by Jason Lewis
The amazing series of events that led to an Al Qaeda terrorist manual
becoming freely available on the internet can be revealed today. .....
by Tarun Vijay
Gradually an unprecedented streak undoing the constitutional spirit through
executive orders is gaining ground in the corridors of power for the sake
of immediate populism and political gain. This is not only against the
egalitarian norms of inclusiveness and accommodation but is leading dangerously
to further and bitter fragmentation of polity. .....
by A.V. Ragunathan
The Palm Sunday celebrations in at least a dozen churches located in the
Dalit Christian dominated areas in Cuddalore and Villupuram districts
were either obstructed or suspended on Sunday. .....
by Pallavi Aiyar
China had it all planned out. Or so it seemed. With the Beijing Summer
Olympic Games only a few months away, the flashy sports stadiums, the
world's biggest airport and kilometers of extended subway lines combined
to serve as gleaming testaments to the country's dramatic material progress.
.....
by Dr M.K. Ganju
The same sin and folly, which the national leadership committed in the
name of Hindu-Muslim unity in the years before partition, continue to
be committed by national political parties in the name of secularism.
The unilateral attempts to achieve unity before partition made the secularists
to give concession after concession to the Muslims, while the appetite
and aggressiveness of the latter went on increasing. .....
by T.S. Subramanian
The Chennai police have busted the network of a "new, budding'' Muslim
extremist organisation called the Muslim Defence Force (MDF), whose links
go to Saudi Arabia and which has connections with the Lashkar-e-Toiba.
The MDF was founded in Saudi Arabia by Abu Hamsa (35) of Hyderabad and
has branches in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, apart from Andhra Pradesh. .....
by Bhaskar Roy
A press note was issued by Bangladesh Home Ministry on March 6 declaring
a virtual war on the Bangladesh chapter of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami
(HUJI-B). The note said that the "forces have been kept alert"
to track the movements of these elements to different parts of the country"
and intelligence agencies were vigilant to foil any HUJI (B) conspiracy
against the country. .....
by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
The ABPS regrets to note that the politics of minorityism has acquired
dubious dimensions under the present dispensation at the Centre bringing
back the sordid memories of the competitive minorityism witnessed in the
pre-Partition era. Year after year this appeasement of certain religious
communities is on the rise leading to serious communal polarisation in
the country. .....
by Rahul Singh
The Indian media takes great pride in being independent and fearless,
among the freest in the developing world. Indeed, the press is held up
as one of the mainstays of Indian democracy. But is this really so? Take
the abrupt and recent sacking of one of the country's most distinguished
editors, Mubashar Jawed Akbar. .....
by Marcus Dam
"I left New Delhi very early in the day and am now in London, but
please don't ask me my destination for the sake of security - the same
reason why I had withheld the date of my departure prior to leaving the
country," she told The Hindu over telephone from London's Heathrow
Airport on Wednesday. .....
by The Hindu
In a bold statement on Wednesday, the wife of Sarabjit Singh said the
family did not want him repatriated from Pakistan if it meant India releasing
some terrorists in exchange. .....
by Sharad Joshi
In the entire hullabaloo about the debt waiver scheme, the UPA's performance
on the flagship programmes attracted little attention. .....
by R Dutta Choudhury
With continuous acts of violence and killings of innocent people, the
United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) proved that it is not serious in
solving the problems through talks, said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi. He
also said that the Government would not take any chances on the threat
posed by fundamentalist elements based in Bangladesh. .....
by Taslima Nasreen
I used to call this the torture chamber. I gradually came to realize that
it was the chamber of death instead. I was not even allowed to stay in
hospital for long though the doctors felt it was necessary in order to
stabilize my blood pressure. But then, orders are orders and the government
did not want to be inconvenienced by me in any way whatsoever. .....
by Assam Tribune
Protesting the killing of the Hindi-speaking settlers in Assam, BJP has
today alleged that it was part of a larger conspiracy to facilitate settlement
of illegal Bangladeshi migrants. The Lok Sabha witnessed pandemonium for
a few minutes during the Zero Hour, when raising the issue of recent incidents
of violence in Assam, BJP MP Khiren Rijiju charged the State Government
of failure in tackling the internal security situation in the State. .....
by Sheela Bhatt
Tibetans living as refugees in India and elsewhere have a democratic system
to govern community affairs outside their motherland. While spiritual
leader Dalai Lama heads the government-in-exile from the headquarters
in Mcleodganj near Dharamshala, it is 69-year-old Samdhong Rinpoche, who
as prime minister heads the administration of the Tibetan Diaspora. .....
by KR Phanda
The forcible stoppage of an exhibition on Aurangzeb by Chennai Police
at the behest of Islamists proves that Muslims are not prepared to apologise
for the crimes committed on Hindus by Muslim invaders. At another level,
it showcases the hypocrisy of the Hindu leadership: It does not want the
people to know the humiliation that Hindus had suffered at the hands of
Muslim invaders. .....
by Sheela Bhatt
Tibetans living as refugees in India and elsewhere have a democratic system
to govern community affairs outside their motherland. While spiritual
leader Dalai Lama heads the government-in-exile from the headquarters
in Mcleodganj near Dharamshala, it is 69-year-old Samdhong Rinpoche, who
as prime minister heads the administration of the Tibetan Diaspora. .....
by Sumit Ganguly
India's response to the harsh Chinese crackdown on legitimate Tibetan
protests in Lhasa and elsewhere has been dispiriting. In parliament the
seasoned politician and foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee could only express
distress at the plight of the hapless Tibetans. .....
by The New Indian Express
A seminar on the activities of the Basel Missionaries in Malabar and South
Canara district of Karnataka, held here on Sunday, has thrown up some
interesting aspects on their activities. .....
by Eric Schmitt and Thom Shanker
American officials say that Pakistan's pledge to fight Al Qaeda and Taliban
militants in the restive tribal areas is being weakened by disagreements
in the Pakistani military and security forces over what their priority
should be. .....
by Brahma Chellaney
When Burma's junta last September killed at least 31 people during monk-led
protests in Rangoon, it triggered international outrage and a new wave
of US-led sanctions. Now the junta's closest associate, the world's largest
autocracy in Beijing, has cracked down on monks, nuns and others in Tibet,
with an indeterminate number of people killed. .....
by Bret Stephens
The violent protests in Tibet that began last week and have since spread
across (and beyond) China are frequently depicted as a secessionist threat
to Beijing. But the regime's deeper problem in the current crisis is neither
ethnic nor territorial. It's religious. .....
by Shyamlal Yadav
As far as villages and Indian values go, Miragpur in Uttar Pradesh stands
out as an examplary model of social conduct. Not only do people here keep
away from tobacco, liquor and non-vegetarian food, they also do not consume
cabbage, garlic and onion. This is a tradition they have been following
for over 400 years- since the seventeenth century. Even the hukka, synonymous
with north Indian villages, is frowned upon here. .....
by Sweta Ramanujan-Dixit
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has reminded the state government of the court
deadline to demolish the unauthorised structure on Mughal general Afzal
Khan's tomb at Pratapgad, 250 km from Mumbai. .....
by Arindam Sarkar
Before leaving India on Tuesday, exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin
said the treatment meted out to her by the Government of India was nothing
less than "cold-blooded state terrorism to drive her out of the country.
