by Joanna Sugden
Patheti Srinivasarao deals with 900 kilograms of human hair a day. He is in charge of the collection, categorization and sale of hair shaved from the heads of pilgrims at Sri Venkateswara Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh. ....
by Greaterkashmir.com
The civil and police administration is on tenterhooks following reports of thousands of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists having reached to Jammu to start the annual Amarnath Yatra from tomorrow in defiance of the government schedule of June 25. ....
by The Times of India
If you're ever in Buenos Aires don't forget to visit Groove, a trendy nightclub that should pleasantly surprise any Indian. Because at Groove you won't hear salsa or reggaton music, like you do at most such places, but instead soulful Sanskrit melodies that rent the air. ....
by Shyamlal Yadav
At least four judges have been denied “political clearance” by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for visits abroad in the past two years. They are Madhya Pradesh Lokayukta Justice P P Naolekar, Delhi Lokayukta Justice Manmohan Sarin, former Press Council of India chairman Justice G N Ray and Mumbai Metropolitan Magistrate Swati A Chauhan. ....
by Mihika Basu
Between 3,900 and 3,000 years ago, the Indus Valley civilisation—one of the world’s biggest civilisations, the size of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia put together—came to an end. Until now, there were no clear answers, only hypotheses. ....
by Narayani Ganesh
NEW YORK: How does a 5,000-year-old keep up with the times? Ask yoga. It would be no exaggeration to say that perhaps more than 5,000 interpretations of yoga are now practised around the world, in a process of re-invention that seems an organic feature of the ancient system whose USP is to strengthen the body and clear the mind. ....
by Samudra Gupta Kashyap
It was born the year before the ULFA in Assam. In September 1978, a handful of Manipuri youths led by N Biseshwar Singh travelled to China through Myanmar, got indoctrinated into Chinese communism and returned to form the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a name borrowed directly from China. ....
by The Times of India
Is India a dangerous place, particularly for foreigners? Every now and then, the western world seems to think so. A former US ambassador to India even wrote a book titled A Dangerous Place, with reference to his stint on the subcontinent. ....
by Minxin Pei
In spite of all those well-worn tales of oppression and defiance in repressive societies, the story of Chen Guangcheng, the blind, self-taught lawyer who made a daring nighttime escape from illegal house arrest to the American Embassy in Beijing in April, is too powerful and touching to be indifferent to. ....
by Mohit Kandhar
Under attack from various religious bodies over the issue of curtailed yatra period, the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) is wary of sharing the ‘real’ picture of the holy cave shrine located in Anantnag. ....
by VR Jayaraj
The Kerala CPI(M), already battered by allegations of involvement in several political killings, has suffered yet another blow with TK Rajeesh, one of the killers of rebel Marxist leader TP Chandrasekharan of Onchiyam in Kozhikode district, telling the police that the murder was carried out as per instructions of the party and that it was not a contract job. ....
by The Times of India
The National Council on Land Reforms (NLRC) is still to meet four years after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced its constitution to placate angry tribals who had walked to the national capital from Madhya Pradesh to protest against land acquisition. ....
by Sandhya Jain
By suddenly inviting debate on the interlocutors report on Jammu and Kashmir, especially its startling suggestion to restore the State’s pre-1953 status, the Congress Party has virtually disowned the actions of its longest serving Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, thus diminishing the legitimacy and stature of the political dynasty descended from him. ....
by Samudra Gupta Kashyap
It was born the year before the ULFA in Assam. In September 1978, a handful of Manipuri youths led by N Biseshwar Singh travelled to China through Myanmar, got indoctrinated into Chinese communism and returned to form the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), a name borrowed directly from China. ....
by Shivaji Sarkar
A large chunk of the country’s GDP depends on the domestic economy. The euro crisis and the rise of the dollar as a result cannot become the compelling reasons for the downslide in India. Fiscal mismanagement by the UPA is the primary cause ....
by Viju Sidhwani
Hindus have remained a minority in Pakistan since the creation of the country in 1947 when India was partitioned into two separate countries: a new India and Pakistan. Since its inception Pakistan has struggled with supporting a democratic government from being overtaken by a military dictatorship, sectarian violence, and harsh treatment of its minorities including Hindus, Shias, Christians, Sikhs, and several other communities. ....
