May Month Articles
- Let's Take Yoga Back
- by Sheetal Shah
I began my Hatha Yoga practice later in life - at the age of 27. I initially
began yoga, as so many do, to tone my body. But as I progress through
this journey - and yes, I have come to believe that yoga is a journey
of the body and mind (I'm still working on the atman part) - yoga is no
longer only about toning my body; it has become the most important tool
to develop my powers of concentration and focus. .....
- Pak helped Lanka win Tiger
battles
- by Mail Today
Pakistan had positioned its military officers and fighter pilots in Sri
Lanka to assist Colombo's war against the LTTE, apparently to dilute India's
strategic influence in the island nation. .....
- Recall what Ambedkar said
- by Prafull Goradia
The Taliban closing in on Islamabad is an ominous portent. Evidently the
mujahideen tried to cross the Indus in strength. Could their eventual
target be to cross the Ichhogil canal? If it were to be so, what would
be the inspiration reinforcing India's answer? .....
- Thread ceremony for Thane
girl
- by Bella Jaisinghani
A family in Thane revisited a long-forgotten Vedic practice on Thursday
when they put their eight-year-old daughter through the thread ceremony,
ordinarily considered a male rite of passage, at the hands of the city's
famed women priests. .....
- Book Review: Reversing
U.S. policy in AfPak
- by Diana West
As the U.S. military slogs on, confused, trying to win the "trust"
of the Afghan people; as the Obama administration, illogically, attempts
to explain its way through Pakistan's "uneven" record of fighting
jihad to a new $7.5 billion aid package (on top of $12 billion spent by
the Bush administration), it is great luck to come across a book like
Moorthy S. Muthuswamy's "Defeating Political Islam: The New Cold
War." .....
- Elections 2009: The Myth
of 'Secular' Verdict
- by Swati Parashar
The verdict of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections is loud and clear as the UPA
returns to power for another 5 year term. In the light of the developments
in the last one year this election verdict comes as a surprise and in
many ways a pleasant one. However, for those gleefully claiming the victory
of the 'secular' forces, it is time for some bitter 'truths'. .....
- Bring back my blue-eyed-boy
- by P Pavan
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S R Reddy did not wait even 24 hours to
bring back former DGP S S P Yadav who was shunted out by the Election
Commission for praising YSR's leadership and undertaking a foreign trip
during the polls. .....
- New temple set to open
in Nadi
- by Shalendra Prasad
Nadi is fast becoming the spiritual hub for Hindus in Fiji following the
construction of a second magnificent temple in the district. .....
- Security police intervene
against fundamentalists
- by Rolleiv Solholm
The security branch of the Norwegian police (PST) say they have uncovered
plans for terrorist attacks against targets in Norway, and that they have
intervened against 25 Muslim fundamentalists that they believe planned
terrorist acts against Norway and other nations. .....
- 'Revenge' rears its ugly
head
- by Asim Pramanik
Minor girls, aged women and housewives of Muslim minority families were
raped allegedly by gangs of armed policemen including jawans of the Rapid
Action Force (RAF) who were desperate to avenge the killing of their colleague,
Gopal Mondal, a sub-inspector of Raninagar police station, in Murshidabad
on 16 May. .....
- Advani must first set
BJP in order
- by Onkar Chopra
John F Kennedy said, "Victory has a thousand fathers but defeat is
an orphan." I personally hold Mr LK Advani in great esteem and admire
his offer to resign as the Leader of the Opposition for the BJP's recent
electoral defeat. It is but natural that Mr Advani would have felt disheartened
at the outcome of the Lok Sabha election. .....
- Democracy has failed displaced
Kashmiri Hindus
- by Ajay Bharti
Displaced community has a reason to believe that the entire process is
organised under a planned conspiracy. It is not difficult to understand
the fact that presence of Hindu voters drastically reduces the blackmailing
potential of Kashmiri Muslim politicians. .....
- SIMI on regrouping bid;
sleuths spring into action
- by VR Jayaraj
The Intelligence wing of the Kerala Police has initiated a multi-pronged
operation in coordination with the Anti-Terror Squad to track the developments
in the pro-terror Islamist outfits in the context of information provided
by the Union Home Department that an effort is going on for the regrouping
of erstwhile activists of outlawed Students Islamic Movement of India
(SIMI). .....
- The curse of caste
- by Vikas Singh
Here's a little known fact: Guru Tegh Bahadur is probably the only religious
leader to have sacrificed his life on behalf of ANOTHER religion. When
the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb ordered a group of Pandits to convert to
Islam or be put to death, they rushed to the ninth Guru, seeking his aid.
Tegh Bahadur offered himself in their place, and was duly martyred. .....
- Marxists play moral police
- by VR Jayaraj
In Kerala, the Reds have taken on the task of moral police. They have
issued instructions to petty officials to monitor the movement of women
to prevent them from going 'astray'! .....
- Locating BJP's ideology
- by Kanchan Gupta
There was a time when the BJP prided itself as an 'ideological political
party' with clarity of thought and purpose. Many of those who are members
or supporters of the party were/are loyal to the organisation because
of its 'ideology'. .....
- Forgotten 26/11 hero gets
only Rs 500 as award
- by Nithya Ramani
I was awarded only five months after sending them [Indian Railways] an
application," says Bablu Kumar Deepak, the courageous railway announcer
at the main line section of Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. .....
- Pakistan seeks English
version of Mumbai evidence
- by The Pioneer
Pakistan is seeking an English translation of information India provided
about November's militant attacks in Mumbai in order to begin prosecutions
of suspects, a government spokesman said on Thursday. .....
- We Have A Chinese Problem,
Not A North Korean One
- by Gordon G. Chang
Hours after the Democratic People's Republic of Korea detonated its second
atomic device, Beijing condemned the test. "The DPRK conducted another
nuclear test in disregard of the common opposition of the international
community," a Foreign Ministry statement, issued May 25, noted. "The
Chinese government is firmly opposed to this act." .....
- US lets China act belligerent
- by G Parthasarathy
Non-proliferation ayatollahs in the USA, close to the Democratic Party
establishment, have recently been publishing 'revelations' of Pakistan
constructing two new plutonium reactors at its nuclear nerve centre, Khushab.
The timing and contents of these 'revelations' are intriguing. They appeared
just as a new Government was assuming office in New Delhi. .....
- Taliban strike ISI headquarters
in Lahore, 35 killed
- by M Zulqernain
Suspected Taliban militants on Wednesday brazenly targeted the provincial
headquarters of the Inter-Services Intelligence in Lahore, detonating
an explosive-laden car, leaving at least 35 people dead and over 250 wounded.
.....
- Stop bullying India, Mr
Obama
- by MV Kamath
India was not responsible for starting the war in Vietnam. The US dropped
more bombs on that small poverty-ridden state than were dropped by all
the nations involved in the Second World war on each other-and no questions
were ever raised. .....
- Meditation can alter brain
structure and reduce stress
- by Barbara Lantin
Kathy Sykes, a Bristol University professor, has long known that if she
does not find at least 30 minutes a day in her frantically overcrowded
schedule to lie down and listen to music, she is grumpier, more tired
and less able to concentrate. .....
- Civil rights
- by Shyamlal Yadav
If Britain's World War I prime minister David Lloyd George were to examine
the steel frame that the Indian Civil Service was supposed to be, he probably
wouldn't recognise it. It's more like clay now, moulding itself to the
shape of an emerging India. .....
- Planting an idea
- by Stephen David
There is an alternative to protests and signing petitions when civic agencies
cut down trees. Instead of getting dismayed at the rapidly depleting green
cover in Bangalore, Janet Yegneswaran, 57, launched a campaign by planting
saplings. .....
- Captors of the Liberated
Zone
- by Sudip Mazumdar
Late one night recently, my phone rang. It was my sister, and her voice
was trembling. A member of India's nominally Maoist insurgency had just
called her husband, demanding a protection payment of more than $1,000.
.....
- I was groomed for jihad in
Britain
- by Kevin Dowling
A TEENAGER has revealed how he was recruited by Al-Qaeda-inspired extremists
and groomed to carry out suicide attacks in Britain. .....
- Partisans for peace
- by Yubaraj Ghimire
United Nations Mission (UNMIN) came to Nepal three years ago when the
main parties in the conflict, and then the peace process, thought that
the UN body with its vast experience of mediation and assistance worldwide
would manage a miracle here as well. .....
- Another alert
- by The Indian Express
It is a story so repetitive, that you may have missed it in the newspapers.
"Naxals ambush and kill policemen in a remote district." What,
you ask, is new? Well, what's new is how immune we've grown to this horror
story; worse, how immune the government has grown. .....
- Themes of Indian dreams
- by Uma Asher
The renowned psychiatrist Carl Jung said, "Who looks outside, dreams.
Who looks inside, awakens." Thousands of thinkers have looked within,
yet the enigma of dreams has endured over the centuries. Claudine Bautze-Picron,
editor of a new book titled The Indian Night: Sleep and Dreams in Indian
Culture, says, "Dreams are as natural as eating or sleeping. .....
- Pak has to stop LeT, JeM
to get US aid
- by Chidanand Rajghatta
Protesters demonstrating against misuse of American taxpayer dollars briefly
disrupted a Senate hearing on US aid to Pakistan on Thursday, but US lawmakers
by and large fell in line with the Obama administration's proposal to
not legislate exacting conditions on the multi-billion dollar assistance
but hold Islamabad to account through executive oversight. .....
- Palm-Leaf Manuscript in Bali
Nowadays
- by Sidarta Wijaya
Before the introduction of paper as writing material to the paradise island
of Bali, Balinese use specially processed palm leaves known as lontar
to record details for future preservation. Despite of the popularity of
paper, lontar is still being used in Bali for rendering texts, especially
which are considered sacred such as history of a clan, religious practices,
magic related-incantations, parts of Ramayana or Mahabharata epic .....
- Religious People Make Better
Citizens, Study Says
- by Daniel Burke
First, the silver lining: people of faith are better citizens and better
neighbors, and America is "amazingly" religious compared to
other countries, says Harvard University professor Robert Putnam. .....
- Islamabad answerable for
its actions: US senator
- by Chidanand Rajghatta
While diluting the bill on economic aid to Pakistan, the US House foreign
affairs committee (HFAC), in a token gesture, has reworked the language
to say Islamabad would have to provide "access to Pakistani nationals''
connected to proliferation networks, "cease support, including by
any elements within the Pakistan military or its intelligence agency,
to extremist and terrorist groups'' and "prevent cross-border attacks
into neighbouring countries'' as conditions for US security assistance.
.....
- Wages of Incoherence
- by K Subrahmanyam
US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has astonished the world with her
rare candour. She has described US policy towards Pakistan in the last
30 years as incoherent. She has bemoaned that, after accepting Pakistan's
support in the Afghanistan war in the 1980s, the US imposed all kinds
of sanctions on it. True, US policy was incoherent. .....
- Third Front a cut-paste job:
CPM
- by Manoj C G
Having burnt its fingers chasing the Third Front dream, the CPI(M) on
Thursday admitted that the alternative it tried to forge was essentially
a "cut and paste" job done on the eve of elections and indicated
that it would not indulge in such poll-time misadventure again. .....