.....
by Diptosh Majumdar
Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Tuesday said while she is going
out of the country because of health reasons, she still loves India and
her heart is still in Kolkata. In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN's
National Affairs Editor Diptosh Majumdar, she said she has been forced
to leave India because of extreme stress that she went through over these
last few months. .....
by The Pioneer
The rioting in Lhasa and other parts of Tibet that followed the commemoration
of the 49th anniversary of what Tibetans refer to as their 'National Uprising
Day' could not have come at a worse time for Beijing. Mr Hu Jintao, preparing
for his second term as President of China, would not have wanted such
a distraction from the proceedings of the National People's Congress,
not least because they were supposed to set the tone and tenor of his
fresh five-year tenure. .....
by Kanchan Gupta
Dissident Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has decided that rather than
suffer solitary confinement in a 'safe house' where she is kept under
virtual house arrest by intelligence agencies, she will "leave India
in the next few days to live in freedom" in another country. Nasreen
says she has conveyed her decision to officials of the Ministry of External
Affairs. .....
by Thailand News
Jagannath temple in Bihar took a bold initiative by anointing a low-caste
to perform temple rituals, considered a strict prerogative of the Brahmins.
.....
by Google News
Bangladesh writer Taslima Nasreen, hounded into hiding in India by death
threats from Islamic militants, says she wants to go abroad and "leave
this impossible situation", according to reports Monday. .....
by Times Now
After living in hiding for four months, controversial Bangladeshi author,
Taslima Nasreen is heading to Sweden. The author tells TIMES NOW that
she's been forced to leave India. Though the whispers are that the controversial
Bangladeshi author is going to Sweden for a medical check-up. .....
by Claude Arpi
What had to happen happened! As in 1959, 1987 or again in 1989, riots
have erupted in Lhasa and other provinces of Tibet. The repression (and
it is only a beginning) is said to be ferocious. But compared to the previous
uprisings, this time the background is different: China is hosting the
Summer Olympics, an event dedicated to world peace. .....
by Anuja Prashar
Christian aid and funding organizations and even UK Members of Parliament,
such as Andrew Reed (Conservative) and infamous Ex Secretary of State,
Mr. J. Aitken (Conservative), all state that they are committed to upholding
religious freedom in India and for 'Dalits' in particular. .....
by Swapan Dasgupta
Last Friday evening, to commemorate the much-acclaimed Sonia decade, an
English-language news channel produced a short feature on a day in the
life of the Congress. The viewer was informed, among other things, that
Sonia does a daily routine of yoga, reads the Hindustan Times and Hindu,
loves a cup of cappuccino, enjoys Sundays with the family and personally
cleans her house before an important party meeting. .....
by Mail Today
There is something incongruous about Rahul Gandhi naming his latest campaign,
as Discover India, though it is basically a programme to mobilise the
party structure all over the country in the run-up to the Lok Sabha
polls. Maybe the Harvard educated Gandhi family scion has given his
ignorance of the country away by the nomenclature, though such indeed
could not have been his intent. .....
by T R Jawahar
It is not often that you have ghosts of past Mughal emperors calling on
you in succession. After Babar, who has been hanging around for quite
some time now, sternly refusing to be exorcised, Akbar and Aurangazeb
are currently in our midst, bestowing their munificence even posthumously.
And we the subjects are asked to be not just grateful for our past masters'
grace but also grovel before their glories and greatness. .....
by Anup Dutta
In the badlands of Chambal, an ancient temple complex is once again
coming to life. The Archeological Survey of India is rebuilding 108
temples, spread over 2 sq km, under the watchful eyes of gun-toting dacoits.
.....
by Mint
After denying valid public concerns about its environmental and security
risks, shipping minister T.R. Baalu will now face demands to revisit his
very rationale for the Sethusamudram project. This time, it's about official
doubts of its economic benefit. A government-appointed panel has admitted
to errors in calculating the savings to be made by ships circumnavigating
India through waters around the controversial Adam's Bridge. .....
by Liz Mathew
The controversial Adam's bridge off the Tamil Nadu coast could be "man-made"
and has an "echo in the ancient mythological epic, the Ramayan",
says a Government publication tabled in Parliament last week -- a development
that could put the Congress-led UPA regime in a piquant spot. .....
by Jhimli Mukherjee Panden
Many government colleges in the city have started inviting religious figures
to lecture students on morals and ethics. And, if things go according
to plan, value education will become a permanent fixture of college curricula.
.....
by Brahma Chellaney
The Prime Minister has done well to assure Parliament that he will continue
to "seek the broadest possible consensus within the country"
over the nuclear deal with the United States. A critical matter like this,
which is going to affect the future of India's nuclear programme and tie
the country to perpetual, legally irrevocable international inspections,
demands such a consensus.. .....
by The Indian Express
The Forum of Artistes, Cultural Activists and Intellectuals has launched
a website that documents its convention in the backdrop of the land acquisition
in Singur and Nandigram. .....
by IBNLive.com
The US State Department's latest Annual Report on Human Rights, which
has listed the Nandigram violence among the worst cases of rights violations
in India in 2007, raised the heckles in the Left camp on Friday with CPI
and CPI-M MPs slamming it as a 'grave interference of internal affairs
of India by the Bush administration'. .....
by Tehelka
Q.: What prompted this spate of resignations?
A.: Good question. But I am a little tired of answering this one. I feel
cheated, really cheated by the Congress and the UPA. Please remember that
the Telengana issue is not a figment of a child's imagination. Telengana
was a prosperous state. When India was reeling under famine, our surplus
was Rs 63 crore. .....
by Priyanka P. Narain
A committee that held hearings and studied the controversial Sethusamudram
project concedes the government made calculation errors in its estimates
of how much time, distance and fuel would be saved by ships using the
channel. .....
by Rediff.com
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday sought to compare Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh with Mughal rulers for his reported remarks that the first
right on the nation's resources belonged to the minority communities.
