It was as though Diwali came a full 12 days ahead to Andhra Pradesh, at least for supporters of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and admirers of former Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu. They burst firecrackers and distributed sweets to celebrate the return of their leader, after 53 days of being detained by the police.

As soon as the news broke, scenes of celebrations on the streets across Andhra Pradesh came on TV, mostly on those channels seen as pro-Naidu.

Till late night when Mr Naidu undertook that road journey from Rajahmundry Central Jail to his home in Guntur’s Undavalli, big crowds were gathered all along to get a glimpse of their leader, greet him and show support.

You could dismiss the show of solidarity and support as appropriate political optics created by a party with a well-organised cadre, just about six months before the state election. Something that they perhaps failed to do to the same scale when Mr Naidu was sent to jail. Perhaps, TDP leaders and the party workers were at that time too shocked in disbelief that this could happen to their leader.

Mr Naidu knows only too well that it is a temporary reprieve that he has got from the courts. A four-week conditional interim bail on medical grounds doesn’t mean much in terms of clearing his name or giving him a moral high ground. He has been asked to “surrender” to the jail superintendent before 5 pm on November 28.

Besides, the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy is ready with at least three more cases of alleged corruption, Fibrenet case, Inner Ring Road case and the latest liquor licence case, in which Mr Naidu has been named as an accused and the prosecution is pushing to get him arrested. Mr Naidu appears to have been pushed into a tight corner.

But he comes with years of political experience. After joining student politics at Sri Venkateswara University in his early 20s, Youth Congress in 1975, becoming the youngest MLA at 28, minister at 30, and then Chief Minister at 45, playing a national role as United Front Convenor, lending support to the NDA as the fourth-largest party in the country, facing a crushing defeat in 2004, becoming the Chief Minister of a bifurcated state in 2014 and again losing power in 2018, Mr Naidu’s political graph has seen several ups and downs. He is a master of the art of political survival.

As a seasoned politician, he knows he has to play the game by its rules. At 73, age is no longer on his side, and he has to make the most of every little window of opportunity. Because his best chance in this latest battle is to make a political comeback in 2024 by winning Andhra Pradesh.

So even though Mr Naidu was released on conditional bail, with the government trying to ensure that restrictions were placed on his political activity, the veteran politician used the opportunity to pitch himself in the best manner possible.

The optics were right, with supporters euphoric about the return of their leader. The endearing visual of a senior politician visibly joyful at meeting his only grandson was a bonus that added a personalised human element to the occasion.

Given the conditions imposed by the court and the multiple, repeated attempts after which Mr Naidu got bail, there was some doubt if he would risk making a political speech. But the politician made a speech, driving home his message, while steering clear of legal controversy.

While on the face of it, it appeared like a speech to thank those who had come to greet him, it was a politically loaded speech, that Mr Naidu used to tell people he has been a man of integrity, respected and loved by people for his work, has friends across the political spectrum, is supported and well-regarded by political peers, with a stature far beyond the politics of the state. That is what Mr Naidu sought to convey.

“In my 45 years of political life, I have done no wrong and I do not allow others to do wrong either,” he said.

“No politician in his lifetime can experience this. I am grateful that people remember me for the development work that I have done, for instance, for building Hitech City in Hyderabad 25 years ago.”

“Am grateful for the overwhelming support of people not just in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, but across India and worldwide too,” Mr Naudi said. “Jana Sena came out and openly supported us. We also got support from the BJP, BRS, CPI and even the Congress.”

Apparently cold-shouldered by the BJP in his attempts to cosy up to the NDA in the preceding months, Mr Naidu wanted to convey that his political options were open and he has friends in places that matter and count.

With elections just six months away, Mr Naidu needs to keep his leaders and party workers enthused, motivated, energised, with the confidence that victory is just a political fight away.

That is why, in his absence, Mr Naidu got his wife Bhuvaneswari and daughter-in-law Brahmani, both of whom have never been in the political limelight, to take the centre-stage and keep the party’s political activity buzzing.

It’s another matter that Ms Bhuvaneswari’s ‘Nijam Gelavali’ (truth must win or prevail) yatra seems eerily like the ‘Odarpu Yatra’. As part of Nijam Gelavali, Ms Bhuvaneswari meets about 150 families who lost a family member because of the shock of Mr Naidu going to jail.

After the death of YS Rajasekhar Reddy in 2009, YS Jagan Reddy had started ‘Odarpu Yatra’ to console those who lost a family member because of the shock of the sudden death of YSR.

The TDP obviously saw the value of political mobilisation, appealing to personal emotions and linking them to the leader and the political party, so people see value beyond mere votes and politics in the association.

Beyond the meetings with the families, a public meeting and interaction became experience-gaining public platforms for a political novice like Ms Bhuvaneswari. The curiosity factor is an added attraction for the party cadre and others, who saw it’s their responsibility to keep the party in the public domain as a relevant and viable political option.

The Telugu Desam and Jana Sena were appearing visibly together in these political activities, telling people that the chemistry works, with each bringing their strengths to the table.

After a “thanksgiving” visit to Tirumala-Tirupati, Mr Naidu is expected to spend time away from Andhra Pradesh, in Hyderabad, getting operated for cataract at LV Prasad Eye Hospital.

So he stays away from the prying eyes of the intelligence establishment in Andhra Pradesh while he sets his eyes and keeps his vision focussed on the target: the 2024 assembly and parliament elections in Andhra Pradesh.

