New hope for India-Pak foreign secretary talks

New hope for India-Pak foreign secretary talks: Pakistan agencies arrest 'some suspects' involved in Pathankot terror attack



NEWSPAPERS HEADLINES:

Political reactions to former UPA Minister Manish Tiwari's recent comments that reports of troop movement towards Delhi in 2012 were indeed true dominate the front pages. The Pioneer writes "Manish Tiwari in soup for sticking to his coup guns : Congress raps its leader, BJP and former Army Chief V K Singh too rebut allegations".

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's address at a book release function via video conferencing is prominently noticed in the press. The Tribune quotes the Prime Minister as saying "Rashtra Dharma is supreme". The Asian Age reports Mr Modi as saying "Spirituality, not communalism is our gift to the world".

All the papers take note of the meeting between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and PDP President Mehbooba Mufti even as efforts at government formation are underway in Jammu and Kashmir following the death of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed. Hinting at possible political realignments, the Hindustan Times reports "Political buzz grows in Valley as Sonia drops in to see Mehbooba".

All the papers keenly track fresh information coming in about the terrorist attack on the Air force base at Pathankot. The Times of India writes "Publicly, Saudi Arabia silent on attack, but quietly gave intel inputs". The Hindu, in a front page exclusive states "Terrorists were minutes away from fighter jets".

Highlighting what would clearly be an embarassment to the Congress in Bihar where its a part of the ruling coalition, the Hindustan Times writes "Bihar government website says Indira Gandhi rule worse than that of the British".

Big changes seem to be in the offing in the field of education. The Hindustan Times writes that the HRD Ministry is to soon set up a National Authority for Testing which will conduct the entrance exam to engineering colleges replacing the JEE.

And finally....in what is heartening news on the gender front the Hindu informs us that Telangana has become the first state in the country to make gender education compulsory at the graduate level.