.....
by Aruloli & S Raja
As the Union Government shrugged off its hesitation on the Ramar Sethu
issue and expressed its readiness to go ahead with the Sethusamudram Project
in its affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the anti-Sethu movements
have now raked up a much stronger issue relating to the silent increase
of the Government of India's share as per the budgetary allocations. .....
by Pinaki Das
A petty clash between traders and local rowdies at night spiralled into
a communal flare-up at Howrah's Panchla market on Monday morning. More
than 40 shops and a few houses were gutted as a mob went around setting
them on fire. .....
by The Indian Express
Lured with the promise of good jobs or marriage, thousands of children,
especially girls, were being trafficked from seven districts of West Bengal,
an NGO has claimed. .....
by R. Upadhyay
Tourist brochure describes Maldives as a paradise. Perhaps due to the
natural beauty, this country of 1192 small coral islands in Indian Ocean
was known as Maldveep (Garland of island) in ancient Sanskrit literature.
With 100 % Sunni Muslim population of over three lakhs, area of 800 square
kilo metres distributed across atolls and islands, having more sea than
land in its occupation and historical roots in South Indian, Sri Lankan
Sinhalese and Arab communities, it remained isolated from the influence
of modern world for centuries. .....
by Kanchan Gupta
This past week there have been worrisome reports about attempts to reignite
separatist violence in Punjab by inciting Sikh youth to revive the demand
for 'Khalistan' with the help of funds collected abroad and more than
a little involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. .....
by Vivek Deshpande
Angered by mass surrenders by their cadres and supporters in Gadchiroli,
Maoists have continued their killing spree, with one more surrendered
Naxalite being shot dead on Wednesday night in the area of Jaravandi police
station. .....
by Amarnath K. Menon
This is Balaji's blessing," coo Chandravenu and his coy bride Rajani
at Muthyalareddypalle in Chittoor district, almost in chorus. Like most
people in the state's countryside these days, they had also chosen to
be part of the unique TTD (Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams) sponsored kalyanamastu
(mass marriage ceremony). .....
by Jug Suraiya
In 1994 when Bunny and I went there, there were no riots in Tibet, but
the Chinese turned down my visa application. My passport described me
as a journalist. Journalist? No way. I had to get myself a new passport,
which didn't specify my occupation, to obtain a visa. Don't mention to
anyone that you're a journalist; you might find yourself in jail, warned
our friends. .....
by Suchandana Gupta
Alerted by the Intelligence Bureau, the MP police raided several places
in Indore at the crack of dawn on Thursday and arrested 13 top leaders
of the banned Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). .....
by V.R. Krishna Iyer
Justice H.R. Khanna, who passed away on February 25, will not pass from
the pages of Indian judicial history. He ranks among the rare robed brethren
of our age who could sacrifice high office for fine principle. .....
by The Pioneer
The late President KR Narayanan, who had a 'strained' relationship with
the AB Vajpayee Government, has come in for criticism from BJP veteran
LK Advani for procedures adopted by him during Government formation in
1998 and also during its fall a year later. .....
by Kanhaiah Bhelari
A legal battle can be more devastating than a jail term. Two Sharma families
of Vishunapur village in Kaimur district know it well. .....
by Amrit Dhillon
Thrusting awkward questions at a bereaved parent is enough to make the
hardest hack cringe in self-disgust. But on occasion, it is called for-as
in the case of British teenager Scarlett Keeling's murder in Goa. However,
the Indian media was so busy bashing the Goan police for their disgraceful
cover-up that they lost sight of Scarlett's mother's appalling negligence.
.....
by The Times of India
Q.: The government-in-exile wants autonomy under Chinese rule. Is this
acceptable to Tibetan youth?
A.: If China is sincere about giving us autonomy, we can definitely protect
our culture and spiritual heritage. We may be able to take care of our
environmental and natural resources. But this is only if China grants
autonomy in letter and spirit. .....
by Swapan Dasgupta
There is an awkward question that the Congress stalwarts, who celebrated
the Sonia decade in Indian politics, forgot to ask: Why is Sonia Gandhi
the only leader to enjoy an unbroken 10-year stint as party president?
The query may well be insolent but it is nevertheless worth asking. .....
by Mateen Hafeez
A counterfeit currency supplier was picked up by the Maharashtra anti-terrorism
squad (ATS) in West Bengal and brought to Mumbai for questioning in connection
with the encounter deaths of two suspected Bangladeshi nationals last
week. .....
by Vivek Deshpande
'In the background, loudspeakers on a Shetkari Sanghatana vehicle are
at full blast, telling villagers how the Central Government's "discriminatory"
farm loan waiver leaves them out as it covers only those having less than
five acres. However, in this village of the country's farmer suicide belt,
they laugh it off. .....
by S Balakrishnan
'D-Company' is now officially part of the Lashkar-e-Toiba's terror network,
with Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) getting Dawood
Ibrahim to merge his gang with the fundamentalist terror organisation
as part of a gameplan to crank up its anti-India campaign. .....
by The Times of India
A Samajwadi Party legislator in Madhya Pradesh has created sensation by
claiming that a senior state Congress leader offered him Rs 30 lakh to
vote for independent candidate Vivek Tankha in the Rajya Sabha elections.
The SP MLA from Langi, Kishore Samrite, claimed that he refused the Congress
leader's offer. .....
by The Indian Express
For once, the government could do no wrong. Even the opposition applauded
the amendment of a constitutional order, so that the Arunachal tribe formerly
known as 'Dafla' (meaning unruly or wild, a name given by the British)
could now be known by their real name, 'Nyishi'. .....
by Pranab Dhal Samanta
Days after Beijing officially blamed the Dalai Lama and his "clique"
for inciting violence in Tibet, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is said
to have conveyed to visiting US Speaker of the House of Representatives
Nancy Pelosi today that India regarded the Dalai Lama as a "personification
of non-violence." .....
by Manraj Grewal
A day before US Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives here, Tibetan spiritual leader
the Dalai Lama said he was open to talks with Chinese premier Hu Jintao
despite the tragic events of the past few days. "It's still not too
late," he said even as the Tibetan Government-in-exile told the media
that the crisis in Tibet had escalated with Chinese forces laying siege
to a monastery besides arresting over 600 people. .....
by Rich Shopes
Nikhil Joshi said persistent misunderstandings about Hindus in the media
and politics compelled him and two friends to start the Hindu American
Foundation. .....
by The Pioneer
With the latest arrest of seven more activists of the banned Students
Islamic Movement of India from Unhel, near Ujjain, and Indore, the real
dimension of the network established by this terrorist organisation in
Madhya Pradesh has begun to emerge. Those arrested over Sunday night and
Monday morning are believed to have been providing assistance to Safdar
Nagori and 12 other top leaders of SIMI, who were picked up on March 27.
