The State Investigation Agency (SIA) has reopened investigation into the 1998 Wandhama massacre in Jammu and Kashmir's Ganderbal district, where 23 Kashmiri Pandits were shot dead by terrorists, officials said on Tuesday.
Aamir Khan's comments that his 3 Idiots character Phunsukh Wangdu was not based on Sonam Wangchuk has triggered reactions from politicians, activists and social media users, with some accusing the actor of distancing himself from the educationist, who is currently on a hunger strike.
Educator and climate activist Sonam Wangchuk's indefinite hunger strike has entered its 20th day, with doctors warning of his critical health condition. Despite this, Wangchuk is resolute in his call for a peaceful march to Parliament on July 20, coinciding with the Monsoon Session's opening, to protest alleged examination irregularities and demand the Union education minister's resignation.
The failure of the State when it directly affects our lives, through a corrupt exam system, has produced this current anger, points out Aakar Patel.
The youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) announced plans for a protest at Jantar Mantar on June 20, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak controversy. The party highlighted student suicides linked to the issue and called for compensation for affected families.
Balbir Punj, a former Rajya Sabha MP, journalist, and BJP leader, has died at the age of 76. Tributes have poured in from prominent leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, recognising his contributions to the party and the world of media.
Dr Subhash Kashyap not only enhanced Parliament's image in India and abroad, but also the position of Lok Sabha secretary-general which succeeding secretary-generals have upheld thorough neutrality, objectivity and high degree of professionalism, notes Rup Narayan Das.
The BJP, especially in its current edition under the prime minister, is clear that it seeks total exclusion of India's largest minority against whom it holds historical resentment, points out Aakar Patel.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
'The culture of mankind has been spread by the travel gene which pushes one in five people to have the curiosity to move to unknown destinations.'
The Washington Post Guild, the union for staff members, had appealed to the public to send a message to Bezos: "Enough is enough. Without the staff of The Washington Post, there is no Washington Post."
It is shameful that Kashmir Times has been attacked in the way it has and that Anuradha Bhasin has not found more voices to speak in support of her and her paper, points out Aakar Patel.
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
Bookstore owners were cautioned against keeping or distributing the books. Police personnel briefed the bookstore owners about the legal consequences of violating the ban.
The stock and bond markets told Trump firmly that any idea of isolating China would lead to harming the US economy and this forced Trump to backtrack, points out Aakar Patel.
Razvi claimed that the film portrayed Emperor Aurangzeb in a manner that provoked Hindu youths.
'As we read and assess what is going on around us in the India of 2025, it is instructive to do this through the lens of 75 years ago and the events that led to the formation of the BJP as we know it,' recalls Aakar Patel.
Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said the biggest test of democracy is that the ruler tolerates even the strongest opinion against him, and it leads to introspection.
Vijay, with his chief ministerial ambitions, is a one-man army, at least as of now, and his campaign team considers him omnipresent. He has to be present in all districts, if not all constituencies at the same time, as there is no second-line leader or platform speaker in the party, who can draw crowds, points out N Sathiya Moorthy.
Jayant Narlikar wrote alternative what-if histories, explained difficult scientific theories with funny analogies, and leavened his lectures with jokes and humorous asides.
We have entered a new era in human history, asserts Aakar Patel.
'The writer remains the most creative force in the process.' 'Producers need to be inventive in how they reward good writing.'
There is no guarantee that if we speak in only Indian languages, all our faults will be washed away and India will shine. Why then do they bully and belittle the English-speaking? asks Shyam G Menon.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Mahayuti government in Maharashtra on December 5. BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis is considered the frontrunner for the chief minister's post, with the BJP having recorded its best-ever electoral performance in the state. The Mahayuti coalition includes Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party.
It will be interesting to see what shifts have been recorded in the last decade-and-a-half -- from the effects of demonetisation and Covid's second wave to the drop in fertility and increase in farm workers -- but we will only know this if and when the Census is conducted, points out Aakar Patel.
'They just showed riots created by some political party. They never mentioned the name of the place or the political party.' 'I don't know why these people are agitated.'
'Parents are forced to provide their children to Russian re-education camps in occupied territories and in different parts of Russia, for example, in Chechnya, where Ukrainian children wearing military uniform are taught to use weapons.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accused the Congress of practicing appeasement politics, saying the party's priority was "family first." He asserted that the BJP-led government operates on the principle of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas' (development for all) and prioritizes "nation first." Modi further criticized the Congress's approach to reservations, claiming it was aimed at creating divisions within the country. He highlighted the BJP's initiatives to empower marginalized communities, including the constitutional status to the OBC commission and the introduction of 10% reservation for economically backward groups.
We no longer have the ambition to rival China save through words. We are happy to be fighting ourselves and digging up disputes from centuries ago as a substitute for real development, argues Aakar Patel.
'If we truly wish to understand and apply Marx's insights today, we must reject the rigid dogmas that later 'Marxists' imposed in his name.'
Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday accused the writers, who returned their awards, of double standards saying they were selective in attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "growing intolerance" in the country and overlooked the Congress wrongdoings including Emergency in the past.
Apart from the prime minister, the three-day annual conference was attended by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, national security adviser Ajit Doval and about 350 top police officers of the country.
In the months immediately following the 2024 tragedy, reporting on the landslide per se had been a straightforward affair. On one side was death and destruction. On the other side, survivors and the business of survival. It was black and white. What direction to take was clear. Rehabilitation in comparison, felt like a complex situation. One that is fraught with shades of grey. As grey as human life, explains Shyam G Menon.
Prime Minister Modi described the DMK chief as a prolific thinker and a deep-rooted mass leader who stood for regional aspiration and national progress.
'As we enter 2025, it must be acknowledged that there is a convergence of capital, influential people (from business and politics) and technology deciding the destiny of others in the name of pride, patriotism, nationalism, nation building, all of it thinly veiled disguises for personal profit and glory,' asserts Shyam G Menon.
'It will be difficult to challenge Hindutva anymore as the police will have the power to charge you as anti-national.'
'...We should first look at and acknowledge what we have done to ourselves.' 'To not do so opens us to the accusation of rank hypocrisy and also reduces the stature of our globetrotting peaceniks,' asserts Aakar Patel.
'One of his most famous scenes is set in a prison in Delhi where the British try to subvert Karla, the legendary Soviet spy who is being transferred back to Moscow and is being temporarily detained by the Indian agencies.' Ambassador B S Prakash salutes John le Carre.
'Leave aside the negative fallouts of phraseology like 'urban Naxals' and 'terrorists', both the BJP and the Congress have to re-discover themselves in the context of the 2024 election results, including those of the upcoming ones for Maharashtra and Jharkhand,' observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
