On May 7 this year, they celebrated their 100-year milestone. Mukhtar Ahmad reports
'This is India, bhai. This kind of country does not exist anywhere in the world.'
'There is a discomfort among many of us at the fact that the Republic is not more Hindu than it could or should be.' 'This discomfort is producing laws such as the one we now have in Gujarat,' says Aakar Patel.
Both Mahinda Rajapaksa and Modi have learnt from their past mistakes. Modi has understood that Rajapaksa is a 'forever politician' that India has to live with, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Think, says Nikita Puri, before you eat.
Insisting that the cow should be protected, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that even the Mughals were aware of the fact that if they had to rule then an "open support to cow slaughter" would not be feasible while the Britishers failed to understand this aspect.
To do so, the government will have to tackle a number of broad development challenges successfully, says Shankar Acharya
Fresh guidelines were issued by the government on Wednesday for enforcing the second phase of the coronavirus lockdown, with the Union home ministry barring all kinds of public transport and prohibiting opening of public places during this period.
In his second national broadcast in a week on the pandemic raging across much of the world with the number of infections rising in India, Modi made a fervent appeal to the countrymen not to cross the 'lakshman rekha' of their homes in the next three weeks.
Union Minister Maneka Gandhi has expressed concern about India being the world's largest beef exporter and claimed that the money from illegal animal slaughter was used for perpetrating acts of terrorism.
Following badminton World No 1 Lee Chong Wei's provisional ban, Rediff.com brings you ten top sports persons who gave in to drugs - one of the mighty perils that has affected modern sporting culture.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Tuesday
'The day the BJP has a majority in the Rajya Sabha, the cow will be declared 'rashtra mata.'
rench President Emmanuel Macron and Modi have been jointly recognised in the Policy Leadership category for their pioneering work in championing the International Solar Alliance and promoting new areas of levels of cooperation on environmental action, including Macron's work on the Global Pact for the Environment and Modi's unprecedented pledge to eliminate all single-use plastic in India by 2022.
If there is a lesson to be learnt from the 1980s, it is that mobocracy never works. And a government that yields before public protests will have ceded its right to govern, says Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
In India the routine cruelty is at a more basic level - the state of our abattoirs, and the animal trauma caused there.
'Most Hindus believe in living in peace with their Muslim neighbours and vice versa.' 'It is this India we have to preserve.'
In India, rape is the fourth most common crime against women. If one goes by the National Crime Records Bureau statistics, a shocking 93 women are raped in the country each day and a total of 33,707 cases were registered in 2013. Yet at such a time, short skirts, mobile phones and Western culture are blamed for these incidents. Here's a look at some of the most insensitive and odd reasons for the rise in rapes in the country.
'The idea behind the new rules is that slaughter markets must buy directly from the farms as is the case in the bloody world.' 'The cattle markets have become centres for the organised beef mafia.'
'National unity and acceptance of cultural diversity was never more important than now when the world enters an unstable and dangerous phase.'
'The problem of a Hindu rashtra is that it has no text which can be adapted to the modern world.' 'The most prominent element of the Hindu way of organising society and the State is through caste.' 'This is not acceptable to most Hindus.' 'Because a Hindu rashtra also erodes the power and the rights of the majority of Hindus, we can be assured that this is not something that the BJP, or any other force can do,' argues Aakar Patel.
GIFT is a financial centre almost entirely devoid of bankers and, indeed, of people.
The Joy of the Bull -- or Toro Jubilo festival -- is one of the 'cultural' highlights of the medieval village of Medinaceli, in the province of Soria, north east of Madrid. Animal rights activists have been demanding the banning of the festival, which features live bulls being set on fire and sent to charge about the village streets for entertainment.
While so-called 'cow protectors' have indulged in widespread vigilantism under the garb of protection of cattle, there has been little effort to save them from the real threat to their survival -- urban garbage, open dumps and apathy of cow owners.
'The BJP and RSS may realise it is much easier for the ICHR to rewrite textbooks and for the ICSSR to float its bizarre interpretations on social themes than to keep people away from their favourite dishes.'
'As the film progresses, you tire of the been-there seen-that spectacle.' 'You want a story. You want good dialogue, not the corny words you are hearing.' 'You want an emotional connect. You want a tighter film.' 'Sadly, with Padmaavat, that's not what you get,' says Savera R Someshwar.
In Yogi Adityanath's Uttar Pradesh wayward Romeos would all be in the lock-up, says Sunil Sethi.
Even as the BJP makes inroads into previously unfamiliar territories in eastern India, the party will have to be wary of losing out elsewhere, says Amulya Ganguli.
Recommends delisting of chana futures, open to lowering sugar import duty
'It's not only holy reverence that drives them to such vigilantism -- there is adventure too.' 'Some of the younger gau rakshaks enjoy the thrill of the chase: Stopping vehicles, wielding weapons, badgering passengers and then gloating.'
'Slightly more than 50 per cent of all Keralites are Hindus. If we can unite as many as we can, we can create a huge difference in the political scene in Kerala.'
'We have Hindu values, Hindu customs, Hindu philosophy, Hindu way of looking at all religions as acceptable.' 'These are all great assets of India.'
The overall winners will be announced on October 15 at an awards ceremony in the Natural History Museum's iconic Hintze Hall.
'The previous (Congress) government at least did not veto provisions of the cattle laws.' 'The BJP is actively weakening the provisions.' 'The BJP government tried to export goats from Nagpur for slaughter to the Middle East.' 'The whole country was aghast and offended. We are a country of Ahimsa.' 'The BJP has incentivised the butcher industry so meat export has gone up, live animal export has gone up, leather export is on the rise, smuggling has gone up.'
A look at the top tweets from your favourite Bollywood celebrities.
Mohammad Salim cited a news magazine which quoted Singh as reportedly saying -- after Narendra Modi and BJP's victory last year -- that India had the first "Hindu ruler after 800 years."
'In today's digitalised world, news about the prevalence of such intolerant groups with their pathological animosity towards the minorities cannot remain a secret.' 'Silicon Valley CEOs will undoubtedly factor in such disturbing inputs as they draw up their investment plans.'
'Mohammad Akhlaq's death isn't only about a Muslim being killed out of sheer communal bigotry, but also the denial of the Constitutional guarantees of "due process" under Article 21 and the freedom of choice,' says Shehzad Poonawalla, who has moved the National Commission for Minorities over the murder.
The Sangh Parivar forgets that not only is there no scriptural prohibition, venerable authorities in India held beef as both a desirable and an essential food, says Sunanda K Datta-Ray
"Although we are kind of open Muslims, I don't want to show my body."