.....
by The Pioneer
Security forces on Monday surrounded a mosque in Jammu & Kashmir,
where two separatist militants are holed up, a senior police official
said. .....
by Economic Times
China is throwing hysterical tantrums. With China delivering snub after
snub, an exasperated New Delhi was forced to call off a visit to Beijing
by commerce minister Kamal Nath after Beijing threw diplomatic niceties
to the winds and told the government here that his counterpart was not
available to host him. .....
by News Post India
Their love triumphed over everything - their different faiths and parental
opposition. A Muslim woman and her Christian boyfriend Monday chose to
get united in matrimony through Hindu rituals, complete with chanting
of Sanskrit mantras and going round the holy fire. .....
by S Balakrishnan
'D-Company' is now officially part of the Lashkar-e-Toiba's terror network,
with Pakistan's notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) getting Dawood
Ibrahim to merge his gang with the fundamentalist terror organisation
as part of a gameplan to crank up its anti-India campaign. .....
by Navajit Bhagawati
At a time when security agencies are feeling the heat combating Bangladesh
and Pakistan based terrorist groups in Assam, a new fundamentalist organisation
'Islamic United Revolution Protect of India' will certainly give them
a tough time. .....
by The Pioneer
The presence of terror camps in Pakistan continues to haunt the security
establishment in India, which still feels that ISI-sponsored outfits like
JeM, LeT and Al-Badr are responsible for carrying out terrorist attacks
in different parts of the country. .....
by Swapan Dasgupta
India is not blessed with a book culture; nor do Hindus (as the Arab traveller
Alberuni complained a thousand years ago) have an evolved sense of history.
Given these inherent limitations, it was audacious of a serving politician
like LK Advani to try and break the mould with his autobiography, My Country,
My Life. .....
by V. Sundaram
All the battered Hindus of India should rally behind Mohan Bhagwat Ji
who has heroically spoken against Communist State-sponsored Hindu Genocide
in Kannur District and many other parts of Kerala today. According to
RSS estimates, 125 of its members have lost their lives and more than
800 have been badly injured by CPI (M) cadre in the past few years. .....
by S Balakrishnan
Intelligence agencies who have discovered the close synergy between the
Dawood Ibrahim gang and the ISI-backed Lashkar-e-Toiba say that consequent
to the "merger" with the jehadi group, most members of the underworld
outfit have embraced the Ahle Hadees sect. .....
by Claude Arpi
A S Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao were reelected to their posts of President
and Premier of the People's Republic of China at the end of the 11th Chinese
People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), bad news was in store
for them. .....
by Henri Astier
Canada is often thought of as a land of bland consensus and multicultural
harmony - the last place where you would expect to see a religious minority
up in arms, and journalists accusing the state of gagging freedom of speech.
.....
by B Raman
The worldwide demonstrations of Tibetans of all ages against China and
the uprisings in Greater Tibet since March 10, 2008, have come as the
culmination of a long debate in Dharamsala and among Tibetan refugees
all over the world, including India, over the wisdom of His Holiness the
Dalai Lama's continued adherence to his Middle Path policy. .....
by Walter E. Williams
All of us should give some serious thought to some of the ideas contained
in an article circulating the blogosphere titled "Why a Peaceful
Majority Is Irrelevant." .....
by Tarun Vijay
Last week Nirupama Rao, our envoy in Beijing, was summoned by the Chinese
foreign office at 2 am to protest against what they said was a breach
into their territory by Tibetan protesters who hoisted a Tibetan flag
in their embassy compound in New Delhi. .....
by The Pioneer
Coming under pressure from different quarters, New Delhi has promised
to make "all arrangements to ensure that the Olympic flame passes
through India safely". .....
by M.V. Kamath
A Coffee Table book is defined as "a large, lavishly illustrated
book, especially one intended only for casual reading". It can't
be true of the biography of Field Marshal K.M.Cariappa written by his
only son, Air Marshal K.C. Cariappa, though, yes, the book is large in
size (11 'x 8½'), is profusely illustrated, but, let this be said
rightaway, is written in a rich and stirring style. .....
by Paul Johnson
Watching the run-up to the U.S. presidential elections from proud and
self-indulgent yet weak and cowardly Europe, I am disturbed that so little
attention has been paid to electing a President who will have the courage
to provide leadership--and, if need be, resolute action--in an increasingly
dangerous world. .....
by The Times of India
If the Sachar Committee recommendations are the Opposition's trump card
against the ruling CPM's apathy towards minorities in the coming polls,
the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government isn't giving them a walkover. .....
by Voice of Dharma
I did not realise I was stirring a hornet's nest in reviewing the Mission
Handbook (March 13, 14). It invoked many rejoinders, most of them harsh.
It helps inter-faith dialogue which the church has recently invited. .....
by Fraser Nelson
To defeat an enemy, one must first understand him - and this, for years,
has been Britain's principal problem in the war on terror. The identity
and profile of the typical British jihadi was a mystery. Many argued he
did not exist at all - until the July 2006 London bombings spectacularly
proved otherwise. .....
by The Hindu
If you go by western media reports, the propaganda of the so-called 'Tibetan
government-in-exile' in Dharamsala and the votaries of the 'Free Tibet'
cause, or by the fulminations of Nancy Pelosi and the Hollywood glitterati,
Tibet is in the throes of a mass democratic uprising against Han Chinese
communist rule. .....
by Dr. Subhash Kapila
Tibet has once again been thrust in the global consciousness by the widespread
Tibetan uprising of March 2008 just a year before the 50th anniversary
of the first major uprising of the Tibetan nation against China and nearly
the 60th anniversary of China's military invasion and occupation of the
sovereign, spiritual and pacifist nation of Tibet. .....
by Claude Arpi
Since the unrest started in Tibet, I am often asked: "What is the
solution for Tibet?" Invariably, I answer: "I don't know".