- The rot runs deep in Kerala
- by Arun Lakshman
More than the bloody nose received in Election -09 what's worrying Kerala's
Communist masters more is the fact that it no longer has a deep reservoir
of intellectual support at its disposal .....
- The new divide
- by Saugar Sengupta
Mamata Banerjee is now the rallying point for Bengal's allegedly pro-change
intellectuals. Is it delayed conscience kick ? Or rats deserting the sinking
ship? .....
- Will PM buckle under pressure
to take 'tainted' Baalu, Raja?
- by The Pioneer
With a commanding majority on his side, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
may not be ready to include either non-performing or controversial Ministers
in his team. And that could seal the fate of TR Baalu and A Raja unless
the PM succumbs to DMK pressure and allows them to sneak into his Cabinet.
.....
- Dhimmitude at British Midland
Airways
- by Daniel Pipes
British Midland Airways Limited, known as BMI, has taken two steps toward
Islamization recently that should set off alarm bells. .....
- Pakistan's religious minorities
report violence
- by Kathy Gannon
Fauzia Abrar had finally gotten her crying baby to sleep when screaming
men pounded on the steel doors of her home in the mostly Christian slum
in the port city of Karachi. .....
- Saketri temple: Haryana government
restrained from taking over management
- by The Times of India
Even as Haryana government and Shiv Mandir Nav Durga Charitable Trust
are engaged in a pitched legal battle over 500-year-old Shiva Temple at
Saketri in Panchkula, justice Surya Kant of Punjab and Haryana High Court
granted interim succour to the trust by ''restraining'' the state of Haryana
from taking over temple management. .....
- New Balinese Temple in Belgium
- by Sidarta Wijaya
A good news for Balinese came from Belgium; a new Balinese Hindu temple
is established in Paradisio Parc, Belgium. This new temple was established
in a 55-ha bird park by Eric Domb, a Belgian who has deep affection to
Bali. .....
- Elections 2009: A clear but
flawed verdict
- by Virendra Parekh
There are certain aspects of the mandate which are deeply worrying and
reflect poorly on the quality of Indian democracy. They show India's political
process and its much acclaimed voter in an unedifying light. .....
- US gives another free pass
to Pak nuclear program
- by Chidanand Rajghatta
The United States has again given what virtually amounts to a free pass
to Pakistan's India-specific nuclear weapons program, washing its hands
off reports by its own military and intelligence that Islamabad is rapidly
expanding its arsenal, while insisting it will ensure US aid is not spent
on the country's nuclear program. .....
- BJP failed due to problems
within
- by A. Surya Prakash
Verdict 2009 is in and the people have renewed the mandate for the Congress-led
UPA in an unambiguous manner. Although the alliance has marginally fallen
short of the magical 272 needed for a clear majority in the Lok Sabha,
the massive increase in the strength of the Congress in the House and
the 100-seat lead that the UPA has secured over the NDA headed by the
BJP has left no scope for speculation on who the winner is. .....
- ISI engaged in 'strategic
hedging' in Afghanistan: Pentagon
- by The Pioneer
Accusing the ISI of engaging in "strategic hedging" and "playing
both sides" in Afghanistan, top Pentagon officials have said that
getting rid of the al-Qaeda "safe haven" in Pakistan is the
"top priority" for the US to win the war against terrorism in
the region. .....
- But DMK Wants Its Pound Of
Flesh
- by Dravida Thambi
Having stunned pol sters and analysts with a impressive victory in th
Lok Sabha elections, bag ging 18 seats in Tamil Nadu the DMK is likely
to seek lion's share in the Unio Cabinet. .....
- US unwittingly aiding Pak
N programme
- by Chidandnd Rajghatta
Are American lawmakers and the Obama administration unintentionally funding
a runaway Pakistani nuclear weapons program that may not only mean a mortal
danger to the United States in the long run, but pose a more immediate
existential threat to India? .....
- Delhi's Subway Builder
- by Amy Yee
The managing director is 77 years old, spiritual and is laying tracks
like there's no tomorrow. On a recent Saturday morning Elattuvalapil Sreedharan
arrived at a dusty construction site on the outskirts of Delhi to check
on the progress of India's first high-speed airport train. In spite of
round-the-clock work, progress on boring a huge tunnel into the earth
was not up to mark. .....
- US doesn't know where Pak
nukes are
- by Aziz Haniffa
United States Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon Panetta says that
while the CIA has been scrupulously tracking the whereabouts of Pakistan's
nuclear weapons arsenal, it has no intelligence about where they are dispersed.
.....
- Cong has Raj, superstars
to thank for extra seats
- by Arati R Jerath
The Congress-led UPA has three men to thank for its seat surge in the
2009 Lok Sabha polls: Raj Thackeray, Chiranjeevi, and Vijayakanth. They
helped the victorious alliance win nearly 50 more seats in Maharashtra,
Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu than anyone would have expected, as a result
of which the UPA ended up with 262 seats, against the 222 it won in 2004.
.....
- German Army Can't Protect
Afghan Girls' Schools
- by Spiegel.de
Resuming the schooling of Afghanistan's girls became a much-celebrated
post-Taliban achievement for the international community, but that success
is now at risk. Six schools in the northern region of Kunduz closed following
Taliban threats in recent weeks. The German army says it can't protect
them. .....
- Bangladesh arrests top Islamic
leader: police
- by Google News
Bangladesh has detained a top Islamic party leader for allegedly throwing
bombs at a political procession held by the ruling party earlier this
month, police said Monday. .....
- Break the language barrier
- by K.V. Kurmanath
Telugus, Kannadigas and Malayalis can read Subrahmanya Bharati, the legendary
Tamil poet, and relish the sweetness in his poetry. Similarly, Premchand,
Tagore, M T Vasudeva Nair, and U R Ananthamurthy too could be read and
understood by readers in other languages. .....
- Panini to the rescue
- by K.V. Kurmanath
Panini, the legendary Sanskrit grammarian of 5th century BC, is the world's
first computational grammarian! Panini's work, Ashtadhyayi (the Eight-Chaptered
book), is considered to be the most comprehensive scientific grammar ever
written for any language. .....
- Pakistan Is Rapidly Adding
Nuclear Arms, U.S. Says
- by Thom Shanker and David E. Sanger
Members of Congress have been told in confidential briefings that Pakistan
is rapidly adding to its nuclear arsenal even while racked by insurgency,
raising questions on Capitol Hill about whether billions of dollars in
proposed military aid might be diverted to Pakistan's nuclear program.
.....
- Sonia raj gives foreign kin
relief, me jail: Modi
- by The Indian Express
A day after the Supreme Court ordered a probe against his role in the
2002 post-Godhra riots, Chief Minister Narendra Modi, in his first public
response to the order, accused the Congress of hatching a conspiracy to
put him behind bars. .....
- Pak wakes up, bombs Taliban
dens in Buner
- by The Indian Express
Pakistani jets and attack helicopters bombed Taliban positions in a district
near the capital on Tuesday, expanding an offensive against militants
seemingly emboldened by a much-criticised peace deal. .....
- Battering ram
- by Pratap Bhanu Mehta
There is much analysis of why the Congress is struggling, despite ostensibly
favourable circumstances. Many explanations are familiar and spot on:
the organisational revival is still uneven; its ability to adapt to local
conditions remains spotty. There is also a deep problem with its message.
.....
- Wages of arrogance
- by The Indian Express
Once again, the spectre of Bofors has risen at election time, and the
Congress has none but itself to blame. The political costs are manifold,
and troubling. The BJP has been handed a stick with which to beat the
Congress; it can now openly say what it was muttering earlier: that only
they will plug black-money leaks and recover ill-gotten gains stashed
away abroad. .....
- Farewell gift to nation-in-law...
PM, Sonia guilty, says BJP
- by The Indian Express
Describing the withdrawal of the Interpol Red Corner Notice by the CBI
against Italian businessman and Bofors suspect Ottavio Quattrocchi as
"the last nail in the coffin of the judicial process in the Bofors
scandal", NDA prime ministerial candidate L K Advani said he considered
both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi
"guilty" and promised to "examine the Quattrocchi issue
if voted to power". .....
- Tiananmen ghosts
- by Adi Ignatius
When the tanks and troops blasted their way into Beijing's Tiananmen Square
20 years ago, crushing the student-led protest movement that had captivated
the world, the biggest political casualty was Chinese Communist Party
chief Zhao Ziyang, the man who had tried hardest to avoid the bloodshed.
.....
- Toe Guj probe line in
Sikh riots: PIL in SC
- by The Times of India
A day after the Supreme Court directed a Special Investigation Team (SIT)
to probe into the alleged role of CM Narendra Modi in the 2002 post-Godhra
riots, a PIL sought to draw a parallel between the Gujarat riots and the
1984 anti-Sikh riots seeking parallel treatment by the judiciary. .....
- Bofors, Tytler, Maya,
Mulayam, Soren - all red dots on CBI report card
- by The Economic Times
The CBI's Image As An Independent And autonomous investigative agency,
which was impervious to external influences, has once again come under
a cloud following revelations that it had sought the withdrawal of the
Red Corner Notice against Ottavio Quattrocchi, the Italian middleman who's
an accused in the Bofors bribery case. .....
- Advocate challenges CBI
move
- by The Economic Times
The CBI's decision to erase the name of Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi
from its list of most wanted persons was challenged in the Supreme Court
on Tuesday. It is likely to be mentioned before the court on Wednesday.
.....
- Saffron flag flies high
in Red zone
- by The Times of India
The BJP may have suffered a severe jolt losing its ground in many pockets,
but its base in the Naxal-affected areas remains intact. The Red Zone
continues to repose faith in the saffron party by giving it the highest
number of seats-nine out of 25 this time-in Maoist-dominated constituencies
for the third consecutive time. .....
- This verdict will force
leaders to think nationally
- by Swapan Dasgupta
For a country confronted by two formidable challenges - an economic downturn
of colossal proportions and a security threat stemming from a turbulent
neighbourhood - the outcome of the General Election is reassuring for
two reasons. .....
- CPI-M slips to eighth
place in new Lok Sabha
- by AOL News
From being the third largest party in the outgoing Lok Sabha, the poor
showing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in the general
elections has seen it slipping five places to lie eighth in the newly
elected house - below even regional parties like the Trinamool Congress,
the DMK and the Janata Dal-United. .....
- Red zone reposes faith
in BJP
- by The Times of India
BJP may have suffered a severe jolt losing its ground in many pockets,
but its base in the naxal-affected areas remains intact. The Red Zone
continues to repose faith in the saffron party by giving it the highest
number of seats - nine out of 25 this time - in Maoist-dominated constituencies
for the third consecutive time. .....
- Separatists gear-up to
fuel the Amarnath Yatra controversy again
- by King C Bharati
With elections over and government lifting ban on the movement of separatists
the hardliners among the separatist camp have begun lapping up another
issue to keep their pot of hate politics boiling in Jammu and Kashmir
and what can be the best issue other than the Amarnath Yatra which is
round the corner. .....
- How Pakistan Failed Itself
- by Aryn Baker
In the Himalayan resort town of Nathiagali, a party is under way. Ice
clinks in tumblers and corks pop while the conversation - an amalgam of
English and Urdu that is the mark of Pakistan's élite - flows from
meditation techniques to a heated debate over a U.S. politician's warning
that Pakistan is on the brink of collapse. .....
