sanatanis. He also responded to her note that Prime Minister Modi avoids meeting her gaze, saying Modi looks straight at Pakistan and India's enemies while talking to them.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju has responded to Rahul Gandhi's dare for a public debate with PM Modi, saying the Centre's next goal is to finish off the 'dimagi Naxals'.
Rijiju recalled Manmohan Singh once calling Left-wing extremism the top internal security danger facing India, and told Gandhi to credit Modi for going after the armed Maoists.
JD(U) working president Sanjay Kumar Jha called the challenge absurd and accused Gandhi of dodging House debates. Gandhi, speaking to CRPF personnel in Bastar, said the PM should set the time for the debate.
The US Embassy in Australia posted a map on X on Tuesday showing India as only partially free. The map is based on the annual report from Freedom House, a US-based non-profit funded by the American government.
India has stayed in that middle category for six years running. The report says policies under Narendra Modi's government and the BJP have discriminated against Muslims, and harassment of journalists and critics has grown sharply. India scored 62 out of 100, one point lower than last time, and was rated Free until 2020.
Former Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan used a BJP rally in Sambalpur to attack Congress over its stance on democracy and the Election Commission. He said the party backs these institutions only when it wins.
Pradhan also said Congress and the Gandhi family were growing more intolerant as voters kept backing PM Modi. The BJP will continue such rallies across the country, he added.
Panchayati raj minister Rabinarayani Naik described questioning the Election Commission after defeats as a feudal mindset.
Telangana BJP chief Ramchander Rao has accused Rahul Gandhi and the Congress of time and again failing to show regard for soldiers and paramilitary forces. Gandhi had just renewed his call for PM Modi to take part in a public debate.
Rao said the Congress never condemned the killing of CRPF personnel in Bastar, and that Gandhi has stayed quiet on Naxal violence and terror attacks.
He urged Gandhi to join a debate in Parliament rather than flee abroad. The exchange follows Modi's warning that the Naxal menace persists.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi phoned Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a day before Russia, the US and Ukraine hold talks in Abu Dhabi.
India said it is ready to back any effort toward a peaceful end to the war, and Modi repeated that the conflict must be settled through negotiation. The two leaders also discussed wider bilateral cooperation.
Zelenskyy said Ukraine is preparing for the Abu Dhabi agenda and that Moscow must also ease tensions. He flagged Russia's blockade of Black Sea grain and said India could mediate on food corridors.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate a planetarium in Mysuru on November 13, after 3 pm. The Rs 115 crore facility is billed as the world's first to use curved-screen technology.
It has two domes, each seating 150 to 160 visitors, and is expected to draw about five lakh people a year. Rs 5 crore came from Nirmala Sitharaman's MPLAD funds, with more from Swadesh Darshan and the Union science and technology ministry.
During the visit, Modi will also address around 10,000 people and join a Miyawaki forest project at K.C. Layout.
Bihar's NDA leaders say the alliance is determined to make Prime Minister Modi's November 21 trip to Vaishali an occasion people will long remember.
At a joint briefing in Patna, the state chiefs of the alliance's member parties said the visit falls on the first anniversary of the new NDA government in Bihar. BJP's Sanjay Saraogi added that Modi will attend an event at Rajapakar and unveil development and infrastructure projects for the state.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited LK Advani's home to wish him on his birthday as he moves into his hundredth year. Several other leaders, including HD Deve Gowda and Ram Nath Kovind, also sent their greetings.
Deve Gowda called Advani a dear friend and said their bond goes back over 50 years, to the Emergency. Ravi Shankar Prasad credited Advani's efforts with helping create Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand.
Modi also wrote an article on Advani's life that ran in newspapers on Sunday.
Congress leader Sachin Sawant has hit out at the Union and Maharashtra governments after Amitabh Bachchan was seen greeting fans behind protective glass outside his Mumbai home. The glass was removed on Sunday, and Sawant asked whether that followed public criticism or BJP pressure.
