A bill seeking to explicitly ban caste discrimination has been introduced in the California Senate by a Democratic lawmaker, which, if passed, could make America's most populous state also the country's first to outlaw caste-based bias.
It is not much of an issue just now, but it could become one if the idea of caste census captures socio-political imagination, going beyond electoral tags and identities, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Instead of developing the capacity, capability and strength to fight our external enemies, we are turning our own people against each other.'
For people who have had their personal identification stolen, it could also help prevent cyber criminals from using that information to make purchases in their name.
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If a 15 seconds-long mic problem merits a case being registered, then the police risk an avalanche of complaints of similar and greater gravity, seeking their intervention, notes Shyam G Menon.
Here's your weekly digest of the most weird, true and funny news from the across the world.
Arrested in September 2019 by the Delhi police for making 'provocative statements' when Donald J Trump was on his visit to India, Dr Umar Khalid has now spent three years in jail without being convicted of an offence, points out Aakar Patel.
This year, India bought 27.7% of the gold exported by Switzerland; in Jan, this was only 15%.
rediffGURU Dev Ashish answers your personal finance and mutual fund queries.
'If it weren't for Om Puri, a whole range of our big city experiences wouldn't have found their honest representations on the screen.'
We should fill our heart with things that we will be proud of when anyone opens our hearts -- fill it with love rather than hate, fill it with confidence rather than fear, with care rather than apathy, with warmth rather than indifference, suggests Cardiac Surgeon Dr Sanjeeth Peter.
'I have no idea as to what Lucky Ali is singing but to me, it sounds great and gels with what I sing.'
Mukhbir: The Story Of A Spy makes up in elegance of language and production design what it lacks in flashy derring do that most actioners rely on to keep the audience hooked, observes Deepa Gahlot. Mukhbir: The Story Of A Spy Review
Koo -- the made-in-India rival of Twitter -- will not charge users for a verification badge, its co-founder and CEO Aprameya Radhakrishna said as he took on the larger rival for allegedly first creating bots and now charging users for verification. Koo, which allows users to express views in Indian languages, has already crossed 50 million downloads and is now flying into the rival's nest, starting a campaign on Twitter by making itself prominently visible on verified handles and offering them better deals on its platform at no cost. Since taking over Twitter, billionaire Elon Musk has set in motion massive changes, sacking employees and talking of levying a $8 charge for 'verified' handles.
RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya, apparently referring to the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, described it as a "political gimmick" that will not serve its stated purpose of uniting masses.
'How do you stay so energised? So young?' 'Dev Anand flashed that familiar crooked grin and told me, "The mind never grows old. It urges you to surge ahead".'
A Bangladeshi-Canadian was on Saturday identified as the mastermind of Bangladesh's worst terror attack at a cafe in Dhaka.
When the post-pandemic audience wants large-scale entertainers, Anubhav Sinha has the courage to make a film that determinedly veers away from escapism, applauds Deepa Gahlot.
Animated or aggressive? Debate over the emblem atop the new Parliament building rages with several historians dismayed that the essence of the original 'protective' Ashokan lions has been effaced while others say the differences are minuscule and no two pieces of art can be identical.
'I hope that younger people who have similar struggles can see me and feel safer in the fact that I'm managing okay. True, there are difficulties, but there's nothing unfortunate at all about being both deaf and transgender.'
It is high time the Indian government signalled discomfort with the UK providing refuge to those accused of financial crimes in India, states Jaimini Bhagwati.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest and funniest stories from around the world.
'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.'
Brazil are going home empty handed after they suffered yet another heartbreaking World Cup exit to a European rival -- and the quarter-final defeat by Croatia will hurt as they let victory slip through their fingers just three minutes from the final whistle.
Here's your weekly digest of the craziest stories from around the world.
Acclaimed movies, hit movies, social movies, star-studded movies, scary movies and shows galore, you certainly won't be starved for entertainment on OTT this week.
Tamil Nadu is the celebrated home of the 'social justice' movement in the country, yet caste differences and violence has only been increasing in numbers and becoming more brutal in recent years, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'You will see more laws that treat Hindus and non-Hindus, especially Muslims, quite unequally.' 'Once you see this kind of erosion of secularism, it will be very hard to get it back.'
After Maqbool and Haider, Tabu reunites with director Vishal Bhardwaj in a spy thriller called Khufiya. But that's not all.
For those who believed in her talent since Lootera, Dahaad is a truly rewarding experience, observes Sukanya Verma.
'Since September 1, a senior cabinet minister has been to-ing and fro-ing between Jalna and Mumbai by chartered flight every single day with messages from the two deputy chief ministers and the chief minister to get Manoj Jarange-Patil to back down from his agitation.'
The Cuckoo's Calling, about a war veteran turned private investigator called Cormoran Strike, was released in April under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith to great critical acclaim.
Here's imagining Craig's James Bond as a typical Bollywood hero.
Fourteen years after the Sri Lankan government announced his death, a veteran Tamil nationalist leader claimed in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, on Monday that Velupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of Eelam Tamils in Sri Lanka, is doing well and said a conducive atmosphere prevails for him to appear now.
'We are very different actors and that can be a real gift because we bring out the best in each other.'
The Centre has opposed in the Supreme Court a batch of pleas seeking legal validation of same sex marriage, saying it would cause a complete havoc with the delicate balance of personal laws and in accepted societal values.
The Kashmiri Pandit Sabha threatened to intensify its agitation, if the government did not stop threatening to withhold the salaries of KP employees and forcing them to come back to the valley, where they are under mortal threat from terrorists.
They just wanted their angst noticed, and as a symbol of recognition, Jallikattu, restored without the annual ritual of court cases and adjournments, explains N Sathya Moorthy.