- Mumbai goes to UPA, courtesy
MNS
- by Sunando Sarkar
The UPA, which has got a pan-India mandate to form the government at the
Centre, will have to be grateful to a party that unabashedly claims to
speak only for Marathis for the clean sweep of Mumbai. .....
- A battle is lost, but
not the war
- by Kanchan Gupta
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was given to moments of jocular frivolity at times
of great stress, for instance on the eve of election results. At the fag
end of the 1999 election campaign, a senior journalist asked him what
would rate as one of the most banal, if not asinine, questions: "Mr
Vajpayee, who do you think will emerge winner?" Without batting his
eyelids, Mr Vajpayee replied, "Of course the BJP." .....
- Karnataka paradox: Lotus
resists UPA storm
- by The Economic Times
Karnataka defied the national mood yet again to give the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) an overwhelming victory as the state ended up on the wrong
side of the grouping for the third time in a row. The BJP added one seat
to its tally of 18 in 2004, cementing its hold in its southern stronghold
and enhancing the prestige of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in the party.
.....
- Rally against Radical
Islam held at New York
- by Narain Kataria
The Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam organized an impressive
rally on May 3, 2009 at Times Square right in the heart of New York City
in which approximately 500 people participated. The rally was held on
behalf of many victims of Islam and in defense of human rights and freedom.
.....
- India thinks Pak N-sites
already in radical hands: Report
- by Chidanand Rajghatta
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told President Obama that nuclear
sites in Pakistan's restive frontier province are "already partly"
in the hands of Islamic extremists, an Israeli journal has said, amid
considerable anxiety among US pundits here over Washington's confidence
in the security of the troubled nation's nuclear arsenal. .....
- Pak govt controls just
38% of Taliban-infested NWFP: Survey
- by The Times of India
An estimated 65 lakh people live under "direct Taliban rule"
in Pakistan's restive NWFP where authorities control only 38% of territory,
says a new survey, warning that there is a "high likelihood"
of increased influence of militants in Punjab also in the near future.
.....
- Denial in Pakistan
- by Bill Roggio
Spencer Ackerman passed along statements made by Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's
Ambassador to the United States, at a forum in Washington yesterday. Ambassador
Haqqani has been a vocal critic of Islamist extremists operating in Pakistan,
so it is very disappointing to see him defend the government's policy
of cutting peace deals with the Taliban. .....
- Want Press Coverage? Give
Me Some Money
- by Paul Beckett
Ajay Goyal is a serious, independent candidate contesting for a Lok Sabha
seat in Chandigarh. Never heard of him? Neither, probably, have a lot
of people in Chandigarh because when it came to getting press coverage
for his campaign he was faced with a simple message: If you want press,
you have to pay. .....
- Save this nation from
past inadequacy and future idiocy
- by B R Haran
"The Quattrocchi case is an embarrassment for the government of India.
We have tried to extradite him from Malaysia. We have tried to extradite
him from Argentina. We have failed. The court says we do not have a strong
case. It is not a good reflection on the Indian legal system that we harass
people while the world says we have no case" .....
- Muslim Dalits a downtrodden
lot
- by Nalin Verma
Ali Anwar's book, 'Masawat ki Jung' has sent a shiver down the spines
of Muslim elites as it dwells at length on the plight of dalit Muslims
derided and treated as pariahs by the upper caste brethren and ulemas.
This goes against tenets of Islam which don't sanction inequality on the
basis of caste and birth. .....
- The West is Naïve,
Greedy and Cowardly in Dealing with Islamists
- by Dr. Sami Alrabaa
Some of them, especially the politicians, act in good faith toward the
Islamists and Muslim terrorists. Guantanamo will be closed, and its inmates
will be rehabilitated in the U.S. and some European countries-although
everybody knows that these men, at the time of their arrest, were not
accidentally roaming about Afghanistan as tourists, but were deadly criminals
fighting alongside their Taliban comrades. .....
- A monstrous experiment
- by Nasir Abbas Mirza
Remote madrassas may be turning boys into drones but then there are thousands
of madrassas spread all over Pakistan's urban centres that are producing
millions of neo-drones who may not become suicide bombers but are totally
unfit to live in this world. These kids need to be rescued .....
- Mumbai cops goof up, 7/11
accused acquitted
- by Mateen Hafeez
In a major setback to the Mumbai crime branch, the Maharashtra Control
of Organised Crime Act (MCCOA) court on Monday discharged Indian Mujahideen
(IM) co-founder Sadiq Shaikh in the July 11, 2006, serial train blasts
case. .....
- Have we forgotten Kargil
already?
- by Colonel A Sridharan VSM (retd)
Kargil makes me sad. I served in Ladakh long before Kargil happened and
know that terrain very well. .....
- Mavericks in chrarge
- by The Pioneer
In about a week's time, India will have a new Government in place. It
is possible that a fractured mandate may lead to the formation of a 'Third
Front' Government, one not led by either the BJP or the Congress. Familiar
voices have welcomed the prospect of such a conglomeration of regional
parties, without the overarching presence of a national party. .....
- Congress might dump Dr
Singh
- by Lakshmi Iyer
Two days before the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress
apparently took steps to let go of its PM candidate, Dr Manmohan Singh,
to secure the backing of the Left. .....
- Kerala ATS questions Madani
- by VR Jayaraj
The Anti-Terror Squad of the Kerala Police on Wednesday interrogated Islamist
leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an electoral ally of the CPI(M), in connection
with the allegations of terror links leveled against him. .....
- Pak soldiers prefer fighting
"Hindu India" than Taliban 'muslim friends': Report
- by Thaindian.com
Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its 'own war' in the
North West Frontier Province's Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not
merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident
that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their 'muslim
friends' rather they prefer fighting against India. .....
- Indians are world's 'greenest':
Survey
- by The Times of India
That cold water bath many Indians have because there's no electricity...that
'matka' they use because they can't afford a fridge...and the long walk
they take to work and back because private transport is expensive and
public transport shoddy. There's an upside to the hard life. .....
- CPI-M slips to eighth place
in new Lok Sabha
- by AOL News
From being the third largest party in the outgoing Lok Sabha, the poor
showing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) in the general
elections has seen it slipping five places to lie eighth in the newly
elected house - below even regional parties like the Trinamool Congress,
the DMK and the Janata Dal-United. .....
- Red zone reposes faith in
BJP
- by The Times of India
BJP may have suffered a severe jolt losing its ground in many pockets,
but its base in the naxal-affected areas remains intact. The Red Zone
continues to repose faith in the saffron party by giving it the highest
number of seats - nine out of 25 this time - in Maoist-dominated constituencies
for the third consecutive time. .....
- Separatists gear-up to fuel
the Amarnath Yatra controversy again
- by King C Bharati
With elections over and government lifting ban on the movement of separatists
the hardliners among the separatist camp have begun lapping up another
issue to keep their pot of hate politics boiling in Jammu and Kashmir
and what can be the best issue other than the Amarnath Yatra which is
round the corner. .....
- How Pakistan Failed Itself
- by Aryn Baker
In the Himalayan resort town of Nathiagali, a party is under way. Ice
clinks in tumblers and corks pop while the conversation - an amalgam of
English and Urdu that is the mark of Pakistan's élite - flows from
meditation techniques to a heated debate over a U.S. politician's warning
that Pakistan is on the brink of collapse. .....
- Mumbai goes to UPA, courtesy
MNS
- by Sunando Sarkar
The UPA, which has got a pan-India mandate to form the government at the
Centre, will have to be grateful to a party that unabashedly claims to
speak only for Marathis for the clean sweep of Mumbai. .....
- A battle is lost, but not
the war
- by Kanchan Gupta
Atal Bihari Vajpayee was given to moments of jocular frivolity at times
of great stress, for instance on the eve of election results. At the fag
end of the 1999 election campaign, a senior journalist asked him what
would rate as one of the most banal, if not asinine, questions: "Mr
Vajpayee, who do you think will emerge winner?" .....
- Karnataka paradox: Lotus
resists UPA storm
- by The Economic Times
Karnataka defied the national mood yet again to give the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) an overwhelming victory as the state ended up on the wrong
side of the grouping for the third time in a row. The BJP added one seat
to its tally of 18 in 2004, cementing its hold in its southern stronghold
and enhancing the prestige of chief minister B S Yeddyurappa in the party.
.....
- Rally against Radical Islam
held at New York
- by Narain Kataria
The Human Rights Coalition Against Radical Islam organized an impressive
rally on May 3, 2009 at Times Square right in the heart of New York City
in which approximately 500 people participated. .....
- India thinks Pak N-sites
already in radical hands: Report
- by Chidanand Rajghatta
India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told President Obama that nuclear
sites in Pakistan's restive frontier province are "already partly"
in the hands of Islamic extremists, an Israeli journal has said, amid
considerable anxiety among US pundits here over Washington's confidence
in the security of the troubled nation's nuclear arsenal. .....
- Pak govt controls just 38%
of Taliban-infested NWFP: Survey
- by The Times of India
An estimated 65 lakh people live under "direct Taliban rule"
in Pakistan's restive NWFP where authorities control only 38% of territory,
says a new survey, warning that there is a "high likelihood"
of increased influence of militants in Punjab also in the near future.
.....
- Denial in Pakistan
- by Bill Roggio
Spencer Ackerman passed along statements made by Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's
Ambassador to the United States, at a forum in Washington yesterday. Ambassador
Haqqani has been a vocal critic of Islamist extremists operating in Pakistan,
so it is very disappointing to see him defend the government's policy
of cutting peace deals with the Taliban. .....
- Want Press Coverage? Give
Me Some Money
- by Paul Beckett
Ajay Goyal is a serious, independent candidate contesting for a Lok Sabha
seat in Chandigarh. Never heard of him? Neither, probably, have a lot
of people in Chandigarh because when it came to getting press coverage
for his campaign he was faced with a simple message: If you want press,
you have to pay. .....
- Muslim Dalits a downtrodden
lot
- by Nalin Verma
Ali Anwar's book, 'Masawat ki Jung' has sent a shiver down the spines
of Muslim elites as it dwells at length on the plight of dalit Muslims
derided and treated as pariahs by the upper caste brethren and ulemas.
This goes against tenets of Islam which don't sanction inequality on the
basis of caste and birth. .....
- The West is Naïve, Greedy
and Cowardly in Dealing with Islamists
- by Dr. Sami Alrabaa
Some of them, especially the politicians, act in good faith toward the
Islamists and Muslim terrorists. Guantanamo will be closed, and its inmates
will be rehabilitated in the U.S. and some European countries-although
everybody knows that these men, at the time of their arrest, were not
accidentally roaming about Afghanistan as tourists, but were deadly criminals
fighting alongside their Taliban comrades. .....
- A monstrous experiment
- by Nasir Abbas Mirza
Remote madrassas may be turning boys into drones but then there are thousands
of madrassas spread all over Pakistan's urban centres that are producing
millions of neo-drones who may not become suicide bombers but are totally
unfit to live in this world. These kids need to be rescued .....
- Mumbai cops goof up, 7/11
accused acquitted
- by Mateen Hafeez
In a major setback to the Mumbai crime branch, the Maharashtra Control
of Organised Crime Act (MCCOA) court on Monday discharged Indian Mujahideen
(IM) co-founder Sadiq Shaikh in the July 11, 2006, serial train blasts
case. .....