He asked PM Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah when the film industry would be made secure. He also said a person accused of stoking fear in the industry was living in comfort in Gujarat's Sabarmati jail, and blamed the failure on BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
Congress has hit back at PM Modi over his Diwali address to CRPF personnel at a camp in Bastar, Chhattisgarh. He told the forces that armed Naxalites had been wiped out from the forests, but 'dimagi Naxals' now controlled several organisations and had infiltrated political parties.
Jairam Ramesh posted on X that Modi had used a solemn, non-political occasion to attack his rivals. He also cited Modi's past shifts, such as calling caste census backers urban Naxals in 2024 and repealing the farm laws in 2021.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore says Amit Shah should first get PM Narendra Modi to debate Rahul Gandhi in public. The contest, he argues, should be between the head of government and the Leader of the Opposition.
Tagore's reply came a day after Shah, at a rally in Haryana, asked Gandhi to press Modi for a special Parliament session. Tagore called that a cover for a delimitation bill and said Gandhi wants a neutral venue, claiming his mic is repeatedly cut off in the House.
Tagore also pointed to a whole session lost after Shah declined to address alleged pellet-gun use against students.
Tamil Nadu CM C Joseph Vijay has asked PM Narendra Modi to hold back any clearance for Karnataka's proposed Mekedatu dam on the Cauvery until co-basin states consent.
His November 6 letter flags a site visit by Union officials to the proposed location and warns that the 67.16 TMC reservoir could cut water flows and monthly deliveries to Tamil Nadu.
He also accuses Karnataka of not releasing Tamil Nadu's due share of water in the 2026-27 deficit year, and wants the Centre to defer action tied to the visit.
PM Narendra Modi on Saturday sent Diwali wishes to citizens through a message on the government's Jan Sampark portal. He framed the festival as a reminder that brightness beats gloom, virtue beats wrongdoing and optimism beats hopelessness.
He added that Diwali is also a time to honour India's traditions and deepen togetherness, and he hoped the season would encourage people to be kinder and more upbeat. He ended by urging citizens to keep going with renewed energy and resolve toward building a prosperous, developed India.
Congress leader Sonia Gandhi says the Modi government has badly weakened India's democracy and institutions over 12 years, and repairing them will take time even after it leaves.
In an interview, she said opposition parties are competing on an uneven field and alleged that a number of elections were won unfairly.
Her memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, comes out on November 10. A BJP MLA from Maharashtra said the book is less a life story and more a push to promote her son Rahul Gandhi's failed political launches.
Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has accused some BJP leaders of trying to claim credit for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's November 13 visit to Bengaluru, where he will inaugurate the metro Pink Line. He stressed that the PM is coming at the state government's invitation.
Speaking to reporters in Kanakapura on Friday, Shivakumar mocked unnamed BJP figures for seeking publicity over an event they had no part in. He questioned why they would bother, since they had nothing to do with organising it.
PM Narendra Modi has urged citizens to put their wellbeing first this Dhanteras. He says preventive steps and better daily habits can give families a sturdier footing for the years ahead.
He pointed to Ayurveda, which he said stresses keeping people well rather than only curing sickness. Eating with awareness, practising yoga, sleeping enough and going for health check-ups were among the steps he suggested.
He called caring for loved ones' health the most valuable commitment a family can make, and asked people to use the festival to renew their focus on body and mind.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Antigua and Barbuda's Prime Minister Gaston Browne in St John's on Thursday. They discussed ways to grow trade, investment, green energy and food processing ties.
Jaishankar passed on greetings from PM Narendra Modi and congratulated Browne on hosting the Commonwealth summit. He also met Foreign Minister Paul Chet Greene to step up cooperation in health, education and small businesses.
Earlier at the summit, he said India would offer Guyana a $500 million credit line for roads, healthcare and defence.
News India Xtra@newsIndiaxtra
