Islamic courts have started functioning in the Taliban stronghold of Swat in north-western Pakistan as per a peace deal signed by the government with militants in the restive region a month ago.
Catch up on all the events that shaped the world last week.
The Taliban in Pakistan's restive Swat valley received US $ 6 million in compensation from the government after agreeing to a ceasefire with security forces for an indefinite period, a media report said on Tuesday.
Two persons were killed and one critically injured in a shoot out at Tujjar in north Kashmir's Barahmulla district on Saturday. Witnesses claimed that troops of Rashtriya Rifles allegedly opened fire on a group of devotees who were returning after attending a local festival at the shrine of a Sufi saint in Tujjar. When queried about the incident, Kashmir Divisional Commissioner Masood Samoon told rediff.com, "We are ascertaining the details of the incident."
Pakistani authorities and the local Taliban have agreed to a ceasefire in the troubled Swat valley following peace talks between militants and religious hardliners, a top official said on Saturday. Syed Mohammad Javed, the commissioner for Malakand division which includes Swat, told reporters that the security forces and the Taliban would observe the truce. He made the announcement after meeting Maulana Sufi Mohammad, a hardline cleric who is negotiating with the militants.
Famed 13th century Sufi poet and philosopher Jalaluddin Rumi, who in the past has been called the Smiling Face of Islam, is set to receive recognition from the Qatar Foundation.
The release of Lashkar-e-Tayiba chief Hafeez Muhammad Saeed, hardcore Lal Masjid cleric Maulana Abdullah Aziz, and now Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammed chief Sufi Mohammad has cast serious doubts over Pakistan's claims that it is seriously acting against the Taliban and other home grown terror outfits, a senior US intelligence official has said.
In a country that listens only to film music, regional rock musicians are turning up the volume. Chandrima Pal tunes in.
Contradicting terrorist groups' claim that they were engaged in jihad in Kashmir, hard-line Pakistani cleric, who brokered a peace deal between Taliban and NWFP government, has said jihad is 'not mandatory' in the Indian state as people there are not demanding Sharia (Islamic law).
Heavily armed Taliban on Friday began pulling out from the strategic Buner town and were returning to their bastion in Swat valley after a deal was brokered by hardline cleric Sufi Mohammed, amid intense global pressure on Pakistan over the presence of militants so close to Islamabad.
'Having lived through cancer, through so many ups and downs, I'm not particularly attached to attention or success -- it's lovely if it's there, it's fine if it's not.'
Harshdeep Kaur from Sufi Ke Sultan was crowned the winner of NDTV Imagine's Lux Junoon Kuchh Kar Dikhaane Ka at its grand finale last weekend.
Four days after a peace pact was inked between religious hardliners and the North West Frontier Province government, leading cleric Maulana Sufi Mohammad is yet to make Taliban leaders accept the deal, to enforce Islamic laws in the violence-hit Swat valley.Mohammad, who has been holding talks with Taliban leaders, on Friday met its commander Maulana Fazlullah, who is his son-in-law, for direct talks as reports said the Taliban was demanding the withdrawal of security forces.
A hardliner religious leader led hundreds of his supporters in a peace march in the violence-hit north-western Swat valley in Pakistan on Wednesday apparently to convince the Taliban militants to honour a new pact reached with the government which envisages their laying down arms.
Deepak Chopra remembers his friend, Michael Jackson.
The new Lok Sabha will have 300 MPs who have been elected for the first time to the Lower House.
The agency filed the prosecution complaint under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act before a special court in Mumbai and said Naik's "inflammatory speeches and lectures have inspired and incited a number of Muslim youths in India to commit unlawful activities and terrorist acts."
Taliban forces in Pakistan have announced a ten-day ceasefire in the restive north western Swat valley, as peace talks between a senior cleric and local authorities are believed to have struck a deal to enforce Shariah laws in some parts of the region.The announcement of the truce came a day after a Chinese engineer, abducted by the Taliban six months back, was set free in Swat as a 'goodwill gesture'.
Ajmal's story is as much the story of hopeless poverty as of state failure as of recalcitrant regional hegemony as of misplaced concreteness.
Look at the wedding pictures!
First look on Bangladeshi leader offering prayers at the Ajmer shrine.
The Rajasthan police is interrogating some suspects, including pilgrims of Bangladeshi origin, in connection with the blast at the revered Sufi shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti at Ajmer where Friday prayers will go ahead as scheduled. Some suspects are being interrogated since Thursday night but no arrests have been made in connection with the blast which claimed two lives and left 17 injured, a senior official said.
To honour and support the cause of 'bauls', whose stringed 'ektara' is unique worldwide strumming up 'earthy' tunes embodying the soul of Bengal, we are bringing 80 'bauls' under the Rs 1,50,000 medical insurance scheme every year, Amitabha Samanta of Bolpur-based Sobuj Potro initiative, the name inspired by Tagore's confidant Promothonath Bisi's Sobujpotro, said.
Over 700 top United Nations officials, ambassadors, members of US Congress, and luminaries of different faiths paid tributes to spiritual guru Sri Chinmoy, who passed away last month.
The Rajasthan police have taken into custody a man from Chanda village here for interrogation in connection with the October 11 bomb blast at the shrine of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer, the police said.
Item numbers may just have risen a notch higher. After all, it's not everyday that we see Johnny Depp gyrating to one! If things go as planned, Depp may perform an item number for Mira Nair's Shantaram.
Harkat-ul-Jehadi Islami, a militant outfit based in Bangladesh, is suspected to be behind the blast at the Sufi shrine of Khwaja Mohiuddin Chisti at Ajmer. Shahid Bilal, based in Karachi, has emerged as a key suspect in the bomb attack that killed three persons and injured 28 others as the modus operandi was similar to that used in the Mecca Masjid blast at Hyderabad in May this year. The banned HuJI may have been supported by Jaish-e-Mohammed.
A bomb reportedly went off inside the famous shrine of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti in Ajmer on Thursday. Several people are believed to have been injured in the blast.
The meeting is seen as part of efforts by the RSS and the BJP to reach out to the Muslim community and send out a message of peace and harmony.
Veteran actor Mohan Joshi, Dasmodar Ganesh Bapat, who is working towards eradication of leprosy, and L Subadani Devi, Manipur-based weaver, were among those presented with Padma Shri.
'Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be standing next to renowned personalities and singing songs in front of them!'
Earlier on his arrival on Tuesday, Shankar went to the Shariqa Devi temple in downtown Srinagar and also paid homage at the adjacent Sheikh Hamza Mukhdoom's shrine.
Badiul Hassan, 80, was brought from Ajmer on Saturday and was undergoing treatment at Swai Mansingh Hospital in Jaipur. He died late Sunday night, police said on Monday.
Here's a glimpse of all that happened around the world last month, in 10 images
Pakistan on Friday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baghlay to lodge a protest over denial of visas to some 500 Pakistani pilgrims to visit the famed shrine of Hazrat Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti at Ajmer.
Describing the Amarnath yatra as the most secular pilgrimage in the world, Jammu and Kashmir Governor S K Sinha said it symbolises the pluralistic ethos of Kashmir.
The actress is currently in Rajasthan shooting for Ashutosh Gowarikar's Jodha-Akbar, with Hrithik Roshan.
IS-Khorasan was sanctioned for its links with Al Qaeda and involvement in several deadly attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan that killed over 150 people.
Celebrating the maestro, who turned 52, January 6, and his music.