- Have we forgotten Kargil
already?
- by Colonel A Sridharan VSM (retd)
Kargil makes me sad. I served in Ladakh long before Kargil happened and
know that terrain very well. .....
- Mavericks in chrarge
- by The Pioneer
In about a week's time, India will have a new Government in place. It
is possible that a fractured mandate may lead to the formation of a 'Third
Front' Government, one not led by either the BJP or the Congress. Familiar
voices have welcomed the prospect of such a conglomeration of regional
parties, without the overarching presence of a national party. .....
- Congress might dump Dr Singh
- by Lakshmi Iyer
Two days before the last phase of the Lok Sabha elections, the Congress
apparently took steps to let go of its PM candidate, Dr Manmohan Singh,
to secure the backing of the Left. .....
- Kerala ATS questions Madani
- by VR Jayaraj
The Anti-Terror Squad of the Kerala Police on Wednesday interrogated Islamist
leader Abdul Nasser Madani, an electoral ally of the CPI(M), in connection
with the allegations of terror links leveled against him. .....
- Pak soldiers prefer fighting
"Hindu India" than Taliban 'muslim friends' : Report
- by Thaindian.com
Pakistan Government may claim that it is fighting its 'own war' in the
North West Frontier Province's Malakand and Swat Divisions, and is not
merely taking action under the US pressure, but one thing is quite evident
that the Pakistani army do not want to pump bullets into their 'muslim
friends' rather they prefer fighting against India. .....
- Indians are world's 'greenest':
Survey
- by The Times of India
That cold water bath many Indians have because there's no electricity...that
'matka' they use because they can't afford a fridge...and the long walk
they take to work and back because private transport is expensive and
public transport shoddy. There's an upside to the hard life. .....
- Maya comes out fuming, blames
it on Muslims
- by The Times of India
Disappointed by the Lok Sabha poll results, BSP supremo and chief minister
Mayawati on Saturday appeared before the media after a brief hibernation,
only to blame Muslims for not voting for her party - as she and her party
had expected. .....
- Daunting challenges await
UPA
- by Shivaji Sarkar
The global economic crisis is nowhere near a solution and Western economies
are becoming increasingly protectionist. The new Government will have
to factor this in while charting India's course .....
- BJP apes Congress, fails
- by Koenraad Elst
Right-wing parties all over the world have a common trait: Once in or
near power, they betray their own support base. The BJP is no different.
It is needlessly described as a 'Hindu chauvinist' party which it is not.
To prove its 'secular' credentials, the BJP chose to become the 'B' team
of the Congress. And was rejected by the voters .....
- The ugly face of politics
remains
- by Rudroneel Ghosh
As the dust settles down on what could be best described as an election
that had more than a few surprises, there is one little detail that everyone
will consider heartening no matter on which side you are of the political
divide. All criminal candidates who contested the just-concluded Lok Sabha
election in Bihar have lost. .....
- Islamism is the problem
- by Barry Rubin
April, wrote TS Elliott, is the cruellest month of all. But for hopes
of peace, freedom, and moderation in West Asia, June will play that role
this year. In Iran, Mr Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, backed by the spiritual guide,
is about to be re-elected. In Lebanon, a regime backed by Iran and Syria
is about to be installed. .....
- JMM story: One on stretcher,
one in handcuffs
- by Anupam Sheshank
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), which has always been in news for all
wrong reasons, will again be in the news when its two MPs from Dumka and
Palamu will reach Parliament for the oath-taking ceremony. .....
- When the Buddha first smiled
- by Inder Malhotra
BY the start of May 1974, India was in the grip of a scorching summer
of discontent though worse was to follow a year hence. The afterglow of
Indira Gandhi's tremendous triumph in the 1971 general election and the
country's brilliant victory in the Bangladesh war the same year had vanished.
Monsoons had failed again. .....
- Force divider
- by V. P. Malik
Army Chief General Rookmangud Katawal in Nepal, and an 'advisory' to all
ex-servicemen (ESM) by the Indian Ex-Servicemen Movement (IESM) to vote
for a particular political party/alliance in India, merit attention due
to the sensitivity of the civil military relations in a democratic society.
.....
- A Cursed Partnership
- by Brahma Chellaney
As the situation in Pakistan has worsened, US intelligence officials have
made a beeline to India in recent months, including the National Intelligence,
CIA and FBI chiefs. But even as these visits suggest America is seeking
a stronger counterterrorism partnership with India, US policy moves have
run counter to Indian interests. .....
- Gutsy girls get a date with
Prez
- by The Times of India
At a time when most children their age fight for a Playstation or a night
out with friends, Sunita Mahto, Afsana Khatun and Rekha Kalindi put their
foot down and refused to get married. Belonging to one of the most backward
districts in the country or coming from poor families did not deter the
gutsy girls. .....
- Poha and padmasana in the
summer
- by Sudeshna Chatterjee
It's a large, non-AC room, the props are a few mats flung on the floor.
The Yoga Institute in a leafy lane in Santa Cruz thrums to life at 10
am, and by 4 pm it's time again for shavasana and some shut-eye. In between,
there is breakfast (poha, upma or sabudana khichri), lunch (vegetarian,
washed down with some chhas) and plenty of yoga and meditation. .....
- Eye on assembly polls, DF
govt woos minorities
- by Mohammed Wajihuddin
The Democratic Front (DF) government has announced a slew of sops for
minorities a few months ahead of the assembly polls. At a cabinet meeting
chaired by CM Ashok Chavan on Tuesday, the government decided to enlarge
the scope of several existing schemes for minorities and announced a few
new ones. .....
- Earl of the Rustic Trail
- by Tapash Talukdar & Ashish Agashe
For Pandurang Taware, being a son of the soil takes on a very literal
and personal meaning. Born into a farmer's household, he chose to pursue
a professional career in tourism instead. Seventeen years later, Taware
made up for lost time and returned to start a business that combined his
tourism experience with his entrepreneurial passion and a desire to connect
with his roots. .....
- Sleeping modules planning
26/11 like strikes
- by Preetam Srivastava
ISI-fostered 'sleeping' modules waking up and planning to strike at industrial
hubs to destabilise economic growth and arrest inflow of foreign money
after the peaceful Lok Sabha polls, have pressed the panic buttons for
the Intelligence brass. .....
- BJP demands public apology
from CM for slapping NSA on Varun
- by The Pioneer
The BJP has demanded a public apology from Chief Minister Mayawati for
imposing National Security Act on Varun Gandhi saying the Supreme Court
order had vindicated party's stand that government's act was politically-motivated.
.....
- Diabolical duplicity
- by Anuradha Dutt
The Congress's frequent jibes at the BJP's supposedly anti-secular credentials,
especially the repeated allusions to the post-Godhra violence, has reached
the point of absurdity. Senior leaders, including Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi .....
- After SC rap, Maya withdraws
NSA against Varun Gandhi
- by The Pioneer
After relentlessly pursuing Varun Gandhi for over a month and a half,
an obstinate Uttar Pradesh Government on Thursday finally saw the writing
on the wall and revoked the imposition of National Security Act (NSA)
on him. The decision came after the Supreme Court rubbished the State's
objection to implement the directives of the Advisory Board that called
for the revocation of the Act. .....
- Left climbs down further,
inches closer to Congress
- by The Pioneer
After having sensed that a Third Front Government was not feasible, the
Left parties are now prepared to eat crow by tacitly backing the same
party on the pretext of "keeping the BJP out of power at any cost".
Reacting sharply to the about turn, the BJP said the Left had revealed
its "true colours". .....
- Cong abandons single largest
party norm
- by The Pioneer
Uncertain about the shape of things to emerge after May 16 counting of
votes for the Lok Sabha poll, the Congress wants the President not to
necessarily go by the principle of inviting the largest party to form
the Government and instead look into the "stability factor",
something that will be on the discretion of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. .....
- Pak Sikhs, Hindus want India
visas
- by The Asian Age
Scores of Sikh and Hindu families who have been rendered homeless by the
Taliban in Pakistan's Swat territory want Indian visas to seek shelter
with relatives living in Amritsar. .....
- 26/11: UK victim feels 'let
down' by govt attitude
- by The Indian Express
Five months after the Mumbai terror attack, 29-year-old Will Pike, who
was injured in the attack and faces a lifetime in a wheelchair, feels
"let down" and has accused the UK Foreign Office of neglecting
Britons who fall victims to terror attacks abroad. .....
- After SC verdict, embarrassed
Maya drops NSA against Varun
- by ExpressIndia.com
An embarrassed Mayawati government revoked its detention order under NSA
against Varun Gandhi for his alleged hate speeches following a direction
from the Supreme Court which made known its disapproval of the grounds
for booking him. .....
- Varun rally in mother's seat
'cancelled', goes to EC
- by The Indian Express
Two days after an advisory panel rejected the NSA charges levelled by
the Mayawati government against him, the cancellation of a rally Varun
Gandhi was to hold on Sunday in his mother Maneka Gandhi's constituency
Aonla in Uttar Pradesh may blow up into another confrontation between
the two. .....
- Modi, Nitish share dais,
TRS chief seeks votes for 'iron man'
- by The Indian Express
Days before the verdict of 2009, in an atmosphere thick with speculation
on imminent political realignments, the NDA put up a show of strength
and unity Sunday, bringing together on stage Narendra Modi and Nitish
Kumar, and welcoming Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) into the fold. .....
- Bible classes and the right
to freedom
- by Hilda Raja
When non-Christian students are compelled to attend Bible classes, it
is coercion and force: It means denying them their right to FREEDOM. .....
- Communal tension persists
in Gazole and Ratua
- by The Statesman
Tension between the Hindu and Muslim communities continued in Gazole and
Ratua block areas, despite police patrolling and promulgation of Section
144 of the CrPC. .....
- Christian fundamentalism
and the media in South India
- by Pradip N. Thomas
Even to suggest that there is a relationship between the media and Christian
Fundamentalism in Chennai, South India, might seem odd to readers of Media
Development, whose prior knowledge of the subject is perhaps limited to
the influence of the religious right-wing on the Bush administration or/and
the rise and fall of tele-evangelists such as Jimmy Swaggart and in the
recent past .....
- Rahul: Broken record repeats
same mistake
- by Hilda Raja
Rahul Gandhi after his Press Meet at Ashok hotel was diagnosed with foot
in the mouth disease! But the one affected was Veerappa Moily. The poor
man thought he would put the record straight because Bihar Chief Minister
Nitish Kumar was firmly with the NDA and is not a man to fall prey to
allurements and flatteries. .....
- China's Trojan horse in Nepal
- by G Parthasarathy
The prospect of a Chinese presence in the Himalayan foothills, adjacent
to our borders with Nepal and Bhutan, has been the ultimate nightmare
for those responsible for India's security. Treaties India concluded with
Bhutan and Nepal five decades ago are obviously iniquitous, though Nepal
derived immense benefits from the massive economic assistance and trade
access it received from New Delhi. .....
- 2001 Post-election Violence
In Barisal
- by Rafiqul Islam
The Hindu community in the Barisal region have not forgotten the horrible
night before the eighth parliamentary election in 2001. .....
