Almost all will say no. Then ask them why they don't push back at those who rise the slogan of Khalistan. Somebody would confront you with a counter-question: If people can talk of a Hindu Rashtra, why get so upset if others talk of a Sikh Nation, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The government has made arrangements for a special Air India flight to carry 300 Indians -- mainly women and children -- from Cairo, which has been rocked by violent protests for the past few days, to India. The arrangement for the special flight was made at the request of the Indian community in Egypt in view of the prevailing situation there, the external affairs ministry said in a statement. The arrangements are being coordinated by Indian Ambassador R Swaminathan.
Jeeva (48) was shot dead on the premises of a Lucknow court on Wednesday, police said. A policeman and a two-year-old girl were injured in the incident.
Severe cyclonic storm Michaung crossed south Andhra Pradesh coast close to Bapatla district between 12.30 pm and 2.30 pm on Tuesday with maximum gales of up to 90-100 km per hour speed, said an Amaravati Meteorological Centre official.
Here is the timeline of the disaster and the rescue efforts that followed.
The NIA had then said that Ramalingam was killed as he had "opposed the Dawah work of leaders of Popular Front of India who were converting Hindus into Islam."
Ahead of Valentine's Day, some right-wing organisations in Mangaluru have come out against the celebrations which they say are not in tune with India's culture and traditions.
Hitesh Harisinghani/Rediff.com captures some beautiful moments from the many events of 2023, when the stars weren't looking.
Choppers belonging to the Western Air Command carried out over 50 sorties over the last 48 hours, rescuing over 780 citizens in the flood-affected areas of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh, Indian Air Force officials said.
The competition for the worst or most perilous 10 years has always been between the 1960s and the 1980s, points out Shekhar Gupta.
The wrestlers protesting at the Jantar Mantar, about two kilometres from Parliament, said that they will go ahead with their 'Mahila Mahapanchayat' near the new building at any cost.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese will be on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Wednesday, during which they will watch the first day of the fourth Test match between the two countries at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad on March 9, officials said.
It was a muted Independence Day celebrations because of the dawn-to-dusk general strike called by multiple militant outfits and the loss of lives and property of hundreds of people over the last three months in the ethnic strife.
The arrests were made from different districts of Tripura by teams of Assam police's special task force, he said.
The best, wisest, and fairest next step in strengthening our own cause is to restore statehood to Jammu & Kashmir and allow the resumption of robust political activity. That's a box that remains unchecked on the Modi government's report card as we approach the fourth anniversary of Kashmir's Constitutional shift, notes Shekhar Gupta.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also issued instructions to book those found involved in facilitating cheating during examinations under the National Security Act, the statement said.
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has proposed to put a stop to the practice of certain directors occupying permanent board seats at listed companies. The regulator has suggested that the directorship of any individual serving on the board should be subject to periodic approval from shareholders, at least once in five years. In a discussion paper issued on Tuesday, Sebi said a few promoters enjoyed permanency on the board, giving them an undue advantage, prejudicial to the interests of public shareholders.
The government announced the decision apprehending spread of rumours through social media by anti-social elements ahead or during the rally called to be held on Monday.
Pakistan-India bilateral relations remained frozen for the fourth year over the vexed Kashmir issue but analysts hope the strained ties could be repaired if Nawaz Sharif becomes the prime minister for a record fourth time in the general elections in February in the absence of his main challenger Imran Khan who is in jail in multiple cases.
'Despite being Bihar chief minister twice and an MLA for over three decades, he and my mother used to stay in a jhopri in our village.'
The BJP at 43 is a work in progress, with total ideological continuity and much substantive change in political method and style, observes Shekhar Gupta.
Additional security personnel have been deployed on the ground and drones are being used for aerial surveillance, they said.
The parties reiterated that they are bound, wholly, by the contents of the 'Gupkar Declaration', a resolution issued after an all-party meeting on August 4, 2019 at the Gupkar residence of NC president Farooq Abdullah.
Khalistani separatist Lakhbir Singh alias 'Rode', a designated terrorist under the Indian law, has died recently in Pakistan, where he had taken refuge after his uncle Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was killed in 1984 during an army action, officials said on Tuesday.
The first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency will be held in Hyderabad on Saturday during which the party's top brass will deliberate on evolving a strategy for upcoming assembly polls in five states and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The World Photography Organisation has revealed the winners for the Sony World Photography Awards 2024.
A banned pro-Khalistan organisation has made threat calls to hundreds of people, including journalists, ahead of a crucial three-day G-20 meeting to be held in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar with an aim to "internationalise" the issue, officials said.
India has been mentioned in the report of the Secretary-General on Children and armed conflict since 2010 along with other countries of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lake Chad basin, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the Philippines for alleged recruitment and use of boys by armed groups in Jammu and Kashmir; detainment of boys by Indian security forces in J&K for their alleged association with armed groups, or on national security grounds.
Modi and Albanese also reiterated their shared ambition for an early conclusion of the ambitious Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that is expected to significantly expand bilateral trade ties.
The meeting of the 14-member all-important panel of the opposition will take place at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party leader Sharad Pawar in New Delhi on September 13 evening.
Big banners bearing messages like 'Dhanyawad Dilli' along with the image of the Aam Aadmi Party supremo were put up on Saturday in and around the venue ahead of the mega function which is 'open to public'.
The North East is a sizeable success story for the Modi government politically and for the BJP electorally. It will be an unpleasant surprise if they choose to blow it, bowing to their basic, polarising instinct at any point, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Gangster-politician Mukhtar Ansari's alleged aide Sanjeev Maheshwari Jeeva was shot dead on Lucknow court premises on Wednesday, the police said.
'On hard cases like this one, the Supreme Court has only episodically stood against Parliament and the executive government.' 'I worry that this decision sets a precedent where President's rule is imposed in another state... and during the operation of President's rule, the state is fundamentally altered.'
'Article 370 laid down the edifice of the relationship between J-K and the Union of India.' 'If you look at the Article, what is there now is a provision which states that all provisions of the Constitution of India applies to J-K.' 'The veto that the state could exercise previously on most Union laws has ended.'
The Democrats, especially the Biden administration, wanted to deliver a sharper message to Mr Modi than would be possible in a formal summit setting. So, why not get the most prominent Democrat in decades to deliver it?, explains Shekhar Gupta.
The BJP has played the social engineering card in Rajasthan with an eye on the Lok Sabha election where the party will try and retain all the 25 seats that it had won in the 2014 and 2019 elections.
Restoration of peace and the normal routine of daily life, compared to the past, stands out as its most significant achievement, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the veteran commentator on Kashmir affairs, four years after the abrogation of Article 370.
The Modi government finds itself in a contradiction of its own making. It has encouraged pro-Russian, Westophobic public sentiment while setting strategic policy that's exactly the opposite, points out Shekhar Gupta.
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