by Claude Arpi
Sydney Wignall had in the mid-fifties reported to Indian authorities on the roads being built by the Chinese along the border. He was rebuffed. ....
by The Hindu
The election of P. Chidambaram from the Sivaganga Lok Sabha constituency in the 2009 general election was contentious and controversial for more than one reason. ....
by Shri Arunkumar Ji
Majority of ordinary Indians are emotionally attached to J&K and want it as an integral part of Bharat. Most of the intellectuals in India are in a defeatist mood and suggest that we should leave Kashmir and move on. The year 2012 is the year of Bharat in J&K. We had two such situations earlier as well when the J&K could have been easily integrated with Bharat. ....
by Dhananjay Mahapatra
The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said it cannot entertain Centre's plea for stay of Andhra Pradesh high court's order quashing 4.5% minority sub-quota for admissions and jobs within 27% Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation unless the government produces material to show a detailed exercise was undertaken to carve out the sub-quota. ....
by VHP.org
In a landmark rendition today the Hon Supreme Court of India warned the Union Govt that it could even reject admitting its appeal challenging Andhra High Court decision to reject 4.5% Muslim Quota from OBC 27%. The Union Govt had filed the reports of Sachhar Committee & Rangnath Mishr Commission & other sundry reports as the basis for the 4.5% Muslim quota. ....
by Prashant Rupera
Not knowing about Lothal or Dholavira can be blasphemous. But you could be pardoned if you haven't heard of Dayabhai no dhoro, Dhrosan timba, Vadhi Vala Khetar, Gorivatano timbo. These are just a few of the 750 Indus Valley civilization sites spread across Gujarat. ....
by Andy Blunden
War has at length been declared. The Royal Message was read yesterday in both Houses of Parliament; by Lord Aberdeen in the Lords, and by Lord J. Russell in the Commons. It describes the measures about to be taken as “active steps to oppose the encroachments of Russia upon Turkey.” ....
by Dr Pravin Togadia
Religion based reservations are unconstitutional as many HCs have given judgments to this regard. 4.5% reservation to Muslims is religion based reservation. ....
by Dr. Surendra Jain
The Amarnath pilgrimage undertaken by lakhs of Hindus is no doubt an important pilgrimage of the Hindus, at the same time, it has also become the symbol of nationalism. A miniature India is created every year when Hindus from every nook and corner of the country land at Amarnath for the pilgrimage. ....
by R. Upadhyay
The May 28 order of the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashing the decision of Union Cabinet on 4.5% minority sub-quota within the existing 27% reservation in government jobs and admission in educational institutions for the OBC has revived the protracted debate on the issue of reservation for Muslims. ....
by Muthuraman
A rejoinder to an article titled “Gujarat: Myth and Reality” authored by Dr. Bhalchandra Mungekar, a Congress-nominated Rajya Sabha MP and former Member of Planning Commission. ....
by Immaculate Wanyenze
First, the foul smell of bat droppings that engulfs the school environment is distressing while the heap of rubbish behind the wooden classrooms is disheartening. The toilets are a sight; in most cases, the pupils urinate outside and simply rush to class without washing their hands – there’s no water. ....
by The Hindu
Bhavani Mandapam atop Indrakeeladri reverberated with the chants of ‘Om Namah Sivaya Siddham Namha' on the occasion of mass ‘aksharabhyasam' organised by the Sri Durga Malleswara Swamyvarla Devasthanam here on Wednesday. ....
by The Indian Express
Leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), Jayant Patel came out in support of the controversial ex BJP leader Sanjay Joshi saying that Joshi had been treated badly by an almost Hitler-like Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Further he added that the posters put up in support of Joshi by the NCP were done just to make the people aware of the discrimination towards Joshi, and to expose the authoritarian rule of Modi. ....
by Hinduismtoday.com
From the outside it looks like an ordinary old school, but when you move inside the gymnasium of the former Vallensved School of Naestved, it's buzzing with activities. ....
by The Hindu
Chief Minister Jayalalithaa on Monday presided over a mass marriage ceremony at Tiruverkadu, a temple town on the outskirts of Chennai. The event, organised by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR&CE) department is the fifth mega event of this kind held under her government, including those held under previous AIADMK regimes. ....
by Prakash
The Airport Authority of India (AAI) has purchased eight paintings of Elizabeth Antony, wife of defence minister A K Antony, for an undisclosed sum and intends to display the paintings at select airports in the country. ....