- Shaky Pakistan Is Seen as
Target of Qaeda Plots
- by Mark Mazzetti and Eric Schmitt
As Taliban militants push deeper into Pakistan's settled areas, foreign
operatives of Al Qaeda who had focused on plotting attacks against the
West are seizing on the turmoil to sow chaos in Pakistan and strengthen
the hand of the militant Islamist groups there, according to American
and Pakistani intelligence officials. .....
- USCIRF - will it visit convents
where nuns are raped?
- by Hilda Raja
The UPA government's unprecedented step of inviting the United States
Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) to visit Gujarat
and Orissa is not only disturbing, but also portents greater harm to the
harmony and unity of the country. .....
- Pakistan's Existential Challenge
- by Bret Stephens
About Iran, Henry Kissinger once asked whether the Islamic Republic was
a country or a cause. About Pakistan, the question is whether it's a country
or merely a space. .....
- Varun moves Supreme Court
- by J. Venkatesan
BJP leader Varun Gandhi on Wednesday moved the Supreme Court for a direction
to the Uttar Pradesh government to accept the Advisory Board's recommendation
to the State to revoke the detention order passed under the National Security
Act. .....
- Pakistan's war on terror
- by The Pioneer
The sight of tens of thousands of internally displaced people can be distressing
- whether in Pakistan or Sri Lanka. Human suffering is not a pretty sight.
But before we allow international do-gooders and busybodies who are the
first to reach a war zone to distract our attention, we need to take a
long, hard look at the objective situation that prevails and the causative
factors. .....
- Senators oppose Obama move
on aid to Pakistan
- by S Rajagopalan
A week after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's extensive meetings
in Washington, the Obama Administration is still to resolve differences
in the US Congress over its proposal of US $7.5 billion in economic aid
to Pakistan over the next five years, besides an unspecified amount in
military aid. .....
- Man in the muddle
- by The Pioneer
It is a truism that every election campaign is a revelation and teaches
the country something new about itself and its politicians. In that sense,
the 2009 Lok Sabha campaign was Mr Manmohan Singh's coming out moment.
Long seen and protected as a gentle, apolitical administrator, he showed
himself to be a consummate politician. .....
- Left's crucial test today
- by Kanchan Gupta
On Tuesday, a day before the third and final round of voting in West Bengal
where polling will take place in 11 parliamentary constituencies, as many
as 10 of them with sitting Left MPs, in North and South 24 Parganas, three
leading newspapers published from Kolkata highlighted three different
aspects of an election that could mark a turning point in the State's
politics, overwhelmingly dominated by the CPI(M) for more than three decades.
.....
- Left may abstain to help
Congress form Govt
- by The Pioneer
The Left is keeping its options close to its chest on the post- poll scenario.
With rift in the Left on supporting a Congress-led Government, party leaders
are trying to find a middle path that would save them from the embarrassment
of backing a UPA-type formation and at the same time check the BJP from
capturing power at the Centre. .....
- Comrade dares PB members
to contest polls
- by Saugar Sengupta
A maverick Marxist's "revisionist assertions" hours before the
nation goes to the fifth and final round of election has left a whole
lot of comrades swallowing hard and running for cover. Yet the mighty
Alimuddin Street - the CPM's Bengal headquarters - is suddenly lacking
the cheek to have words with the party oddball and high-profile State
Transport Minister Subhas Chakrabarty. .....
- Mayawati Govt did't apply
mind for slapping NSA on Varun
- by The Pioneer
The Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh did not apply its mind and violated
cannons of natural justice in invoking National Security Act on BJP leader
Varun Gandhi raising a question of bias, says the State advisory board
which struck down the NSA against him. .....
- The Serpent We Forgive And
Forget
- by Apoorvanand
The first three phases of the 2009 Lok Sabha elections have passed peacefully.
Not taking into account the Maoist killings of poll officials and police
personnel during elections. Although in Maoist strongholds, they pressed
civilians to boycott elections, the people chose, instead, to risk their
lives and exercise their right to vote. .....
- A Quiet Antidote
- by Prabhash Joshi
Like Lalu Prasad Yadav, Nitish Kumar entered public life through the Jayaprakash
Narayan(JP) movement of the seventies and the Mandal Commission. If Nitish
appears more serious and hard working than Lalu, it is because Lalu made
unabashed rusticity and political theatre two of the most potent symbols
of Bihari politics. .....
- 'People Fear Bihar Will Slide
Into Anarchy If Lalu Returns'
- by Tehelka
Q.: The NDA is tipped to sweep Bihar in the Lok Sabha elections. If this
turns out to be true, what would you attribute this success to?
A.: Turning around law and order has been our biggest achievement, bigger
than even bringing development. For 15 years [1990-2005: the rule of Lalu
Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi], people lived in dread of criminals, including
in the rural areas. Now, kidnappings are drastically reduced. .....
- Buddha's journey
- by Uday Mahurkar
The Gujarat Government's extravagant plans to sell the state as a destination
for Buddhist tourists have just got an unexpected boost. Archaeologists
have excavated a Buddhist vihara (monastery) in Vadnagar, considered the
crown jewel among historical sites in Gujarat. A votive stupa has also
been discovered. .....
- The spoils of war
- by Sandeep Unnithan
Taking off from its base near Karachi, Pakistan's P-3C Orion, a US-built
four-engined long-range maritime patrol aircraft, can fly nearly 9,000
km in 10 hours, carrying an array of torpedoes, weapons and anti-ship
missiles to any point in the Indian Ocean. The Pakistan Navy is acquiring
eight of these aircraft from the US after 9/11 as part of its role as
a 'Major non-NATO Ally' in the war on terror. .....
- Grit and honey
- by Amitabh Srivastava
Born in the backwaters of Bihar, and that too in the lower section of
the caste pyramid, it was expected that Anita Kushwaha would shepherd
goats, stay away from school and marry young. .....
- Varun's reply: CDs doctored,
DM acted on Maya behest
- by Maneesh Chhibber
The papers submitted by Varun Gandhi against the order of detention against
him - under the National Security Act, 1980 - by the Mayavati government
continued to argue that the inflammatory speeches alleged to have been
made by him were "doctored and edited". .....
- Is this a school? A hospital?
It's the latest Maya Stupa
- by Lalmani Verma
Forget what happens on May 16 when results come in. Fed by taxpayers'
money, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's never-ending mission to
build memorials, ostensibly for Dalit icons, rolls on-unchecked. .....
- Advisory board rules NSA
against Varun 'not valid'
- by The Time of India
In a major Embarrassment for the Mayawati government as well as the Centre,
the UP advisory board set up by the Allahabad High Court to go into the
validity of imposing NSA on BJP leader Varun Gandhi, has ruled invoking
of the Act against the Pilhibit candidate "invalid." .....
- Comrade Goon
- by The Indian Express
Polling in West Bengal is never violence-free. And the hitherto unassailable
Left Front's nervousness - discernable ever since the Congress-Trinamool
tie-up was announced - manifested itself viciously on Thursday, making
the party's cadres intimidate and forcefully prevent a woman, allegedly
raped by their own members during the November 2007 Nandigram violence,
from casting her vote. .....
- Maya's magic: Dalits pull
disappearing act at rally
- by Ashutosh Bhardwaj
The campaign trail of BSP chief Mayawati, in effect, is no trail at all.
All you are left to follow is the dust kicked off by her chopper. There
are no roadshows, no visits to people's homes, no handshakes with voters.
.....
- Ram temple when BJP gets
simple majority, says Advani
- by The Indian Express
BJP's prime ministerial candidate L K Advani on Friday made it clear that
the Ram Temple at Ayodhya would become a reality any day the BJP secures
a simple majority in the Lok Sabha. "The supporters of a Ram Temple
should understand one thing. There are limitations for a coalition government.
.....
- Mulayam demand on Maya Govt
unconstitutional, says Advani
- by The Indian Express
Expressing surprise at Mulayam Singh Yadav's comment that he would support
anybody who dismisses the Mayawati Government in Uttar Pradesh, NDA prime
ministerial candidate L K Advani on Friday said the Constitution does
not allow the Centre to take such a step. .....
- War in Kerala CPM: state
unit says CM should step down
- by Shaju Philip
The Kerala CPM has asked Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan to quit for
his "anti-party" stand on the SNC Lavalin case. The state secretariat
of the party which met on Friday demanded his resignation for refusing
to tread the party line that the case against state party chief Pinarayi
Vijayan was politically motivated. .....
- In snub to Maya, Court panel
says can't slap NSA on Varun
- by The Indian Express
In an embarrassment to UP Chief Minister Mayawati a day after she again
justified her government's decision to invoke the National Security Act
against BJP's Pilibhit candidate Varun Gandhi over his alleged hate-speeches
against Muslims, an advisory board of the Allahabad High Court recommended
revocation of the order, saying the use of the Act against Gandhi was
incorrect and invalid. .....
- Mayawati's Dalit memorial
has Rs 1-cr police post
- by IBNLive.in.com
With its huge dome set majestically on tall carved pillars, the new imposing
structure in Lucknow may seem like a shrine. But it is just the police
outpost meant to guard Chief Minister Mayawati's dream project--a memorial
to Dalit icon B R Ambedkar. .....
- Incentives that work
- by Reetika Khera, Meera Samson and
Anuradha De
The 2006 Public Report on Basic Education (PROBE) reveals that though
incentives like free textbooks and mid-day meal schemes are often disparaged
in public debates as 'populist', they help at a fundamental level: they
do bring children to school. .....
- Mulayam slams rebel Azam
Khan; backs Jayaprada and Amar Singh
- by Atiq Khan
Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh on Saturday accused his estranged
party colleague, Mohammad Azam Khan, of indulging in anti-party activity
aimed at harming its prospects in the crucial Lok Sabha election from
Rampur. .....
- Sonia, Rahul ditch Mamata
- by Saugar Sengupta
Saturday's summer heat pierced through the record 42 degrees barrier in
Kolkata. The Congress-Trinamool Congress newfound equation, however, started
freezing with Congress president Sonia Gandhi and AICC general secretary
Rahul Gandhi suddenly dropping the city from their campaign itinerary.
.....
- Writer asks Editor to correct
Varun copy
- by Meenakshi Rao
This election's poster boy of controversy and fodder for sensational reportage,
Varun Gandhi, is once more a hot headline - and yet again for outrageous
utterances he did not utter and misplaced reporting of which he is a victim.
.....
- Congress left to Left's mercy
- by Swapan Dasgupta
Ever since the heir apparent made a complete dog's breakfast of his party's
avowed strategy at a Press conference in Delhi last Tuesday morning, the
Congress has been compelled to wage war on two fronts. .....
- Need to change Act as terror
groups may use minors: Nikam
- by The Pioneer
The trial of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone terrorist caught in the November
26 attacks, has thrown up the possibility of minors being used for terror
attacks and time has come for the country to strengthen the Juvenile Justice
Act to deal with such impending menace, special public prosecutor Ujjwal
Nikam has said. .....
- India not a threat: Zardari
- by The Pioneer
President Asif Ali Zardari has said India is not a threat to Pakistan
and it is facing danger from the terrorists inside the country. .....
- Army pounds Taliban bases
as Gilani calls it 'war for survival'
- by ExpressIndia.com
Pakistani troops backed by helicopter gunships killed at least 55 Taliban
in the troubled Swat valley on Saturday as the government said the military
offensive, crucial for the "survival of the country", will continue
till terrorists are eliminated. .....
