A local court in Ajmer has issued notices to the dargah committee, the Ministry of Minority Affairs, and the Archaeological Survey of India on a plea seeking to declare the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti a temple. The petition, filed in September, has sparked a heated debate, with politicians and community leaders weighing in on the potentially volatile issue. The dargah committee has declined to comment, but the Anjuman Syed Zadgan, a body representing the caretakers of the dargah, described the petition as a deliberate attempt to fracture society along communal lines. The petition comes just days after four people were killed in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh, following a local court ordering survey of a Mughal-era shrine. The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which fixed August 15, 1947, as the cut-off date for status quo on the character of religious places, is at the centre of much of the debate. Several politicians, including Union minister Giriraj Singh and PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, have weighed in on the issue. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has called the civil court's decision to entertain the petition unwarranted and has asked the Supreme Court to immediately intervene.
'Dharmendra, Shashi Kapoor and I were inseparable while we struggled together.' 'When a disillusioned Dharmendra was packing his bags to return home, I prevailed upon him to give himself two months.' 'Five days later, he was signed for Shola Aur Shabnam and I signed Picnic.'
Mumbai City FC secured a 2-0 victory over NorthEast United FC in an Indian Super League (ISL) match.
'No other leader in our history, or that of our neighbours, has been able to produce anything of the quality that Nehru did,' says Aakar Patel.
Perhaps because the Modi government had some differences of opinion with two of the economist governors (one of whom was appointed by the Manmohan Singh government), there is a view that its political leadership prefers a civil servant to head the RBI, notes A K Bhattacharya.
Elaborate arrangements including a special traffic plan have been chalked out for Maghi Purnima on Wednesday and health personnel have been put on alert for the occasion when the month-long 'kalpavas', an integral tradition of the Maha Kumbh, comes to an end.
The Indian National Congress, India's oldest political party, is moving from its longtime headquarters at 24 Akbar Road to a new building called Indira Gandhi Bhawan. The move marks the end of an era for the Congress, which has been headquartered at 24 Akbar Road for nearly 50 years.
A special website has also been created to mark the year-long celebrations, Union Culture Secretary Arunish Chawla told reporters during a briefing at the National Media Centre in New Delhi.
Kangana Ranaut's decline as an actor feels complete, observes Utkarsh Mishra.
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a key accused in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, was brought to India on Thursday after being "successfully extradited " from the US, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said. The 64-year-old Canadian citizen of Pakistani origin landed in Delhi in a special plane on Thursday evening, ending days of speculation of when and how he will be extradited, officials said. The NIA said in a statement that it had secured the successful extradition after years of sustained and concerted efforts to bring to justice the key conspirator behind the 2008 mayhem that claimed 166 lives. Rana is accused of conspiring with David Coleman Headley alias Daood Gilani, and operatives of designated terrorist organisations Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Harkat-ul-Jihadi Islami (HUJI) along with other Pakistan-based co-conspirators, to carry out the the three-day terror siege of India's financial capital.
'You have to separate the concept of India as a nation State which is very young and the Upanishadic wisdom which is timeless.'
This will be Virat Kohli's first Ranji Trophy match in 12 years.
The Indians felt that if they acceded to Chinese claims in Ladakh, Beijing would simply be emboldened to press for further concessions in the future. A revealing excerpt from India And The Cold War.
Times have changed, situations have changed, but the basic nature of superpower geo-politics remains the same and so also India's diplomacy -- call it non-alignment, strategic autonomy or neutrality; it all depends on the time scale, notes Rup Narayan Das.
I-League: Churchill Brothers send eight-man Shillong Lajong packing, climb to top
On his 125th birth anniversary, Congress leaders, President Pranab Mukherjee, Vice President Hamid Ansari and others paid tribute to India's first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
A body representing the 'Khadims' of the Ajmer dargah has condemned a plea in a local court that seeks to declare the shrine of Khawaja Gharib Nawaz as a temple, saying right-wing forces were trying to "isolate" Muslims and "disrupt" communal harmony in the country.
Arun Nehru's image of a political strategist, dealmaker and trouble shooter never allowed him to become a political leader of people, says Sheela Bhatt
Sitharaman, India's first full-time woman Finance Minister, broke away from the colonial tradition of carrying a Budget briefcase in July 2019, opting instead for a traditional 'bahi-khata', to carry the Union Budget papers.
Arpi deserves to be complimented for the commitment and hard work that have gone into this production. The frustrations of seeking reliable documentation from the catacombs of the Indian bureaucracy did not deter him from going after the best information available, and the result is one that he can take much satisfaction in. Ambassador Prabhat P Shukla, Member Advisory Council, Vivekananda International Foundation, reviews Claude Arpi's The End of an Era: India Exits Tibet.
Seven out of eight women street vendors reported experiencing high blood pressure, while women in the middle age group raised concerns about delays in their menstrual cycles due to the extreme heat.
Hyderabad FC snatched a late point against FC Goa after Allan de Souza Miranda's injury-time equaliser in the Indian Super League match, in which both teams were reduced to 10 men, in Margao, Goa, on Wednesday.
Rodriguez's brace powers Mohun Bagan Super Giant past 10-man Punjab FC
Huge tri-colour-themed banners have been put up along the Kartavya Path while the theme for this year's tableaux that would roll down the boulevard where the annual Republic Day celebrations take place is 'Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas', focusing on 75 years of the enactment of the Constitution.
On the occasion of the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru's 125th birth anniversary, Sheela Bhatt/Rediff.com visits his residence of 16 years, and comes away marvelling at his enduring legacy.
Punjab FC ended their seven-game winless streak in the Indian Super League (ISL) with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Bengaluru FC.
Students of class VIII in Rajasthan schools will no longer study the contribution of Jawaharlal Nehru in their social science textbook as references to the first prime minister have been dropped.
'India's first and longest-serving prime minister created -- or at the very least imagined -- a modern, democratic nation-State of the 20th century,' says Sunil Sethi.
Nehru, 69, a cousin of Rajiv Gandhi and Minister for Internal Security in his government, died in a hospital in Gurgaon, according to family sources.
An assistant animal keeper was injured after a lioness allegedly pounced on him at its enclosure in the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad, officials said on Tuesday.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday. He will be given a state funeral with full state honors at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his role in India's economic reforms. Leaders from across the political spectrum paid their respects to the departed leader, highlighting his contributions to the nation.
Brides and grooms are pulling out all the stops when it comes to wedding wear. Conventional is passé, observes Asmita Aggarwal.
Members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union allegedly got into an argument over the organising a programme at the student union hall in Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in New Delhi, police said on Monday.
'Both Nehru and Patel were thorough gentlemen and whatever their differences never disrespected each other.' 'Neither Modi nor Rahul Gandhi has much in them to claim such legacies.' 'They are symptomatic of the sad days that have befallen the nation midwifed and contemplated by Nehru and Patel,' says Mohan Guruswamy.
Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday rejected in Lok Sabha the claim by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury that he sat on Rabindranath Tagore's chair during his visit to Visva Bharati.
The PM said the Congress and its allies should not encourage the "Pakistan agenda" and speak the language of separatists.
The mortal remains of former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh were consigned to flames at the Nigambodh Ghat in New Delhi on Saturday amid the chanting of religious hymns. The funeral pyre was lit by his eldest daughter Upinder Singh.
'Delhi was not concerned.' 'It would continue sleeping for several more years, with the result that Indian territory is still occupied by China today,' says Claude Arpi.
It was good fortune for India to have Atal Bihari Vajpayee lead the government at a crucial moment in our history. He avoided India meeting the fate of Iraq or Ukraine, asserts military historian Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
