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NEW DELHI: External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Islamabad on
Wednesday on a two-day visit during which she will hold talks with her Pakistani
counterpart Sartaj Aziz and attend a multilateral conference on Afghanistan.
"External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj to lead Indian delegation for 'Heart of Asia'
5th ministerial meeting on Afghanistan on December 9 in Islamabad," external
affairs ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted.Swaraj's visit comes two days
after talks between the National Security Advisors of India and Pakistan in Bangkok,
where they discussed terrorism, Jammu and Kashmir and a range of key bilateral
issues apart from agreeing to carry forward the "constructive" engagement.
The external affairs minister will call on Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and
meet his Adviser on foreign affairs Aziz on the sidelines of the 'Heart of Asia'
regional conference on Afghanistan on Wednesday.
Her visit comes three years after former external affairs minister S M Krishna
travelled to Islamabad in 2012 when the countries also inked a visa liberalisation
pact.
During her visit, Swaraj will be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar, who
was also present during the four-hour-long meeting between National Security
Advisor Ajit Doval and his Pakistani counterpart Naseer Janjua in the Thai capital.
The joint statement after the meeting of NSAs said the talks were held pursuant to a
meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif on the sidelines
of the climate meet in Paris, rejecting the version given by the Indian side then that
it was a mere "exchange of courtesies" although Sharif had told Pakistani media
that he had a "good meeting" and "doors of dialogue should open".
Before Paris, Modi and Sharif had held bilateral meeting in Russian city of Ufa where
they decided that their NSAs would meet to discuss all "terror-related" issues.
However, Pakistan had called-off Aziz' visit after New Delhi had made it clear that he
would not be allowed to meet Kashmiri separatist leaders in the Indian capital.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a public interest
petition seeking direction to Parliament to enact a uniform civil code to put an end
to alleged discrimination being faced by Muslim women.

An apex court bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur said that it is for Parliament
to take a call on the issue and it was not in the realm of the apex court to issue a
direction on this.
Chief Justice Thakur, in a disapproving note, told senior counsel Gopal Subramaniam
that if such petitions were filed without regard to the law, the court will come down
very heavily.
The court asked why none of those who are being allegedly discriminated against
have come forward for redressal.
Advocate Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay had filed the PIL.
In todays cut-throat world, an act of kindness has the power to transcend the
frailties of inhumanity and leave us speechless.
Shalini Girish, a Mumbaikar whose family is stuck in flood-hit Chennai, shared a
moving conversation she had with an auto driver while traveling in the city.
Was travelling in an auto in Mumbai when I received a call which I answered in
Tamil. After the call the auto driver says Madam aapke pehchan wale sab teek
hain. I said yes they are and proceeded to have a conversation with him on the
tragedy. After ten minutes reached my destination & was paying him the fare when
he says. nahin chahiye madam ,mere taraf se aapke sheharwalon keliye yeh paisa
se kuch bhi madat kardijiye. Garib hoon itna hi de saktha hoon. Allah unki raksha
karein. Saying this he just drove off leaving me speechless.
Shalini, who hails from Chennai, runs a jewelry store in Mumbai.
Life in flood-hit Chennai is slowly limping back to normalcy, with shops opening up
and a massive clean up initiated in areas where the water levels have receded.
Over 450 people have lost their lives and hundreds are missing because of the
incessant rains.

For a small man, Temba Bavuma has had some big expectations thrust on him. The
biggest, in fact.
At his franchise team, the Lions, he is nicknamed Sachin. You can probably figure
out why. Bavuma stands a shave under 5'3"; Tendulkar is 5'4". When the two
actually met in late October, that inch appeared as tiny as it really is and as
massive as the 196 Tests and 15,786 runs that separate them.
Whether Bavuma will even come close to narrowing that gap seems too much to
contemplate right now but his domestic team-mates will tell you that he has the

temperament to try. He dished up a small sample of that in this match where,

opening the batting for the first time, he showed the head and the heart, if not
always the technique, to do the job.
Bavuma's performance stood out because of the backdrop it has come against.
While most of his team-mates have looked completely out of their depth on this
tour, Bavuma has managed to hold his own. He accepted the challenge of batting
out of position - Bavuma is a regular No.5 - but would only get the chance to slot in
there for South Africa if AB de Villiers has another child, as was the case in
Bangladesh - and also adjusted his game to suit the circumstance of the second
innings.
In the first dig, Bavuma could still bat like he usually does. He had to be cautious
but could still look for runs and his signature shot - the elegant flick off the hip - that
had many praising his panache. Against bowling that cramped him for room and
fielders who closed down all the angles, he eventually scored only 22, but it was a
relatively assured knock. It was also more than anyone else except de Villiers.
But the instructions in the second innings were entirely different: stone-wall like you
are Russia at the United Nations Security Council, do not run, do not try to run, do
not look for runs, just dead-bat everything and don't get out. For a player whose
role is very seldom about that kind of staunch defence, Bavuma had to apply
himself in a way he had not done before.
"That was the toughest piece of batting I've had to do in my life. I always try to be
positive but with the runs not being the priority, time was the key and that was
tough for me," said Bavuma. "The toughest part is when I have to against my
natural instinct, which is to score runs. Here, the main thing is time. It's not the runs
and batting time is quite tough."
The first shot Bavuma played was that leg side clip for a single before he
remembered it was not necessary to rotate strike. For the next 17 deliveries, he left
the ball go outside the off stump or blocked. His next run came almost by accident,
when he got on the back foot to defend one that leapt up on him and it took off
form high on the bat to leave enough time and room to amble one. Hashim Amla
allowed Bavuma through then, but wouldn't as the inning progressed.
Bavuma awareness of the offstump, especially against the seamers upfront, was
sound but not as sternly examined as it may have been because they did not force
him into playing. Ishant Sharma seemed more interested in using Bavuma as a
dartboard as he tried to the attack the body. On every occasion, Bavuma managed
to get out of the way. It was only when Ishant pitched it further up and brought it
closer in that Bavuma had to tighten up, even though there were times when he did
not get behind the line of the ball as much as he should have.

Against the spinners, Bavuma needed to be even more aware of that. He routinely
exposed his off stump while staying back in the crease and R Ashwin snuck through.
But the other aspects of Bavuma's response to spin - the coming forward when its
tossed up and attention to watching for the turn - were signs of someone who is
well-versed in playing slower-bowling and the bells and whistles that come with it,
including the verbals.
In frustration, the Indian fielders even tried to intimidate Bavuma out but was able
to shut that out too. "They make quite a lot of noise. They are known for their
theatre. They are always trying to get you to play out of character," he said.
What Bavuma showed was that he has got the character of a Test opener, even
though that is not what he was just four days ago. He has given South Africa an
option they did not previously have and he has let them know it. "I've certainly been
taken out of my comfort zone. I have been asked to fulfill a job that is very hard
fulfilling but hopefully I can just grow here on."
As a result, he has earned the right to keep the spot for the upcoming series against
England where the expectations will be big but the man himself, has now become a
little bigger.
Firdose Moonda is ESPNcricinfo's South Africa correspondent