- Pak Army can't sustain gains
- by Samuel Baid
The televised 'civil war' in Pakistan may be a lot of hot air because
the Army is killing more civilians than real Taliban and in the long run
Islamabad will have to suffer the consequences .....
- Pants on fire
- by Chintamani Mahapatra
Saturday Special studies the Taliban trap which has ensnared all three
parties that held a summit in Washington this week .....
- Zardari does a Mush on Obama
- by S Rajagopalan
In January 2002, Pervez Musharraf leveraged the Taliban link to get tens
of billions and immunity from from US scrutiny for Pakistan; this week
Zardari did a repeat on Obama .....
- NDA sees plot in EC team
going to Bihar
- by The Pioneer
In a surprise move that has triggered a major controversy, the Election
Commission on Friday woke up to poll-related complaints made almost a
month ago in Bihar and rushed six teams to the State to unravel the truth.
.....
- Kasab is a fidayeen, well
trained to misguide: Nikam
- by The Pioneer
Observing the behaviour of Pakistani gunman Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab
and his statements in court proves that he is a 'fidayeen', who has been
well trained physically and psychologically to even dodge clutches of
law, said Ujwal Nikam, public prosecutor of the 26/11 case. .....
- Taliban vows to 'eliminate'
Pakistan's top leadership
- by The Pioneer
Angered by Pakistan Government's decision to launch an all out war against
them, the Taliban has vowed to "eliminate" country's top leadership
including President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
and their close family members. .....
- Moily removed as AICC media
head
- by The Pioneer
M Veerappa Moily, who launched a surprise attack on JD(U) leader Nitish
Kumar, has been abruptly removed as chairman of the Congress media department.
.....
- Lalu, Paswan to skip Union
cabinet meeting
- by The Pioneer
Union Ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan are skipping the cabinet
meeting here on Friday in an apparent disapproval of what they see as
overtures made by Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to their rival
in Bihar Nitish Kumar. .....
- Local Dalit Christians demand
their own bishops
- by Ram Bharati
Mr. R.L. Francis is the National President of the Dalit Christians organization
known as 'Poor Christian Liberation Movement' (PCLM). On May 2, 2009,
in Bhopal, Mr. R.L. Francis along with his companions, Rev. Fr. William
Premdass Chaudhary and Mr. P.B. Lomeo (Editor of the Church Restoration,
Bhopal, Monthly) toured to the Christians colonies in Bhopal and listened
and discussed local / Dalit Christians' problems. .....
- BJP asks Centre to intervene
on Sikhs issue in Pak
- by The Pioneer
Bharatiya Janata Party Literature and Publication Cell State president
Deepak Vijayvargiya in a statement here on Wednesday said that Central
Government should do all comprehensive efforts for getting justice to
the Sikhs who have been displaced from the Taliban-affected areas of Pakistan.
For this it is must that international pressure be created on Pakistan,
he added. .....
- '95 per cent violent activities
in country are Maoist centric'
- by The Pioneer
The picture of Maoism before us is translucent. It is in fact an uphill
task for the police to reach out to the secret documents and papers of
the Maoists, which is why we remain aloof of the actual facets of Maoism,"
said Director General of Police (DGP) of Chhattisgarh police, Vishwaranjan
while speaking on topic 'Challenges of Maoism' here on Wednesday. .....
- Whitewashing a scam
- by The Pioneer
The decision of the LDF Government in Kerala not to allow the CBI to prosecute
CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, who is one of the accused in the Rs
374.5-crore SNC Lavalin scandal, does not come as a surprise. Of course,
the Governor can ignore the Cabinet's advice and ask the CBI to go ahead,
but it is unlikely that he will break both tradition and convention. .....
- BJP, CPM demand Raja scalp
for Telecom scam
- by The Pioneer
Following The Pioneer report on Union Minister A Raja's associate and
his firms being short-listed for WiMax services, the BJP and the Left
on Wednesday slammed the Manmohan Singh Government. While the BJP demanded
the immediate sacking of Telecom Minister A Raja and cancellation of BSNL's
WiMax franchisee allotment, the CPI(M) ridiculed Singh, saying the so-called
"Mr Clean" was presiding over a corrupt Cabinet. .....
- Confused Cong picks up Rahul's
debris
- by The Pioneer
First, Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh claimed the party was
ready to sit in the Opposition, then Rahul Gandhi stepped in to undo the
damage by sending feelers to Nitish Kumar, Left parties and their Third
Front partners. And now faced with furious reaction from the UPA allies,
the Congress has suddenly remembered the 'coalition' dharma. .....
- Obama wins fresh Pak, Afghan
pledge against terrorism
- by The Pioneer
After some tough talking, US President Barack Obama today secured a fresh
pledge from leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to "dismantle, disrupt
and defeat" the al-Qaeda and Taliban while promising to make "every
effort" to avoid civilian casualties in anti-insurgency operations.
.....
- Sadhvi assaulted in jail
- by Sakaaltimes.com
One of the prime accused in the September 29, 2008 blast at Malegaon,
sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur alias Purnachetanandagiri has complained to
the special trial court that she was beaten up by an inmate of the Byculla
jail where she is lodged. .....
- Cong threatens stir if Cabinet
saved Pinarayi
- by The Pioneer
The Congress party on Tuesday reiterated that it would launch intense
agitation in the State if the Cabinet decided to support the Advocate
General's legal advice that the prosecution of CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi
Vijayan should not be cleared in the SNC Lavalin corruption case. .....
- AG exonerates himself; crucial
Cabinet meet today
- by VR Jayaraj
Even as opinions in the CPI(M) differed on taking up the legal advice
provided by Kerala Advocate General CP Sudhakara Prasad not to permit
the prosecution of CPI(M) secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin
case at Wednesday's Cabinet meeting, the AG sought on Tuesday to exonerate
himself from the allegations of trying to save the CPI(M) leader. .....
- Brahmins threaten stir for
fulfilment of demands
- by Kavi Vishnu Satpathy
If the genuine problems of the Brahmins in the district are not looked
into, if their basic needs are not met and if the economically backward
among them continue to be neglected by the Government and the administrative
set-up, they will have no other option but to take to the streets. .....
- The limits of terrorism
- by Daniel Pipes
Does terrorism work, meaning, does it achieve its perpetrators' objectives?
With terror attacks having become a routine and nearly daily occurrence,
especially in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, the conventional wisdom
holds that terrorism works very well. .....
- History's Hostages
- by Behroz Khan
Decades before the cartographer sliced the subcontinent into Pakistan
and India, ancestors of Kalyan Singh demonstrated the wanderlust typical
of the Sikh community. They settled down in the green, picturesque Ferozkhel
valley of Orakzai, one of the seven autonomous agencies which together
comprise what is now called the Federally Administered Tribal Area (FATA).
.....
- Veiled Jihadis
- by India Today
Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor may have been the first to officially
admit that women were being trained in terror camps across the LoC to
infiltrate into India but intelligence agencies have been talking about
it for quite some time now. .....
- The new terror threat
- by Bhavna Vij-Aurora
There's a new phrase being used by the security forces guarding the LoC
to describe infiltration attempts from across the border. It's now called
"armed intrusion". That's because of the new infiltration strategy
that has rung alarm bells from South Block to Srinagar where security
forces are stunned by the advanced levels of training, equipment and the
sheer numbers that are attempting to infiltrate into India. .....
- Yoga mission
- by Stephen David
Twenty-five years after orbiting the earth in the space station Salyut-7,
Rakesh Sharma went to Moscow for the celebrations of the space flight's
silver jubilee with the families of his fellow cosmonauts. The now retired
wing commander was also endorsing the pros of yoga in space which he had
practised to fight space sickness. .....
- Desert stormed
- by Rohit Parihar
When 12 riders galloped past villages in the deep desert of Rajasthan,
their horses excited children, were surprised by camels and had people
worshipping them. The 1,000-mile expedition, organised by the Indian Army's
Directorate-General of Mechanised Forces and the Adventure Wing, covered
200 villages in 60 days and was the first to be organised after Independence.
.....
- Dial R For Extension
- by Anil Kumar
IN A clear violation of rules, Communications and Information Technology
Minister A Raja has turned down the Central Bureau of Investigation's
(CBI) request to prosecute several officers, including top people of the
state-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). At the top of the
list is RSP Sinha, MTNL CMD. Worse, Raja has cleared Sinha's extension
till September 30, 2011. .....
- 'Everyone Is Scared Of The
Naxals'
- by Tehelka
Q.: You were tough against the Naxals but your tenure also saw a rise
in Naxalism.
A.: Arjun Munda, Madhu Koda and Shibu Soren who followed me as CM all
played a negative role and diluted the fight against the Naxals. I invited
the Naxals to join the mainstream but also punished those who refused
the offer. .....
- The Unchecked Reign Of Red
- by Ajit Sahi
Dog-Eared textbooks and crumpled school knickers are thrown on a hardwood
flatbed that is half the hut's bare room. Forty-year-old Naori Budra limply
holds a copy and stares at a handwritten page of school assignment. If
she weren't unlettered, she could have read her elder son's uneven scrawl
on it: Leher leher lehraye re mora jhanda tiranga. .....
- The Taliban Trail To India
- by Harinder Baweja
The Saviours of Islam - or at least that is how the Taliban sees itself
- now want Shariah to extend beyond the valley of Swat to the rest of
Pakistan. No sooner had President Asif Ali Zardari consented to the Swat
peace pact than an emboldened Taliban brazenly upped the ante. It will
not disarm, is their latest missive. .....
- Justice on trial
- by Surendra Munshi
From all the accounts that have appeared about him in the press, Jarnail
Singh, the journalist who threw his shoe in the direction of home minister
P Chidambaram recently, seems to be a sober person. He has been described
as a mild-mannered and religious person, and a thorough professional.
Why then did he behave in such an irresponsible manner? .....
- UPA 'save Q' mission began
with its'04 win
- by The Times of India
Allowing Italian fugitive Ottavio Quattrocchi to be free of an Interpol
red corner notice (RCN) is the final chapter of the CBI's long and arduous
'save Quattrocchi mission', which began when the UPA came to power in
2004. .....
- Goddesses depart; Pooram
comes to an end in Thrissur
- by The Pioneer
Curtains came down on this year's Thrissur Pooram festival with the deities
of Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu temples biding farewell to each other
(Upacharam Chollippiriyal) with the promise to meet again for next year's
festival at the western threshold of the Sree Vadakkunnathan temple in
the cultural capital of the State. .....
- Netherland releases postage
stamps on Ravi Shankar
- by The Pioneer
TNT Post, the Postal Department of Netherlands, affiliated to the Government
of Netherlands has released four postage stamps to honour Art of Living
founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's contribution to humanity. Two of the stamps
carry photographs of the Art of Living founder. .....
- Deeply flawed scheme
- by The Pioneer
That the National Commission on Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector
has had to suggest measures to bring about more efficiency in the National
Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme at the fag end of the UPA Governement's
tenure shows what a dismal failure the Congress's showpiece welfare scheme
has been. .....
- US survey of global terror
- by Barry Rubin
The US State Department has produced excellent research and analysis in
its annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 released last week. Now the
only problem is to ensure the Obama Administration reads and absorbs the
contents. .....