I am aware that there have never been so many 'experts' and 'knowledgeable
commentators' who have ready-made solutions, but having spent 37 years
trying to understand the intricacies of the Tibet issue, "I don't
know" is the only honest response. .....
by Swapan Dasgupta
It is often claimed that high growth doesn't win an election in India
but high inflation helps lose it. The euphoria over loan write-offs and
higher exemption limits for income taxpayers is certain to be either drowned
in a backlash of unfulfilled expectations or simply forgotten by the time
the Finance Bill is passed. .....
by Ajay Khape
If the Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS) is reaching out to the software professionals
through its IT- Milan programme, the city unit of Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP) has decided it'll settle for nothing less than embracing the entire
corporate sector. And the tool it has chosen to achieve this goal is a
uniquely styled business diary with April 1 2008 as the first day and
ends with March 31 2009 ¿ the entire financial year. .....
by Rajeev Srinivasan
On November 18 every year, I silently salute the brave souls of C Company,
13th Kumaon Regiment, who in 1962 died practically to the last man and
the last bullet defending Ladakh against the invading Chinese Army. These
brave 114 inflicted heavy casualties and prevented the Chinese from overrunning
Leh, much like Spartans at Thermopylae held the line against the invading
Persians many moons ago. .....
by Kishore Mahbubani
Humanity is embarking on a bizarre journey into the future. Subconsciously,
we all believe (or would like to believe) that we live in a rational,
well-ordered universe. The reality is closer to the opposite. If this
sounds unbelievable, consider the following analogy. Imagine 660 passengers
boarding a ship that is sailing into unchartered waters. .....
by Dennis Prager
The long-suffering Tibetans have been in the news. This happens perhaps
once or twice a decade. In a more moral world, however, public opinion
would be far more preoccupied with Tibetans than with Palestinians, would
be as harsh on China as it is on Israel, and would be as fawning on Israel
as it now is on China. .....
by Anil Bhat
Incidents in Assam and Manipur in 2007 yet again blew the lid on the nexus
between politicians and insurgent-turned -terrorist groups. Guwahati based
Samudra Gupta Kashyap wrote in The Indian Express of March 06, 2007 that
less than a month after the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam
(ULFA) 'allowed' the Congress-led government in Assam to peacefully hold
the much-delayed 33rd National Games .....
by The Times of India
Shafiqul Sheikh preyed on unsuspecting women after dusk. He used the cover
of darkness or a crowd to pounce on victims, stunning them momentarily.
Before they knew what had happened, he would have molested them and vanished.
.....
by Kumar Chellappan
Expert committee claims ships will save time, not money "If these
charges are taken into account the channel will not at all be a profitable
proposition. Besides it has its risks in navigating in shallow waters
of 12 metres," said Capt Balakrishnan. .....
by
The barbarous and inhuman atrocities perpetrated on the peaceful Tibetan
protesters in Lhasa and other towns of Tibet by the Communist regime in
China, has shocked all the sensitive hearts the world over. Swami Vivekananda
had said in the last decade of 19th Century -"The Chinese Dragon
is asleep. Let it remain so. The day it will wake up, it will bring disaster
over the whole world." That prophecy has become a reality today.
.....
by BosNewsLife
Some fourteen Indian Christians remained detained in Bangladesh Saturday,
March 22, weeks after completing a three-month sentence for unwittingly
crossing the border while evangelizing, because India has not request
their repatriation, news reports said. .....
by Sheela Bhatt
Leading Chinese intellectuals and writers have released a petition that
suggests twelve ways to deal with the Tibet crisis. The petition, which
indicates a major shift in the intellectual scene of China, has appeared
on several websites. .....
by The Pioneer
The 'All-India Anti-Terrorism Conference', organised by Darul Uloom Deoband
and attended by representatives of various Islamic seminaries, has come
up with a patently bogus declaration which, on the face of it, 'denounces'
terrorism but justifies it in West Asia, the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan
-- the clerics may as well have added Jammu & Kashmir to their list
of exemptions. .....
by IslamOnline.net
Pope Benedict XVI has baptized Muslim-born Islam critic Magdi Allam who
converted to Roman Catholicism in an Easter vigil mass at St Peter's Basilica
in Vatican city late on Saturday, March 22. .....
by Hemali Chhapia
Little would Jagdish Prasad Sharma have dreamed that his proficiency in
Hindi would one day take him from the quiet holy town of Mathura to the
bright lights of the US. .....
by Praveen Swami
Investigations into the attempted mid-air bombing of a Chinese airliner
on March 7 has thrown up evidence that a Pakistan-based Islamist terror
group may have aided its perpetrators. .....
by Sheela Bhatt
In a significant development, local Indians living in and around Dharamshala
in Himachal Pradesh on Saturday extended their moral and political support
to Tibetan refugees living in their area for the last 49 years under the
leadership of the Dalai Lama. .....
by Business Standard
The suddenness and ferocity of the Tibetan protest against Chinese rule
has taken everyone by surprise. The official Tibetan explanation is that
March 10 being a 'Martyr's Day', there is nothing unusual about the protests.
But given that this is the 49th and not the 50th anniversary of the 1959
massacre, the explanation is not very convincing. .....
by Yahoo News
Controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, who left India for Europe
after a period of forced confinement in New Delhi, has criticised the
Indian government for causing 'harm that no fundamentalist could do' and
keeping her 'in a lock up'. .....
by Rakesh K Singh
Strange are the ways of arms suppliers! The Pakistan Ordnance Factory,
which has been supplying arms to Sri Lankan armed forces, is also augmenting
supplies to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). .....
by Kumar Chellappan
The country's top environmental scientist has warned that the demolition
of the Adam's Bridge (Ramar Setu) for constructing the Sethusamudram Shipping
Channel Project is a surefire recipe for ecological disaster. .....
by Pranav Kulkarni
First it was Oregaon to Koregaon for the Rajneesh ashram, and now it seems,
it may just be Koregaon to Korea for the Osho international meditation
resort, which is currently playing host to a 70-member delegation from
Godowon foundation, a Korea-based NGO and cultural center. Even as the
members attend mediation sessions at the resort from March 12 to 15, the
foundation has plans to construct a similar centre in Korea on return.
.....
by Rod Liddle
Rod Liddle says these tokenistic programmes demonstrate that the BBC's
view of the vast majority of people in this country remains appallingly
patronising. The Corporation has not renounced its bad old metropolitan
ways at all .....
by Gautam Chikermane
We may be Muslims, saab, but we cannot cut this peepal tree. His name
is Rahim and his band of workers sound Muslim too. The carpenter - Maulana
saab. The painters - Abdul and Ismail. The plumber - Yaqub. I didn't hire
him because of who he was (or who he thinks he is) but because he's a
competent contractor. .....
by The Indian Express
Chinese security forces poured into Lhasa even as the local government
today launched a "people's war" to crush the massive pro-independence
protests, ahead of the deadline to agitating Tibetans to surrender. .....
by The Times of India
As the Chinese media and the government of Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR)
poured vitriol on the Dalai Lama for "inciting riots" in Lhasa,
the Tibetan leader, too, hardened his stand by condemning the use of "brute
force" by China. .....
by Shobhan Saxena
From Athens to the Everest, China is feeling the heat of the "Free
Tibet" campaign just five months before the biggest show on earth-the
Olympics-opens in Beijing in August. .....
by Saibal Dasgupta
If there's one thing China would have wanted to avoid in an Olympics year,
it's memories of Tiananmen Square. But those very images were reignited
on the streets of Lhasa as Red Army tanks rolled out to crush Tibetan
protesters on Saturday. While the official Chinese media claimed only
ten people had died in Friday's violence, Tibetan activists said the toll
could be anywhere between 30 and 100. .....
by The Economic Times
Hurray! The Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver mystery has finally been solved.