by Hari Om
National Commission for Minorities chairman Wajahat Habibullah was in Srinagar on Sunday, 17 June, to take part in a seminar on “Jammu and Kashmir and the Federal Models of Shared Sovereignty”, organized by the Political Science Department of Kashmir University in collaboration with the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation. ....
by IBNLive.com
Asian Americans are the highest-income, best-educated and fastest-growing racial group in the US with Indian Americans leading them all in their levels of income and education, according to a new survey. ....
by R Jagannathan
Since the media has made a meal out of the Narendra Modi-Nitish Kumar rivalry, one can leave that issue to the people of India to settle in the next round of general elections. ....
by Bhim Singh
The criminal silence of the Congress leadership on the highly provocative and vicious 179-page report of three interlocutors submitted to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in October 2011 is an alarming signal vis-à-vis the future constitutional relationship of Jammu & Kashmir with the rest of the country. ....
by Ravi Shankar
Once upon a time there was a self-important frog. He chanced upon a huge bull. The frog began to puff himself up so much that he exploded. The self-importance of Nitish Kumar, who fancies himself as the next PM, makes him huff and puff against Narendra Modi. ....
by Sarah Jacob
Like most island nations, very little in Cuba gets going before 10 am. Unless you happen to walk into the Vidya Yoga centre in Havana. Cuban's of all ages and gender are busy down-dogging and being cobras. ....
by G S Tripathi
The Rath Yatra of Puri is celebrated worldwide. It is the journey of Lord Jagannath, along with brother Balabhadra and sister Subhadra from their abode, Shreemandir, to the Gundicha temple. There is no precedence anywhere else where the presiding deity comes out of the main temple and goes on an annual vacation to his parental place. ....
by Mediacrooks.com
On June 15 Rahul Kanwal of Headlines Today conducted a public debate on the Lokpal bill. It was titled ‘Team Anna Vs Govt’. Not very appropriate since the supposed Govt. side had journalists Tavleen Singh and a noisy Shoma Chaudhary from Tehelka, and they surely don’t represent the government. ....
by Tavleen Singh
Now that the Chief Minister of Bihar has dragged ‘succularism’ into the political discourse, it is time to deconstruct it so that we can end this pointless debate once and for all. I have deliberately misspelt the word because when said in Hindi that is how it is usually pronounced. ....
by G V L Narasimha Rao
Muslims have never voted for the BJP in any parliamentary election. Even when Atal Bihari Vajpayee was projected as the prime minister, Muslims opposed the BJP. So, presenting a liberal face for the sake of blunting the Muslim opposition is not such a great idea, says G V L Narasimha Rao. ....
by Surendra Kumar
The indictment of Rajat Gupta for insider trading by a tearful 12-member jury comprising eight women and four men has not only shocked his family but the entire three-million strong Indian-American community and hundreds of his admirers world over. ....
by Aame.in
The Mainstream Media [MSM] in India has, as of 27th August 2011, been on a spree of unrelenting, unceasing coverage of a fast undertaken by a gentleman named Anna Hazare. For the past 12-odd days, beamed through the airways into our living rooms is a macabre spectacle of a septuagenarian man killing himself slowly via a self-imposed starvation ....
by Venky Vembu
When news broke on Tuesday that Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had signed the order of release of Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in acts of terror in 1990, it had all the ingredients of a sepia-tinted, cross-border made-in-Bollywood story. ....
by Praveen Swami
Late in 2009, Pakistan’s army chief laid out his vision for the nation’s future to an audience of policemen in Peshawar. “Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam by our forefathers,” General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani said, “and each one of us should work for strengthening the country and should make a commitment towards achieving the goal of turning the country into a true Islamic state.” ....
by Subhomoy Bhattacharjee
Rating agencies are not particularly adept at navigating the depths of the Indian government’s accounts. Otherwise they should have been curious why, in just four years, New Delhi’s uncovered liabilities have more than doubled to Rs 29,06,065 crore. ....
by Blog.lkadvani.in
Politicians are generally critical of media persons. It is, however, rare that media men themselves ridicule their own fraternity for indulging in political criticism not because it is justified but because even while realizing that the criticism is uninformed and superficial, the write ups do add up to “lazy copy”. ....