- Nitish ridicules Sheila claim
- by Amarnath Tewary
A day after Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit claimed that Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar might have a post-poll alliance with the Congress,
Nitish on Monday refuted any such possibility while describing Sheila's
claim as "unfounded and without any basis". Nitish also refuted
suggestions that there was any possibility of having any truck with the
Left parties. .....
- The two stooges
- by The Indian Express
Fidelity is the sister of the law," the Roman poet Horace claimed.
The UPA government seems to have taken him literally; its law minister
and top law officer have proved themselves faithful to a fault. The revelations,
reported by this newspaper, that the UPA government withdrew the Interpol
red corner notice against Bofors accused Ottavio Quattrocchi .....
- Potemkin battles
- by The Indian Express
Just when it seemed advisable that Pakistan measure the Taliban threat
in terms of its ability to hold the extremists to their word - as against
the dramatic sport of calculating the physical distance of the militants
from Islamabad - that distance and how effectively and sincerely the Pakistani
government is battling to drive them back, has now assumed paramount importance.
.....
- Pasayat's Gujarat saga
- by KN Bhat
Supreme Court's Justice Arijit Pasayat could have left an old petition
pending till May 1, by when polling would have been over in Gujarat. It
would not have caused any loss to anybody. There must have been weighty
reason for the court to ignore the Zahira Sheikh lesson .....
- Congress has clearly lost
the Lanka plot
- by MJ Akbar
Lesson of the week: It is perfectly possible to simultaneously fool the
United Nations, Mr P Chidambaram, much of the media and Mr M Karunanidhi
with the same ploy, and within the same 24 hours. The outbreak of self-congratulation
in Delhi when Colombo announced that it would cease using heavy artillery
and air power against the trapped Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was
not really self-delusion .....
- US glosses over Pakistani
terror
- by Kanchan Gupta
The US State Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2008, which
was released last Thursday, serves as both a compendium of terrorist activities
around the world as well as an indicator of the prevalent thinking in
Washington's foreign policy establishment. .....
- 150 Sikhs and Hindu families
moved to Punjab
- by The Pioneer
More than 150 Sikhs and Hindu families displaced by violence and fighting
between militants and security forces in Pakistan's North Western Frontier
Province and tribal areas have moved to the Punjab province for shelter.
.....
- CPM cautions against move
to divide workers on caste-basis
- by The Pioneer
State CPI(M) Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday alleged that attempts
were being made by some quarters to divide the working class in the names
of religion and caste. But nobody should hope that these efforts would
ever find success, he warned. .....
- 10-tonne gold sold in Kerala
on Akshaya Trithiya
- by VR Jayaraj
Recession and higher costs failed to deter Keralites from collecting gold
ornaments in tons this Akshaya Trithiya as they bought more than 22 per
cent of the total gold sold in the country on that day, April 27. .....
- A welcome rebuff
- by The Pioneer
The Sri Lankan Government deserves to be commended for remaining resolute
in its decision to destroy the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam root and
branch by taking its war on terror to its logical conclusion in the face
of uncalled for criticism. .....
- Left exposed in waste Bengal
- by Ashok Malik
One of the noteworthy features of the 2009 election has been the scrutiny
of the Left Front's governance record in West Bengal. In its extent and
intensity, this interrogation has been fairly unprecedented. .....
- Terrorism rose sharply in
India in 2008: US
- by S Rajagopalan
India ranks among the word's most terrorism-afflicted countries, but its
efforts to counter the menace remain hampered by its outdated and overburdened
law enforcement and legal systems, says the US State Department's annual
report on terrorism. .....
- US Senators want accountability
of aid to Pakistan
- by The Pioneer
Several American Senators have sought assurance from the Obama Administration
that nearly USD 500 million financial aid being doled out to Pakistan
would not be used against India as has happened in the past. .....
- US gives Pakistan two weeks
time to eliminate Taliban
- by The Pioneer
Stepping up pressure on Pakistan to take concrete action against the Taliban,
the US has given Islamabad two weeks time to eliminate the insurgents
from its soil before Washington determines what it will do next. .....
- BJP, the new X-factor in
West Bengal
- by Rajat Roy
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the otherwise lightweight party in the
highly polarised political scenario in West Bengal, is gradually becoming
the X-factor in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. After the first phase
of polls in the state on April 30, leaders of the ruling CPI(M) .....
- Tamil Secessionists' attack
on Army Convoy - Beginning of Anarchy
- by B R Haran
In a shocking incident on the evening of Saturday, 2 May, several hundred
hooligans belonging to the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK)
and Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam (PDK) attacked an Army convoy on the Nilambur
Bypass Road near Coimbatore. .....
- Kasab charged with waging
war on India
- by Kartikeya
Pakistani gunman Ajmal Amir Kasab and his two Indian co-accused- Faheem
Ansari and Sabauddin-pleaded not guilty to all the charges levelled against
them in the 26/11 terror attack case and will now stand trial. Judge M
L Tahaliyani has framed 86 charges against the trio 7P3-6.TIMnging from
waging war against India to murder, kidnapping and dacoity, destruction
of property and use of arms and explosives. .....
- UPA is shamed again
- by The Pioneer
Day after day, the UPA Government's cussed unwillingness to go after those
Indians who hold illegal bank accounts in Switzerland and other secret
banking havens becomes embarrassingly apparent. A petition moved before
the Supreme Court has become the latest touchstone. .....
- Mamata: Take Left support,
we walk out
- by Ravik Bhattacharya
Just hours after AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi claimed he was confident
the Left would support a Manmohan Singh government, his party's ally in
West Bengal struck back criticising him for his remarks - and their timing.
.....
- Go figure: Development indicators
in Gandhi pocket boroughs
- by Bibek Debroy
Purulia, Amethi, Kalahandi and Rae Bareli -- these are India's most backward
regions by any criterion. There is no easy geographical matching of constituencies
with districts, with data usually available for the latter, not the former.
.....
- Invisible Exiles: Kashmiri
Pandits
- by Rashneek Kher
The present crisis in Sri Lanka has once again brought to fore the issue
of internally displaced people. Everyone from the United Nations to the
European Union to the Foreign Ministers of Britain and France wants to
visit the refugee camps of the Tamils, displaced by the war between LTTE
and the Sri Lankan army. .....
- Left rules out support to
Cong
- by The Pioneer
As Rahul Gandhi tried to woo them, the Left today claimed that the Sonia
Gandhi-led party had become "jittery" and said they were striving
only for a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative coalition at the Centre.
.....
- Is Manmohan bent on skirting
economic issues altogether?
- by Swapan Dasgupta
For a man who was thought to be preoccupied with the big picture of the
economy, Manmohan has chosen to skirt economic issues altogether, preferring
to spar with L.K. Advani on relative strengths and weakness as a politician.
More curiously, the Prime Minister appears to have altogether discarded
his economists' turban altogether. .....
- Quattrochi is dead issue:
Rahul Gandhi
- by The Times of India
Even as Congress is facing criticism from the opposition after CBI removed
Ottavio Quattrocchi from its most wanted list, AICC general secretary
Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said it is a "dead issue" which is repeatedly
raised ahead of every election. .....
- Bose gets a dose from Muslims:
say sorry for loose 'talaq' talk
- by The Indian Express
Anger among Muslims ran high in the run-up to the second phase of Lok
Sabha polls in Bengal due on May 7, with community leaders demanding an
apology from Left Front chairman Biman Bose, who had allegedly drawn parallels
between Muslim marriages and the Trinamool-Congress alliance. .....
- Mughal 'Heiress' Roots for
the BJP
- by Indrani Dutta
She is a fourth generation `heiress' of the last of the Mughals, Bahadur
Shah Zafar, and lives in penury in a slum in Howrah district in West Bengal
on a monthly dole of Rs. 400 - and an ardent supporter of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP). .....
- US survey of global terror
- by Barry Rubin
The US State Department has produced excellent research and analysis in
its annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2008 released last week. Now the
only problem is to ensure the Obama Administration reads and absorbs the
contents. .....
- Muddling line on allies:
Cong asks Moily to take a break
- by The Indian Express
Miffed by a series of contradictory statements by her senior leaders on
prospective alliance partners from the Opposition camp, Congress President
Sonia Gandhi today cracked the whip on AICC media cell chairperson Veerappa
Moily giving his charge to AICC General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi until
elections are over. .....
- What democracy,Prime Minister?
- by Shridhar Pant
This refers to Mr Kanchan Gupta's article, "PM's intolerable moralising"
(Coffee Break, May 10) which is an excellent rebuttal of what Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh told the Hindustan Times recently. In his interview to
that newspaper, Mr Singh spoke about the riots that occurred in Gujarat
in 2002. .....
- NDA vindicated as EC rules
out repoll in Bihar
- by The Pioneer
The Election Commission on Monday ruled out the possibility of repoll
in seven Lok Sabha constituencies in Bihar after its fact-finding team
reported there were no poll violations. .....
- Nitish suitors turn baiters
- by The Pioneer
Congress media cell chief Veerappa Moily must be wondering why he was
punished for criticising Nitish Kumar when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
on Monday himself joined Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan in questioning
the 'secular' credentials and performance of the Bihar Chief Minister.
.....
- Nitish ridicules Sheila
claim
- by Amarnath Tewary
A day after Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit claimed that Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar might have a post-poll alliance with the Congress,
Nitish on Monday refuted any such possibility while describing Sheila's
claim as "unfounded and without any basis". Nitish also refuted
suggestions that there was any possibility of having any truck with the
Left parties. .....
- I smsed Swagatam to Tata,
rest is history: Modi
- by Ashish Mehta
DNA caught up with Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi as he was waiting
at the VIP lounge of Sanganer airport on Sunday evening, bad weather having
upset his flight to Phulera in the Jaipur (rural) constituency. .....
- Truly, Congress Bureau of
Investigation
- by Virendra Kapoor
Two days after a New Delhi newspaper lifted the lid off the conspiracy
which allowed the prime Bofors accused, Ottavio Quattrocchi, to go scot
free, the Central Bureau of Investigation posted a backgrounder on its
website, ostensibly to educate people about the Interpol and the Red Corner
Notice. .....
- Exposed jihadis put Pakistan
on the spot
- by Syed Saleem Shahzad
The high-profile arrest of a group of Pakistani militants in mid-April
in the restive Afghan province of Helmand by the Afghan army and their
subsequent handover to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for
grilling exposed a jihadi network running to the heart of urban Pakistan.
.....
- Catholic Church, an ally
of Tamil Tiger terrorists
- by Ranjan Jayakody, Mohan Gunaratnam
and Ranjit Surendran
This is not strange or peculiar to Sri Lanka. This is what the Catholic
Church has been doing in South America, in the Philippines and other countries
where murder and mayhem were the methods used for brutal subjugation of
people. .....
- Axis of doublespeak
- by Rajiv Dogra
The US says Pakistani nukes are safe and sound. Pakistani media says Islamabad
has twice toyed with the idea of nuking India. Manmohan Singh is clueless
about what's happening out there but is happy to believe whatever Washington
and Islamabad tell him .....
- Pasayat's Gujarat saga
- by KN Bhat
Supreme Court's Justice Arijit Pasayat could have left an old petition
pending till May 1, by when polling would have been over in Gujarat. It
would not have caused any loss to anybody. There must have been weighty
reason for the court to ignore the Zahira Sheikh lesson .....