When FM P Chidambaram in his budget speech mentioned the scheme would
cost the taxpayer all of Rs 60,000 crore, no one could figure out how
he'd arrived at that figure. All kinds of conjectures were made: the waiver
was a last-minute afterthought and since there was no provision for it
in the budget, it was a number the FM had pulled out of his hat. .....
by Anuraag Singh
At the first crack of dawn, when the proud rooster puffs his chest to
prepare for his wakeup call, a sharp Raag Bhairavi cuts him short. This
is Hariharpur, the village of musicians, and the rooster has never been
able to sing his murga baang. .....
by Coomi Kapoor
BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi, who was recently in Kolkata was invited
by the local Press Club to attend a Saraswati puja. Joshi was delighted
to participate, but he could not resist pointing out the irony that, when
as HRD minister in the Vajpayee government he had presided over a programme
at Vigyan Bhavan where there was a short invocation to the goddess Saraswati,
there was an uproar in Bengal. .....
by Coomi Kapoor
If any Congress member had charged that there was no internal democracy
in the party, he would have been unceremoniously evicted for heresy. It
would have been construed as a direct attack on the Congress first family.
But when Rahul Gandhi himself made the accusation, it was a different
matter. Many young MPs appended their signatures to a petition echoing
Gandhi's sentiments. .....
by Tavleen Singh
Do you know what? If Rahul Gandhi were a teenager, I think I might understand
this mad quest to discover India. I remember reading great grand-daddy's
Discovery of India when I was an impressionable young schoolgirl, cocooned
in a privileged boarding school in the foothills of the Himalayas. .....
by Kanwal Sibal
For Tibetans, March 10, 1959 is the day of their national uprising against
the Chinese, which culminated in the flight of the Dalai Lama to India
through Tawang. Indian authorities restricted this year's commemorative
demonstrations by Tibetans in Delhi; and their plans to organise a march
on Lhasa, by crossing the border at an undisclosed point on an undisclosed
date, are bound to be foiled by watchful Indian and Chinese agencies.
.....
by The Indian Express
Violent protests erupted on Friday in a busy market area of Lhasa, the
Tibetan capital, as Buddhist monks and other ethnic Tibetans clashed with
Chinese security forces. The protesters burned shops, cars, military vehicles
and at least one tourist bus, according to witnesses. .....
by M. V. Kamath
If a man enters a government office and pays a clerk a hundred rupees
to move some papers he will be accused of corrupting the petty official
through bribery. What shall we call Finance Minister P. Chidambaram who
is willing to underwrite farmers' debts to the tune of Rs. 60,000 crores,
a little ahead of the time for the next general elections? .....
by U. Mahesh Prabhu
Distinguished Editor and Author of our times M J Akbar is removed from
the Chairmanship of "The Asian Age¹ and "Deccan Chronicle¹.
.....
by Juliet Rix
Picture this, says Maryam Namazie: "A child is swathed in cloth from
head to toe every day. Everything but her face and hands are covered for
fear that a man might find her attractive. At school she learns that she
is worth less than a boy. She is not allowed to dance or swim or feel
the sun on her skin or the wind in her hair. This is clearly unacceptable,
yet it is accepted when it is done in the name of religion." .....
by Oken Jeet Sandham
If Assam Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Ajay Singh's statement that about 6000
illegal Bangladeshis are entering Assam daily is correct, then the fate
of the north-east people are terribly at stake. .....
by Priyanka P. Narain
Out of the 116 pages of a government report devoted to the controversial
Adam's Bridge, just one dwells on the national security implications of
dredging the coral walkway between India and Sri Lanka. .....
by The Middle East Media Research
Institute
In an interview on the Waqt television channel, that was published by
the mainstream Urdu daily Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt, senior Pakistani newspaper
editor Majeed Nizami discussed Kashmir's importance to Pakistan, called
it "the jugular vein" of Pakistan, and added that Pakistan should
not hesitate to use nuclear weapons to take it from India. .....
by Tarun Vijay
More than a hundred thousand civilians have been murdered in cold blood
since 1986 in ideological hate attacks in India. Most of them invariably
were Hindus. Though Hindus are there in every party and state machinery,
there has been hardly a voice of reason, angst and pain raised effectively
against assaults on Hindus during all these years, as if Hindus still
feel they are living under an oppressive un-Hindu regime and hence it's
better to suffer in silence and be thankful to the oppressors for small
mercies. .....
by Yahoo News
The Pakistan Army is committed to the Kashmir issue "in line with
the aspirations" of the country, army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani
said today. During a visit to forward locations near the Line of Control
(LoC) in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir, Kayani "highlighted the national
consensus that exists on the Kashmir issue". .....
by Binoo Joshi
Over 50,000 Hindu families who fled Pakistan to escape the 1947 partition
violence have spent over 60 years in Jammu and Kashmir - but they are
still widely seen as "outsiders". .....
by China Post
The normally vibrant Indonesian tourist destination of Bali came to a
standstill Friday as the island's Hindu majority celebrated the start
of the Hindu new year. .....
by V Krishna Ananth
March 21, 1977, was indeed an important day in the history of independent
India. The last of the results to the general elections, held during the
previous week, were out quite early in the morning that day. And Indira
Gandhi, her son Sanjay Gandhi, V.C. Shukla, Bansi Lal, Pranab Mukherjee,
Om Mehta and such others who had presided over the semifascist Emergency
regime had lost the elections. .....
by B. Raman
In a statement made after the July, 2005, blasts in London organised by
suicide terrorists of Pakistani origin, Mr. Tony Blair, the then British
Prime Minister, spoke of the need to counter jihadi terrorism not only
operationally through better intelligence, better physical security, better
counter-terrorism operations etc, but also ideologically in order to draw
the attention of the public to the pernicious ideas being spread by Al
Qaeda and pro-Al Qaeda jihadi organisations and counter them energetically.
.....
by Vinod Kumar
Many historians today contend that "Aurangzeb did not indiscriminately
destroy Hindu temples, as he is commonly believed to have done, and that
he directed the destruction of temples only when faced with insurgency.