by Dr. Pravin Togadia
Today Hon Supreme Court has lambasted the Union Govt for 4.5% quota given exclusively to Muslims by snatching from 27% OBC quota. Union Govt has gone to Supreme Court in an appeal in a great hurry against Andhra HC decision against 4.5% quota to Muslims. ....
by The Hindu
In an unprecedented broadside at the UPA-II government's style of functioning, global rating agency Standard and Poor's (S&P) on Monday pointed to the operational roles of Congress president Sonia Gandhi and “unelected” Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister for the current economic impasse and threatened to downgrade India's sovereign credit rating to ‘speculative' from the lowest notch of ‘investment' grade. ....
by Daily News & Analysis
Citing division of roles between Sonia Gandhi and 'unelected' Manmohan Singh, global agency Standard and Poor's on Monday threatened to downgrade India's credit rating on projections which were totally rejected by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. ....
by Kaveree Bamzai
The mercurial Congressman T. Subbarami Reddy, 68, has moved from bizarre to ridiculous. He wore an Arab dress while campaigning for the June 12 by-election to the Lok Sabha from Nellore. His opponent, Mekapati Rajamohan Reddy, who resigned the seat to contest again on a YSR Congress ticket, is likely to win. ....
by India Today
In a surprise turn of events, presidential hopeful P.A. Sangma has decided not to contest the election scheduled next month. Instead, the NCP leader articulated his support for former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam for the post of President. ....
by Tehelka
When the phenomenally regressive Delhi High Court judgment was passed on 9 May stating that a 15-year-old Muslim girl’s marriage was legal, the All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) was the first to hail it. ....
by Kanchan Gupta
The Congress is set to win the presidential election. But it will be a pyrrhic victory at best. Meanwhile, Pranab babu won’t have to carry the can for UPA’s monumental follies ....
by Dr Jay Dubashi
The Wall itself was an ugly structure, which only communists can put up. It was an eyesore right in the midst of one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. When I climbed the Wall and stood on top, I could see East German soldiers patrolling beneath us, with drawn bayonets. ....
by Mateen Hafeez
The Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) has, for the first time, said that Indian Mujahideen (IM) is a creation of Pakistan's Inter Service Intelligence (ISI). This was mentioned in the 13/7 triple blasts chargesheet. This is the first time that any police agency in the country has openly said that IM has been created by the ISI. ....
by Shailaja Tripathi
At times, he has stepped out of his role to do something more extraordinary, like setting up temporary schools for the children of restoration workers and labourers engaged at various sites in Delhi, like the Tughlakabad Fort, Adilabad Fort and Humayun's Tomb. Ask him if the practice will continue, and he responds, “I don't know. ....
by Santosh Singh
About a kilometre and a half from the historical village of Vaishali in Bihar, archaeologists and a team of local villagers are digging deep into its past. ....
by Kapil Bajaj
How Manmohan used the PMO, Planning Commission, various ministries, and public funds to promote former Mckinsey boss Gupta’s Indian ventures ....
by Shreya Biswas
Eight hundred IIT aspirants from the other backward classes (OBC), who made it past the Joint Entrance Exams, have stopped short of pressing their claim for the coveted admissions this year. This is a direct fallout of the JEE Committee slamming down on fake certificates. JEE is the body that administers joint entrance exams for all IITs and a few other institutes. ....
by IBNLive.com
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama said on Wednesday resuming talks with China on his homeland's future was futile unless it adopted a "realistic" stance. ....
by Bhim Singh
The criminal silence of the Congress leadership on the highly provocative and vicious 179-page report of three interlocutors submitted to Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram in October 2011 is an alarming signal vis-à-vis the future constitutional relationship of Jammu & Kashmir with the rest of the country. ....
by Rasheed Khalid
German scholar Professor Hugh van Skyhawk has said that the subcontinent under Hindu kings was not ruled via power divinely invested in a royal crown nor in a sceptre but in a sword, then the most powerful sword and symbol of power anywhere in the world, which is now held by a Pakistani young man. ....
by Rajinder Puri
Finance minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee does not utter lies. He speaks half truths. Regarding black money stashed in foreign banks, he told the media that secrecy had to be maintained in accordance with the provisions of the Double Taxation Treaty signed by the Indian government with 23 other countries. ....