The National Testing Agency will open the correction window for making any changes in the online application filled for the UGC-NET. The correction window opened on November 1 and will continue till November 3, 2023.

“All the registered candidates for the said examination are advised to visit the website and verify their particular. They are further advised to make corrections in their particulars, in their respective Online Application Form, if required, as per Annexure 1.”

The notice further mentions that the candidates who have verified Aadhar can not make any changes in the mobile number, Email address, Permanent address and correspondence address. These candidates can also not make any changes in candidate’s name, date of birth and gender, photo. The  changes can only be made in father’s name or mother’s name.

The candidates who have not used Aadhar for modification can make change in either their name, or father’s/mother’s name.

The UGC-NET exam will be conducted from December 6 to December 22, 2023.  The city of exam centre will be announced in the last week of November 2023. The students will be able to download the admit cards from the NTA website in the first week of December 2023.

The National Testing Agency conducts the UGC-NET to determine the eligibility of Indian nationals for ‘Assistant Professor’ and ‘Junior Research Fellowship and Assistant Professor’ in Indian universities and colleges.

The National Testing Agency will conduct UGC – NET December 2023 for ‘Junior Research Fellowship’ and eligibility for ‘Assistant Professor’ in 83 subjects in Computer Based Test (CBT) mode.

Candidates can apply for UGC -NET December 2023 through the ‘Online’ mode as the application form in any other mode will not be accepted.

Israel’s goal of defeating Hamas is more ambitious than ever before, yet a new long-term military approach aimed at limiting its own casualties may draw further international concern over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The ground campaign to destroy those that run the Gaza Strip – following the deadly incursion by the Palestinian militant group into Israel in early October – involves armed forces moving gradually into the crowded enclave while backed up by tanks and artillery. 

The Israeli military said Tuesday that two soldiers were killed in combat in northern Gaza, the army’s first reported fatalities since the start of the ground offensive on Friday. Meanwhile, Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry said a series of Israeli airstrikes on a crowded refugee camp had killed and wounded hundreds, one of the deadliest single assaults since the aerial bombardment began more than three weeks ago.

Airstrikes, which have pummeled Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks, continue and have already claimed more than 8,500 Palestinian lives, according to Hamas-led health authorities. 

On the ground, armored vehicles are reported by residents to be on the outskirts of Gaza City, several kilometers across the border, while Israeli forces attacked a Hamas outpost, killing dozens of militants, the army spokesman’s unit said in a text message Tuesday.

The upshot of this gradual strategy is the Israeli military and government are primed – and are priming the public – for a campaign that will take months, not weeks.

“Israel is proceeding very gradually, very carefully, cautiously as it wants to make sure there are minimum casualties,” Yossi Kuperwasser, a former top military intelligence official, said by phone. “Israel believes it is not under any time pressure.” 

That contrasts with 2014, when Israel’s army surged into the Gaza Strip following 10 days of aerial bombardment, triggering a fierce battle in a densely-populated urban neighborhood where Hamas was dug in. More than a dozen soldiers died. Before a cease-fire took hold a few weeks later, the army death toll rose to 66, drawing criticism within Israel.

Go Slow 

The gradual progress of the present campaign is intended to avoid pitched fighting in built-up areas, while troops are wary of approaching the vast network of secret subterranean tunnels in which Hamas hides. The go-slow tactics may succeed in limiting Israeli military losses and potentially civilian deaths, yet risk prolonging a war.

There’s also a shift of focus away from negotiating over hostages, of which about 240 were taken by Hamas, which is designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union. On Tuesday Israel said there’s no deal within sight to free more of the captives via Qatari mediation.

The unprecedented civilian death toll from Israeli bombing since the Hamas attacks has sparked growing international criticism, while leading to a dire humanitarian crisis that has left more than 60% of Gaza’s 2.2 million population displaced. A blockade of fuel and power supplies by Israel alongside limited water and food have added to their plight. 

Israel seems on track to establish a buffer zone between the country and Gaza a couple of kilometers deep to ensure future attacks on its territory can’t happen, according to officials.

But successfully dislodging Hamas from Gaza could take more than a year, according to Amir Avivi, a former brigadier general who was involved in preparations for the 2014 Gaza war. “We need to spend months and months dismantling all this infrastructure,” he said by phone after meetings with Netanyahu and top military officials as head of an association of former and reserve members of the security forces.

The challenge that Israel faces in Gaza is magnified by the tunnel network, which Hamas says extends for several hundred kilometers and is equipped with ventilation shafts and electricity. Some reach a depth of 35 meters and can even have railroad tracks and communication rooms, according to experts. The entrance to them often lies in residential buildings or other public facilities.

Using robots to explore the tunnel complex can reduce risks. But, due to confined spaces, booby traps and greater knowledge by Hamas of the underground environment, Israeli troops who try to enter are at a severe disadvantage. Another complication is Hamas has said it’s keeping hostages underground, making it more hazardous to bomb the complexes.

‘Blood Price’

“Hamas is counting on us entering every bunker and every tunnel in order to exact a heavy blood price from us,” former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He called for a long siege to “suffocate the Hamas terrorists in the tunnels until they are forced to leave.”

Since the war started, Hamas has continued to use the underground system to attempt attacks, both on land and by sea.

Because of international and domestic pressure, Israel will need to scale back the offensive after a few weeks and then rely on more targeted missions for an extended period, according to Manuel Trajtenberg, executive director of the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies, a think tank.

“At no point are we thinking of a massive occupation,” he said.