This was almost certainly the case with the Keshava Rai temple in the
Mathura region, where the Jats rose in rebellion; and yet even this policy
of reprisal may have been modified, as Hindu temples in the Deccan were
seldom destroyed. .....
by The Indian Express
A city court criticised the Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday
for its failure to submit the report on a probe into the alleged role
of Congress leader Jagdish Tytler in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case. .....
by Suresh Khatta
Despite orders issued to marchers by the police not to leave the jurisdiction
of Kangra district, the 'March to Tibet' continued for the third day on
Wednesday. About 100 core marchers who had assembled at Dharamsala from
all over India to join the march include nuns, monks, elderly and youth
born in exile. They were accompanied by nearly a dozen foreigners, both
men and women. .....
by The Indian Express
Launching a scathing attack on the UPA Government, the BJP on Wednesday
called the Union Budget "communal" and compared Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh to Mughal ruler Aurangzeb for his alleged remarks that
Muslims had the first right over the state's resources. .....
by The Indian Express
CPI(M) members disrupted proceedings in the Rajya Sabha during zero hour,
demanding that the BJP should not be allowed to explain its position on
violence against CPI(M) offices in different parts of the country on Monday.
.....
by The Indian Express
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday observed that the only solution to stop
the "bloodshed" in Kannur district, where seven persons were
killed in CPI(M)-BJP clashes last week, was deployment of Central forces
by the Union Government. .....
by The Indian Express
The state Anti-Terrorism Squad on Tuesday night gunned down two suspected
Bangladeshi terrorists in Kashimira, and recovered explosive substance,
fake currency and two firearms from the duo. According to the ATS, Mohammed
Ali and another man were killed in an encounter between 9.15 pm and 9.30
pm. .....
by Anupam Dasgupta
At least six Bangladeshi operatives of the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI)
are believed to be hiding in Mumbai, according to specific inputs available
with Indian intelligence agencies. .....
by The Times of India
A gay teenager who possibly faces being hanged if sent back to Iran is
a step closer to being forced to returning, after the Netherlands followed
Britain in refusing his appeal for asylum. .....
by The Times of India
The Orissa government has lodged a protest with the Centre over Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi's secret visits to remote villages during his four-day
tour of the state, officials said on Tuesday. .....
by The Times of India
In its first encounter this year, the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) intercepted
and killed two alleged Bangladeshi terrorists in Kashimira near Mira Road
at about 9.15 pm on Tuesday. The men were carrying firearms, fake currency
of Rs 6 lakh and two kg of a powder, which was subsequently tested and
found to be RDX. .....
by The Indian Express
Hundreds of jubilant activists of bachat gats (self-help groups)
and women's organisations in Akurdi on Sunday celebrated what they described
as a "victory over evil." Sweets were distributed, procession
in celebration was taken out and slogans denouncing liquor and. liquor
vendors rent the air as the suburb of Akurdi came alive at a time when
hordes of citizens were, glued to their TV sets watching the India versus
Australia ODI. .....
by Aditya V Singh
Interrogations of the hawala racketeers arrested by the Special - Operation
Group of Rajouri Police divulged that hawala money re-covered was meant
for the top commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen militant outfit in J-K,
revealed official sources. The recoveries from the arrested persons included
hawala money worth Rs 1,14,000, two mobile phones and nine SIM cards -
eight of Airtel and one of BSNL. Besides, four sunglasses, one pair of
shoes, and articles of clothing were also recovered. .....
by Swati Bharadwaj-Chand
And if the Rs 900 crore turnover Ajanta-ORPAT group is alive and ticking
louder than ever, nearly 37 years after it first set up shop in 1971,
it's thanks to the thousands of women that keep the hands of time moving
smoothly in this small and dusty town in Saurashtra. Testifying to this
is the father of Indian wall clocks and founder of Ajanta-ORPAT group
Odhavji Raghavji Patel, "Without our women employees we wouldn't
have been able to achieve the distinction of being the biggest manufacturer
of wall clocks in the world.'' .....
by DP Bhattacharya
Like many others from the Koli community across several villages in the
Bhal region, Champaben from Khun village in Dhanduka taluka in Ahmedabad
district, got her daughter married off last year - but with a major difference.
Unlike others from the community, this daily wage earner refused to accept
money; traditionally due, to her as a bride price. .....
by The Indian Express
China on Sunday said it thwarted a planned terror attack on a passenger
aircraft that took off from the restive northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region, and also foiled a plot by militants to strike during the Beijing
Olympics. .....
by The Hindu
BJP on Sunday said it will raise the political violence in Kerala's Kannur
district in Parliament on Monday even as RSS warned it will not tolerate
attacks on its workers and will take the CPI(M) head-on. .....
by Kanchan Gupta
Artistic freedom in increasingly 'secular' India has come to mean the
right to denigrate Jesus Christ and Goddess Shakti, as was done by a callow
student of the fine arts faculty of Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda
last year. But permission to exhibit exquisite miniatures and firmans
related to Aurangzeb has been denied, because 15 Muslims and a bogus nawab
have demanded so. .....
by Saradindu Mukherji
Shyam Benegal, commenting on the fate of his magnum opus, Bose: The Forgotten
Hero, is reported to have said that his "film would have had a fair
chance, hadn't it been so poorly exploited. Imagine running a three-and-a-half-hour
film at 11 in night or at 10.30 in the morning. It had to sink".
.....
by SV Badri
Having read the first hand report by Shri Anjanasudan on the Police highhandedness
on the 06th March, 2008, a group of committed Hindus, under the leadership
of Smt Radha Rajan ji decided to meet with senior police officials in
Chennai, to register our protest and to seek their action on the personnel
involved. .....
by Presley Thomas
Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar is in Pakistan. And it is not India's claim. Interpol
Secretary General Ronald K. Noble dropped the bomb almost accidentally,
during a conversation with Hindustan Times. .....
by The Statesman
An art exhibition on the life of the Mughal emperor Aurangazeb was today
cancelled following directions from police after some Muslim individuals
objected to two paintings showing demolition of temples in Somnath and
Mathura on the ground that they would "disturb peace" in Tamil
Nadu. .....
by Vicky Nanjappa
The Deendar Anjuman sect first hit the headlines in the year 2000 when
it allegedly triggered off serial blasts in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and Goa at places of worship. Since then the sect has been under the watchful
eyes of cops. .....
by The Telegraph
The All India Muslim Personal Law Board has attacked the Centre for "toeing
the US line" on Iraq and Iran and improving ties with Israel. .....
by Subodh Ghildiyal
Congress may have played a strong hand on minority welfare in the populist
budget, but organising reservations for sections among minorities, which
it is keen on, may be difficult. .....
by Sify News
Demanding ouster of controversial writer Taslima Nasreen, the All India
Minority Forum today accused the government of trying to protect her though
she has hurt sentiments of Muslims in the country. .....
by Onkar Singh
Two decades ago Tarun Vijay was asked by then Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
sarsanghchalak Professor Rajendra Singh to edit Panchjanya, the RSS Hindi
weekly. It was a job Vijay accepted gleefully as it coincided with his
views of strengthening Hinduism. .....
by Kavita Suri
Kashmiri Pandits have alleged that the Muslim-majority government in Jammu
& Kashmir is ignoring illegal sale of Hindu temples properties in
the state. Less than 5,000 Kashmiri Pandits who live in the Kashmir valley
say that their resistance to sale of temple properties has exposed them
to threats from a very powerful land mafia. They alleged they have been
warned against protesting. .....
by Sanjeeb Bora
Vast areas of best cultivable land were settled on by the illegal immigrants,
other areas were acquired by them through trespass and all other valuable
vacant lands were being gradually swallowed up and converted into their
possessions. Assamese culture is at stake and it will definitely change
Assam demographically, if the influx from neighbouring Bangladesh is not
stopped immediately. It is a gloomy picture but then, it is a true picture.
