The relative ranking of castes can vary across regions and localities and depends on a number of factors including control over land, wealth, and political power. Castes have often tried to 'upgrade' themselves (a process sociologists refer to as Sanskritization), and sometimes get 'downgraded'. A revealing excerpt from Upinder Singh's Ancient India: Culture Of Contradictions.
'All great players have to call time one day but his retiring makes me sad and brings back a lot of precious memories. He deserved a grand send-off but again he is beyond that'
Swati Maliwal will replace Barkha Shukla as the next chief of the Delhi commission for women.
The elephant in the room will permeate the conversations, predicts Rup Narayan Das.
Legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar said he will "continue to bat for India" in all spheres of life in his endeavour to bring smile on the faces of the common people.
Many Indian graduates today have neither the knowledge nor talent, which the industry needs. Hiring overseas professionals is inevitable, writes Thothathri Raman, chairman, SEAA Trust, New Delhi, the global accreditation advocacy and facilitation organisation.
'Tehran senses that the Modi government is inexorably gravitating toward the US-Israeli-Saudi axis, jettisoning India's traditional independent Gulf policies,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The Constitution is a terrific document, but it is also one that has suppressed the Hindu majoritarian sentiment. We are living through times when this suppression is being popularly rejected, notes Aakar Patel.
AAP's Okhla candidate Amanatullah Khan trounced his BJP rival Braham Singh by a margin of 71,827 votes. Shaheen Bagh and Jamia Nagar fall under the Okhla constituency.
Downplaying contentions that Narendra Modi has shored up his claim for Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate after Gujarat victory, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday said the chief minister faces a "bigger enemy within" and is a "dilemma" for his party and National Democratic Alliance leaders.
Olympic Silver medalist Mirabai Chani's feat is a story of grit, dedication and desire, but it isn't unique. In Manipur, discovers Vaibhav Raghunandan.
"We now realise that the so-called farmer agitation hardly remains a farmers' agitation. It has almost got infiltrated by Leftist and Maoist elements, a flavour of which we saw over the last two days when there were extraneous demands to release people who have been put behind bars for anti-national (and) who have been put behind bars for illegal activities," Goyal, the Minister for Railways, Commerce and Industry and Food and Consumers Affairs, said at FICCI's annual meeting.
Digital commerce operators advertising on global social media, which earlier did not pay Google tax on their operations in Jammu & Kashmir, may now have to cough it up at 6 per cent.
According to ISRO officials, Earth bound orbit is a phase during which the spacecraft will remain in the Earth's sphere of influence.
Personalities across the political spectrum and social sphere on Saturday condoled the death of Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray.
But to note how the states have become more proactive and aggressive in securing a larger say in an economic policy sphere that still largely remains the domain of the Union government.
In a blur of explosive motion, Marion Bartoli launched into a 101 mph serve and waited for the furry yellow sphere to hurtle back to her side of the court -- except it did not and with it came the sudden realisation that she was Wimbledon champion.
In his pre-departure statement, he said trade ties between India and Russia can increase even further, to benefit not only the two nations but also the world.
PM indirectly referred to North Korea's proliferation linkages with Pakistan.
'I do not agree that the intent was to send a political message to China that the US treats friends and foes alike.' 'In any case, such acts do not ruffle a feather in China,' observes Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
It's time Rahul Gandhi became attuned to the reality of the 21st century instead of recycling failed political jargon of the 20th century,' argues Virendra Kapoor.
During his South Africa visit, Modi will meet President Jacob Zuma and also Cyril Ramaphosa, the deputy president.
The BRICS Development Bank could become a World Bank in future due to the increasing influence of emerging countries, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management said on Wednesday.
It remains to be seen how this phenomenon of public activism will translate in the political sphere. Unless this outpouring of outrage over the Delhi gang-rape can be channelised politically, the change that many of us hanker for will not come. The crowds might be politically alive, but they are not politically aligned or active, says Sushant Sareen.
Setting a precedent of sorts, lawyers' body in Odisha's Kendrapara has made up its mind to stay away from defending people facing trial in cases like rape, molestation and eve-teasing.
Jewellery designer Mrinalini Chandra's latest collection was inspired by mathematics.
India on Sunday said China was more of a major concern than Pakistan given the power the Asian giant has to impact the country in various spheres. Noting that China was necessarily more important in terms of India's global vision and the ties between the two countries could impact the whole region, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid said as far as Pakistan was concerned, the impact was "more pacific".
That is not the sort of country many of us are happy to live in but we never gave another sort of country a chance, says Mihir S Sharma
Bhartiya Janata Party's top leadership has been trying to avoid queries on whether Payal Singh, wife of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, is joining the party. Omar and Payal been estranged for a while now. Payal is living separately in New Delhi at Akbar Road and is trying to find a footing in the political sphere.
'This pandemic has given him a new platform to perform,' says a member of the government. 'He should feel lucky that he has got an opportunity now to demonstrate to the world his original talent.' 'He needs a visionary script to perform.' Sheela Bhatt reports on the politics of the pandemic.
A small step in this direction was taken with making triple talaq a punishable offence in the last Parliament session. But UCC is difficult to implement, reports Archis Mohan.
One of India's greatest music legends, Pandit Jasraj leaves behind a storied legacy spanning almost eight decades.
The prime minister says he will bring real change to Bengal. Perhaps he will. The interesting thing is that his party has never defined what this change is, observes Aakar Patel.
When the prime minister met President Zardari in Tehran, 26/11 was clearly on the Indian leader's mind. Nikhil Lakshman reports from the Iranian capital.
If China can operate in India's backyard and systematically expand its influence, then there is no reason why India should feel diffident about operating in areas that China considers its own sphere of influence, argues Harsh V Pant as the Asia Security Summit convenes in Singapore.
Manipur is viewed in the rest of the country as a state dogged by insurgency where militants dictate terms in every spheres of life and most of its youth are associated with one of those secessionist insurgent outfits operating in the troubled far-flung state.
'The government allowed private hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients, so it should pay.'
Laal Kaptaan deserves a watch just for Saif's spunk, raves Prasanna D Zore.
The army is working on providing a safe and seamless exchange of data between various formations involved in fighting a modern war.
United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in opening the first-ever US-India Higher Education Summit at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, -- which she co-chaired with Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal -- declared that while collaboration in this sphere is a driving force in the strategic dialogue between Washington and New Delhi, whether it will ultimately succeed or not depends on those outside government -- academia, researchers, and business
