'Pub culture? What is that? Don't call it pub culture. Going to a pub is a habit and it can never be part of a culture. Like some people like gambling, some like hanging out in pubs,' says National Commission for Women member Nirmala Venkatesh.
In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Karnataka Home Minister Dr V S Acharya claims that the BJP government acted swiftly and firmly against the culprits involved in the Mangalore attack.
Right-wing outfit Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik has moved the Goa bench of Bombay high court seeking to set aside a ban imposed by the authorities on his entry into the state.
'Friends, Indians, countrywomen... lend me your thongs.' The clarion-call has gone out, and every woman I know with half an online presence is championing the cause of the awesomely named Consortium Of Pubgoing, Loose and Forward Women, an organisation that essentially wants to give the Sri Ram Sena some love -- and what better way to do that then send them something pink and lacy?
Shri Ram Sene Legal Advisor Dinaker Shetty puts across his version of the Mangalore attack. He says that his outfit is not upset about the mission they have embarked upon, but the manner in which it was carried out.
Atul Anjan claimed such ads promoted sexuality and ruined people's sensibilities.
'Ram Sene or Bajrang Dal were supposed to be fringe elements, but with the BJP in power, they have become mainstream elements.' 'The government is either keeping quiet or indirectly supporting them.'
"No one questioned the Congress government's failure. Instead, they are asking why is Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi silent and not speaking on Gauri Lankesh's death. Many wanted PM Modi to react after Gauri Lankesh's death. Why should Modi react if some dog dies in Karnataka?"
A strong demand was made in the Rajya Sabha today to proscribe organisations like the Sri Ram Sene, which have been indulging in moral policing in Karnataka and threatened to disrupt the Valentine's Day celebrations.
The bullets in both cases 'have been fired through a single country made pistol chambered for 7.65 mm caliber pistol cartridges', a source said quoting the report.
The Sri Ram Sena, which hit the headlines after its activists attacked girls in a pub in Mangalore recently, on Saturday said that false allegations were leveled against the outfit about its involvement in the alleged abduction of the daughter of a Kerala Member of Legislative Assembly on Friday night.
Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, who earlier on Thursday apologised for the use of word `negro' in a written reply in the legislative assembly, accused that senior journalist Tarun Tejpal might be behind the coverage of the issue.
Days after a minister in the Manohar Parrikar-led government set off a controversy by denouncing "pub culture", a Bharatiya Janata Party leader has invoked mythology saying "pub and liquor are very much part of Indian culture" and opposed any move to ban them in the name of culture and religion.
There were reports of such incidents at temples in various places including Bengaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Yadgir, Mandya and Kolar among other places.
This time, Bajrang Dal 'activists' object to lady students traveling on a study trip.
The Goa-based marine engineer booked for anti-Narendra Modi remarks on Facebook on Saturday said his post was a reaction to BJP inducting controversial right wing leader Pramod Muthalik into the party, and maintained the issue had been blown out of proportion.
BJP asks Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah not to grant permission for Benny Hinn's prayer meet, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
In the backdrop of threats by the Sri Ram Sene to disrupt Valentine's day celebrations and marry off couples dating on the day, police have beefed up security in Bangalore and kept leaders of the outfit under the scanner. Leaders of outfits like Sri Ram Sene and Rashtriya Hindu Sene are under the scanner. "We are keeping a close watch on their activities,' the additional director general of police-law and order, R Infant told PTI in Bangalore.
A fresh controversy erupted in the Bharatiya Janata Party with senior leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi making an angry outburst against induction of expelled Janata Dal-United leader Sabir Ali whom he called a "friend" of terrorist Yasin Bhatkal and mocked that Dawood Ibrahim could be the next entrant.
A highly-placed source in the BJP told Rediff.com, "Just as the Sangh dislikes the pseudo-secularism of the Congress, the Sangh also has a distaste for the pseudo Hindutva that the BJP is trying to practise in maddening race for power."
Raking up the snoopgate scandal allegedly involving Narendra Modi, the Congress on Monday wondered if women of the country would like to have a person like Modi in their households, who is known for his "anti-women attitude".
It will be tough for the Congress leader to return to the Upper House from either Telangana or Andhra, where the party's presence has dwindled. But neither House will forget her.
The Bharatiya Janata Party was forced to eat the humble pie for a second time in a week. The BJP on Saturday cancelled the membership of controversial former Janata Dal-United MP Sabir Ali.
Controversy at the Pejawar Mutt -- an integral part of the VHP and the Ram temple movement -- forces PM to stay away.
The extremist outfit has a tainted past and has been entangled in different legal cases for extortion, rioting and instigating violence
'It would be a folly on our part to believe that the KKK or its Indian version exists only as some dedicated organisation. Rather, the Indian KKK, much like the American counterpart, exists as a fragmented and amorphous collection of independent groups and individuals,' says Shehzad Poonawalla.
If people respect our culture and interests, why should anyone become more regressive? Education will not be saffronised. Just the correct picture will be portrayed and facts not distorted.' Dr Dinanath Batra, who successfully litigated to have Penguin withdraw copies of Wendy Doniger's book on Hinduism, tells Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa what India will be like if the BJP under Narendra Modi forms the next government.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sushma Swaraj is a fighter who follows her own code. Those who think she's a pushover are making a mistake, says Aditi Phadnis
'She really doesn't care if she is called heartless.' 'For her, the job needs to be done. That's all that matters.'
Sushma Swaraj has fought battles fearlessly, lost a few, and won many. By rights, according to many, she is the one who should have been declared the Bharatiya Janata Party's prime ministerial candidate for this year's general elections. But that didn't happen. Is that why she is so quiet these days?
Nathuram Godse's nephew and niece in Pune see him as a devout nationalist, not a contract killer.
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