by Shobhan Saxena
Andre Correa do Lago, Brazil's chief negotiator at Rio+20, led the team which prepared the final draft of 'The Future We Want', the new blueprint for sustainable development that was adopted by the UN summit on Friday. The diplomat tells Shobhan Saxena that close work by India, China and Brazil got a good deal for the G-77 group of developing countries at the crucial meeting. ....
by G Parthasarathy
Both these imperial buildings are now seen as centres where Ministers and Ministries leak information that reflects poorly on Governmental functioning, and sometimes portrays petty personal rivalries between persons who occupy high offices. ....
by Sue Reid
Ghulam is a taxi-driver who lives in Blackburn, a once booming textile town in Lancashire. He has a terrace house near his local mosque (one of 53 in the area), a silver Nissan car and a very complex private life. ....
by The Times of India
The JD(U) on Saturday rebuffed party leader Shivanand Tiwari’s remark absolving the UPA and finance minister Pranab Mukherjee of responsibility for the economic slide, and sought to play down the rift perception with the BJP. ....
by IBNLive.com
The Delhi Police has arrested suspected key 26/11 Mumbai attacks plotter Abu Hamza at the Indira Gandhi International airport. Sources say Hamza was arrested at Delhi's IGI airport on being deported from Saudi Arabia on India's request. His arrest being called the most significant development in the case since Ajmal Kasab's arrest. ....
by The Indian Express
A special court here today framed charges against Union Minister for Small, Micro and Medium Industries Virbhadra Singh and his wife Pratibha Singh in a 23-year-old graft case. ....
by Business-Standard
The ashes of renowned Indologist and Vedic scholar Frits Staal, who died in Thailand recently, have been immersed in the waters of the Bharathapuzha in Malappuram district, as per his wishes. ....
by The Indian Express
LeT terrorist Syed Zabiuddin alias Abu Jundal aka Abu Hamza, who was arrested by Delhi Police, has admitted his active role in the 26/11 attack saying he had worked in close tandem with terror mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. ....
by Deepshika Punj and Ajay Kumar
Nalanda University, a prestigious project of the UPA government, is yet to take off. It has been marred by irregularities and nepotism. In the centre of the storm is the newly appointed Vice Chancellor, Dr Gopa Sabharwal. ....
by Surendra Kumar
The indictment of Rajat Gupta for insider trading by a tearful 12-member jury comprising eight women and four men has not only shocked his family but the entire three-million strong Indian-American community and hundreds of his admirers world over. ....
by Virendra Kapoor
If Nitish Kumar is calling Narendra Modi names to endear himself to the minorities, or for severing ties with the BJP, he ought to be most welcome. The problem with the BJP is that in the face of persistent abuse that it is communal, it has developed an inferiority complex, forcing it to be on the defensive, says Virendra Kapoor. ....
by Rediff.com
Dismissing the interlocutors report on the state of Jammu and Kashmir and questioning the credentials of the interlocutors, National Convener of Jammu Kashmir Study Center, a Jammu-based research group, Arun Kumar, says that the report only captures the perception of the country. ....
by The Indian Express
Marathwada region, from where the arrested LeT handler of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, Abu Jundal hails, is fast becoming the "new Pakistan", Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray said today. ....
by The Times of India
Pakistan's interior ministry chief Rehman Malik today rejected home minister P Chidambaram's assertion of "state support" to the terrorists behind 26/11 massacre, saying ISI was a target of "propaganda campaign". ....
by Shalini Nair
The Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) has decided to revoke the controversial allotment of 39 public housing plots in land-starved Mumbai to politicians, their educational or charitable trusts, and even some real estate firms, among others. ....
by Neeraj Chauhan
After 26/11, when pressure mounted on Pakistan to arrest Lashkar-e-Taiba's operations chief Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi from a camp near Muzaffarabad in PoK, Lashkar's Indian hand Abu Jundal was let off on the intervention of ISI officials despite being present at the spot. ....
by Navjeevan Gopal
Freed after a high decibel drama following Pakistan’s alleged flip-flop of first announcing the release of Indian prisoner Sarabjit Singh and later clarifying that it was Surjeet Singh who was to be repatriated, Surjeet Singh — who on Thursday crossed over to India from Pakistan after spending more than 30 years in prison — claimed that Sarabjit had “converted to Islam” and was now known as “Sarfaraz” in Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. ...