- Modi asks Muslims to choose
development over votebank politics
- by The Pioneer
Charging the Congress, BSP and SP with treating Muslims as a mere vote
bank and doing little for their welfare, Gujrat Chief Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday asked the minority community to shun these parties and
support the BJP's "politics of development" which was visible
in Gujarat. .....
- 10 get lifers for killing
two VHP activists
- by Kanchan Chaudhari
A fast track court in Sewri has finally nailed Sherbahadur Khan and his
gang members who had wrecked havoc in Filterpada slums in Powai for quite
some time. .....
- We Will Probe The CBI: BJP
- by Free Press Journal
The BJP on Tuesday vowed to set up a commission headed by a Supreme Court
judge to investigate the alleged collusion of the CBI with the accused
in several sensitive cases. .....
- Explain ISI's links with
Taliban, US tells Zardari
- by NDTV.com
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari was forced to answer America's tough
questions over the ISI's links with the Taliban at the first trilateral
summit meeting between US President Barack Obama, Pakistan President Zardari
and Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. .....
- Backing Cong means last
year's pullout was mistake: CPM
- by The Pioneer
Ruling out supporting a Congress-led Government after polls, a senior
Communist Party of India (CPI-M) leader on Thursday said doing so would
be an admission that the Left parties' decision to withdraw support to
the Government in 2008 was a mistake. .....
- Pakistan must fight its
war
- by Lisa Curtis
Developing and implementing an effective US policy toward Pakistan is
one of the most complicated yet important foreign policy challenges the
Obama Administration faces. Pakistan is in the midst of societal and political
shifts that are challenging its leadership's ability to maintain stability
and even raising questions about the potential for an Islamic revolution
in the country. .....
- Rahul effect: Confusion
in Cong-Trinamool tieup
- by Saugar Sengupta
The Congress and Trinamool Congress mahajot (grand alliance) broke in
Behrampore and Jangipur constituencies in the final hours of Thursday's
poll, when peeved followers of Mamata Banerjee persuaded electors to vote
for the Opposition candidates (RSP in Behrampore and CPI(M) in Jangipur),
senior Murshidabad Congress leaders alleged. .....
- Lalu, Paswan to skip Union
cabinet meeting
- by The Pioneer
Union Ministers Lalu Prasad and Ram Vilas Paswan are skipping the cabinet
meeting here on Friday in an apparent disapproval of what they see as
overtures made by Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi to their rival
in Bihar Nitish Kumar. .....
- PM's concert in 'Q' major
- by A Surya Prakash
As a grand finale to its subservient five years in office and as a tribute
to its benefactor and mentor, the Manmohan Orchestra is now playing 'Concerto
Quattrocchi' at the Delhi Opera. Members of this orchestra - who constitute
the biggest ensemble of Italy-trained political musicians .....
- 'Islamist militants regrouping
in Bangladesh'
- by Kushtia
Forty top leaders of Islamist militant outfits are regrouping with their
10,000-plus cadres in south-western Bangladesh in districts bordering
India's West Bengal state, authorities have said. .....
- How not to defend Asia from
a resurgent China
- by Dan Blumenthal
Former US president George W. Bush's critics liked to say that during
his term the US was "getting its derriere kicked" by China.
By this the critics presumably meant that the war in Iraq was a big distraction
and that it was not attending enough Asian multilateral conferences and
showing off its "soft power". .....
- US glosses over Pakistani
terror
- by Kanchan Gupta
The US State Department's annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2008, which
was released last Thursday, serves as both a compendium of terrorist activities
around the world as well as an indicator of the prevalent thinking in
Washington's foreign policy establishment. .....
- Money power may muscle into
4th phase of poll
- by Preetam Srivastava
The first three phases of Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh may have
passed off peacefully, but the real challenge before law-enforcing agencies
would come in the fourth phases due to the presence of several Bahubalis
in the fray. .....
- Court refuses narco test
on Jaipur blast accused
- by The Hindu
A court here has refused permission to the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)
of Rajasthan Police to conduct narco analysis and brain mapping tests
on Saif-ur-Rehman of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, arrested on charges of
alleged involvement in the May 2008 serial blasts in Jaipur. .....
- US also responsible for
current situation in Pak: Hillary
- by The Times of India
Even as she came out strongly against the Pakistani establishment for
lagging willingness to take head on the terrorists, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton on Friday said that the US was also partly responsible
for the present mess as it virtually abandoned Pakistan after the Soviets
left Afghanistan. .....
- Tale of militants' motivation
and reach
- by S. Raza Hassan
A former army officer, who was allegedly involved in the kidnapping of
film-maker and distributor Satish Anand, has told his interrogators that
he used his military expertise in favor of militants and the Taliban fighting
government forces in the tribal areas. .....
- Talk of Taliban take over
"frightening" : report
- by The Pioneer
Battle lines have been drawn between the Pakistani army and the Islamist
rebels as talk of the Taliban taking over the trouble-torn country now
seems to be "really frightening", a media report said today.
.....
- Sajjad Lone's U-turn
- by Rashneek Kher
Wahab Khar, the 18th century poet, probably had the power to see future.
How else does one explain the above verse, unless he knew that Sajjad
Lone, the most vociferous of the Kashmir separatists, would one day take
a U-turn (strategic, not ideological, let us be clear) and join the election
fray. .....
- A century of cultural calling
- by The Times of India
The beautiful colonial piece of architecture on Nrupatunga Road has dawned
a new look. The Mythic Society, the premier institute of Indology and
path- breaking studies, has just completed 100 years. The three-day valedictory
celebrations were inaugurated on Sunday. .....
- Harappa next door
- by Saurabh Tankha
Saurabh Tankha traces an ancient civilisation in and around Hissar and
argues why we need to keep them away from encroachment and neglect .....
- Polls not about glitzy campaigns
for Bikaner youth
- by Harsha Kumari Singh
The youth, their vote, their mobilisation, their political participation,
the young turks in politics - these are themes that have gripped the imagination
in these elections. Ironically though much of this has focussed on the
elite youth, who live in towns and cities like Bombay, but NDTV travels
to the far reaches of Thar Desert to Bikaner, and finds on sand dune villages,
young people who really know their politics. .....
- 150 Sikhs and Hindu families
moved to Punjab
- by The Pioneer
More than 150 Sikhs and Hindu families displaced by violence and fighting
between militants and security forces in Pakistan's North Western Frontier
Province and tribal areas have moved to the Punjab province for shelter.
.....
- Mumbai let down all of us
- by Free Press Journal
So this is what they meant being engaged citizens! The abysmally low voting
in Mumbai on Thursday belies the tall talk Mumbaikars had collectively
indulged in following the 26/11 terrorist attack on the most prominent
symbols of the metropolis. .....
- Theatre of the absurd
- by The Indian Express
Welcome to the theatre of the absurd: the plot so topsy-turvy, the actors
so clumsy, that it's a scandal the theatre is open at all. To chronicle
the play's three acts is to confuse the audience, but here goes anyway.
.....
- Left exposed in waste Bengal
- by Ashok Malik
One of the noteworthy features of the 2009 election has been the scrutiny
of the Left Front's governance record in West Bengal. In its extent and
intensity, this interrogation has been fairly unprecedented. .....
- Wages of Pakistan's suicidal
policies
- by Free Press Journal
Pakistan is crumbling. The federal and provincial governments are cowering
before the growing threat of the very jehadis they had most foolishly
allowed to grow on their soil. Now, they do not know how to tame them.
.....
- New face of Bangladesh
- by INA Puri
It's five in the morning. Dawn is about to break. Hundreds of people,
young and old, from different social strata, diverse professions and pursuits,
are making their way to a banyan tree. .....
- Missionary position -on
Indian TV!
- by B Haran
Is the Church fanning the flames of Tamil nationalism in pre-election
Tamil Nadu ? A probe of Father J Gasper Raj's background may provide some
valuable answers .....
- Targeted by Taliban, Sikhs
flee Pak region; India concerned
- by Hindustan Times
Targeted by the Taliban, 35 Sikh families that have been living for decades
in Pakistan's Orakzai Agency have begun migrating from the area after
being levied a jaziya or protection tax, an issue New Delhi has now taken
up with Islamabad. .....
- Is 'Tamil Eelam' a Christian
agenda?
- by B R Haran
The White Christian Church has the unique characteristic of gaining entry
into non-White, non-Semitic civilizations, by slow infiltration of important
establishments to influence them and create unrest by dividing the local
populace along communal or linguistic lines, with the sole objective of
Christianising those countries. .....
- The CBI is a habitual offender
- by Sheela Bhatt
The revived controversy over the withdrawal of an Interpol notice issued
for Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Bofors case is not
the only example of how the Central Bureau of Investigation is subservient
to the dictates of the United Progressive Alliance regime. .....
- Obama throws a ton of bricks
on Zardari
- by Shaheen Sehbai
President Barack Obama's 100th day prime TV time press conference on Wednesday
night has created a grossly uneven playing field for President Asif Ali
Zardari's upcoming visit to Washington, as the candid and frank, almost
brutal, observations of Obama have cut Zardari .....
- Taliban chief dispatches
300 terrorists to attack Pak cities
- by The Times of India
Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud plans to carry out terror attacks
in major cities, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore, and has despatched
his top five commanders along with 300 terrorists and suicide bombers
to execute the mission. .....
- 'CBI has proof of Quattrocchi
getting $ 7.32mn'
- by The Pioneer
Former CBI Director Joginder Singh on Tuesday claimed that the agency
had proof that Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrocchi had allegedly received
$7.32 million as kickbacks in Rs 64 crore Bofors scam. .....
- CBI letting off Quattrocchi
challenged in SC
- by The Times of India
The CBI's decision to withdraw the Red Corner Notice against Italian businessman
Ottavio Quattrocchi in the Rs 64 crore Bofors payoff case was challenged
in the Supreme Court on Tuesday. .....
- Hindus return Obama tribute
- by K.P. Nayar
Barack Obama, who created history as the first US President to acknowledge
a Hindu America in his inaugural address on January 20, today received
a favourable report card from an unusual source on completion of his first
100 days in office: from Hindu America. .....
- Excerpts from 'Gandhi Vs
Gandhi'
- by Ravindra Dani
While the Congress party is busy making preparations for the crowning
of Rahul Gandhi, one devotee of Varun Gandhi has made all these preparations
useless. .....
- Who will probe first family's
billions?
- by S Gurumurthy
Mrs Antonia Maino (aka Sonia) Gandhi has finally broken her silence on
the Indian slush money abroad. She told her party workers in Mangalore
on April 27, 2009 that "the Congress was taking steps to address
the issue of untaxed Indian money in Swiss banks". .....
- Swami murder accused claims
to be Cong man
- by The Pioneer
All those arrested on charge of killing Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati were
not Maoists. Though the police claimed that Maoists eliminated the VHP
leader in Kandhanmal, others arrested were not the Left-wing ultras. .....
- More terrorists waiting
across LoC for infiltration: Army
- by The Pioneer
After foiling two major intrusion bids in the last month, Army on Wednesday
said more terrorists are waiting at "launch pads" across the
Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir for a chance to infiltrate
and troops have been "redeployed" to thwart any such attempt.
.....