.....
by The Economic Times
With the western border getting fenced and movement during winter becoming
impossible due to snow in the Kashmir valley, the outlawed anti-India
groups based in Pakistan are now trying to enter India through the comparatively
easy porous border with Bangladesh, said Additional Director General (ADG)
of Border Security Force (BSF), U K Bansal. .....
by Sify News
Maloy Krishna Dhar started life off as a junior reporter for Amrita Bazaar
Patrika in Calcutta and a part-time lecturer. He joined the Indian Police
Service in 1964 and was permanently seconded to the Intelligence Bureau.
.....
by Janet Levy
At a time when 40% of young Muslims in the United Kingdom want to impose
sharia law on the country and 36% favor executing apostates of Islam,
the head of the Church of England called for the selective application
of sharia law in Britain in the interest of social cohesion. .....
by Haran B.R.
The Madras High Court in its historic Judgment on the 19th of June 2007,
accepted the existence of the Manmade Rama Sethu and suggested the Government
of India to declare Rama Sethu as a "National Heritage Monument"
as per "The Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains
Act, 1958" and directed it to file a reply affidavit. .....
by Harit Mehta & Ashish Amin
Q.: Having silenced your critics in the recently-concluded elections,
what is the agenda of your government for the coming five years?
A.: In the previous term, we have been somewhat successful in taking brand
Gujarat to the international stage. As a result, foreign investors are
looking at Gujarat in a positive manner. We have given top priority to
creating infrastructure to cope with the heavy investment inflow. .....
by Tavleen Singh
The scariest religious institution I have ever been to is the Darul Uloom
in Deoband. In the hour I spent wandering about its grounds on my single
uninvited visit a couple of years ago I understood why it had inspired
the Taliban. It is an institution that remains frozen in seventh century
Arabia, a time when men were primitive and women got a primitive deal.
I saw one woman while I was there and she was veiled to the eyeballs.
.....
by Sudheendra Kulkarni
A young Muslim friend of mine, who works for a large Muslim organisation
and with whom I have been having fruitful interaction for some time, came
to me recently and said, "Of late, the BJP is talking a lot about
good governance, development and security. I have nothing against your
party's focus on good governance and development. .....
by P Venugopal
The UPA-led government may just lose all the popularity it purchased through
the Union Budget, thanks to its muddled handling of the sensitive Sethusamudram
project off the Rameswaram coast in Tamil Nadu. .....
by Rediff.com
International terrorist organisations have been using Indo-Bangladesh
border as their corridor for entering India, Additional Director General
of BSF (East) U K Bansal said on Friday. .....
by S Rajagopalan
Hindus in the US truly have something to brag about - they are the most
educated among all religious groups and have the second highest income
level, next only to the Jews. .....
by Malini Bhupta
Be it the biting cold in Mumbai this winter or the dastardly floods of
2005, global warming is making its presence felt. Even as governments
pay lip service to the need to retain the earth's green cover, individuals
continue to prove that every single effort counts. Like Hector Andrade's.
Head of department in philosophy at the Mahindra United World College
of India (MUWCI), Pune, Andrade decided to transform a barren 170-acre
campus into a flourishing green area. .....
by Rediff.com
Kiren Rijiju, the 36-year-old firebrand Member of Parliament representing
Arunachal Pradesh (West), does not share the government's and Indian Army's
perceptions about Chinese incursions in his border state. .....
by Sudheendra Kulkarni
A young Muslim friend of mine, who works for a large Muslim organisation
and with whom I have been having fruitful interaction for some time, came
to me recently and said, "Of late, the BJP is talking a lot about
good governance, development and security. I have nothing against your
party's focus on good governance and development. Indeed, I welcome it.
I am from Bihar and know how Laluji's 15-year misrule ruined my state.
.....
by Coomi Kapoor
There are at least eight ministers in Manmohan Singh's government who
have dual responsibilities. Along with their official duties, they have
to attend to important party work, since they are either office-bearers
or in charge of state units. .....
by Tavleen Singh
The scariest religious institution I have ever been to is the Darul Uloom
in Deoband. In the hour I spent wandering about its grounds on my single
uninvited visit a couple of years ago I understood why it had inspired
the Taliban. It is an institution that remains frozen in seventh century
Arabia, a time when men were primitive and women got a primitive deal.
I saw one woman while I was there and she was veiled to the eyeballs.
.....
by Satish Malavade and Bapu Deedwania
The humble uniform has become the bone of contention between the management
of Duruelo Convent School in Bandra (west) and a large section of parents.
The school has passed a directive barring students from wearing salwars
under their uniforms, comprising a knee-length skirt, on campus. .....
by Shishir Gupta with Nitin Mahajan
At a time when Naxalites and their sympathisers are trying to infiltrate
the industrial belts around Delhi, Mumbai, Pune and cities right up to
Jammu, new evidence suggests that they are also trying to build urban
guerrilla warfare capabilities like rigging remote-controlled explosives
devices in cars, even human bombs. .....
by Publications.Parliament.uk
There has been an exponential rise of militant Islam in Bangladesh under
the patronage of the ruling Islamic nationalist Prime Minister Begum Khaleda
Zia. The armed cadres of her own Islamic nationalist party, BNP, and her
Islamic extremist partners in the government, the Jamaat-E-Islami, and
Islamic Unity Council, along with other militant Islamists are conducting
barbaric atrocities against the countries dwindling minorities. .....
by Jonathan Watts
When seven white swans made a home on the Chaobai river in north-east
Beijing last year, it was hailed as an Olympic success story. Until a
few years ago, the waterway was so exploited that the bed was cracked
dry. .....
by N D Shiva Kumar
The radical techies, who work under the banner of MITA and turned the
Garden City into a web, are said to have several members of the banned
Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) working for them. .....
by N D Shiva Kumar
The IT city appears to have become a hub for radical techies. Under the
banner of the Muslim Information Technology Professionals' Association
(MITA), these techies are said to be networking and aiding radical groups.
.....
