Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has stirred a hornet's nest in the state by announcing that Bhagvad Gita would be taught in all schools, with Opposition Congress dubbing the move as an attempt to saffronise education.
Rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa talked to leaders across the religious and social spectrum on their views on the move to ban Bhagavad Gita.
Roopa Pai's book, The Gita For Children, is a marvellous read that retells the epic conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, that will long stay with you after you have turned the last page.
Ahead of India's annual budget presentation next week, IMF's chief economist Gita Gopinath has favoured the extension of the pandemic support measures, thrust on investment in infrastructure and expanding health sectors programmes like Ayushman Bharat, and a very credible divestment path for commercially viable companies. The Indian government has provided a lot of schemes for small and medium enterprises, most of which is in the form of liquidity support, Gopinath told PTI on Tuesday. "And you want to revisit it and see how effectively that is working and see whether additional support may need to be provided," she said while responding to a question on her recommendations to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, ahead of her presentation of the annual Union Budget on February 1. It would be a good time for banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) to raise capital given the attractiveness of financing conditions at this point, she said.
The decline in society began when we reduced the message of Gita to fatalism. We are forever waiting for a messiah to come and rescue us as promised in Gita. But we have forgotten the central message of Gita to do our 'karma' or duty without the attachment to rewards and its fruit, says Colonel (retd) Anil Athale.
Musharraf responded to Singh by saying that there was "complete autonomy" in PoK and Gilgit but "he was open to consider if anything further needs to be done in this case," it said.
'Garm Hava understands that the scorching, hate-filled, doubt-filled affair between Hindus and Muslims is our national love affair.' Sreehari Nair revisits M S Sathyu's classic film, featuring the incomparable Balraj Sahni at his finest in his final role.
Though the worker strike at the Gorakhpur-based publisher of Hindu religious texts has been called off, it hints at an underlying financial crisis, says Manavi Kapur
Amid a raging controversy over the introduction of lessons from the Bhagawad Gita in school textbooks, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said today his government has withdrawn the notification issued in this regard.
Nearly two months after a Russian court rejected a ban on a translated version of Bhagvad Gita, a top Siberian prosecutor has now demanded the removal of a Russian comment only from the book for being "extremist", without affecting the canonical text of the scripture.
The Bhagavad Gita has lasted for centuries and will continue to last for centuries regardless of what a court in Siberia decides, says Bibek Debroy, who spoke to Rediff.com's Toral Varia Deshpande on the controversy.
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Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu Congresswoman in the United States, presented a copy of the Bhagwad Gita to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday when she met with the latter at his hotel.
Responding to the charge of being an anarchist leading elements with diverse ideologies lacking cohesiveness, Kejriwal said, "We can have people amongst us wedded to different ideologies but we are committed to the framework of the Indian Constitution."
At the time of religious intolerance in Pakistan, shlokas from Bhagavad Gita reverberated at a school in Karachi during a quiz competition to test the knowledge of Hindu boys and girls about their religion, leaving the minority community having something to cheer about.
The party on Wednesday removed former minister Sudhir Sharma, who was among the six rebel MLAs who were later disqualified for defying party whip on the state budget, from the post of All India Congress Committee secretary with immediate effect.
One of its lovemaking sequences, featuring the film's leading man Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, has triggered off an uproar.
A number of exhibitions at the Bharat Mandapam, the convention centre which will host key G20 summit meetings, will showcase India's technological prowess and innovation, and offer a multitude of unique experiences to the visitors.
India has approached top Russian authorities to appropriately resolve the move to ban Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita, saying it is not merely a religious text, but one of the defining treatises of Indian thought.
The Supreme Court on Monday came to the rescue of 284 students from ethnic violence-hit Manipur by giving them the option of attending classes online at Manipur university or getting relocated to Assam University in Silchar or the North East Hill University in Shillong.
The Gita teaches you to be truthful, refrain from criticism and manage your emotions wisely.
'This is the moment when India is shining all over.'
Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt on Thursday surrendered before a designated TADA court in south Mumbai to serve a three-and-a-half year sentence in the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case.
'People are suffering, we are seeing visuals on every news channel. What measures have you taken to control water wastage if water scarcity is a recurring problem in summers'
On being sworn in as a member of the Edison Township Council on New Year's Day, Dr Sudhanshu Prasad chose to take the oath of office on the Bhagwad Gita, a philosophical discourse that is set within the larger frame of the religious epic Mahabharat. Dr Prasad said he chose the Gita because he grew up believing in it, and it is "where my conscience is," he said.
'The fact that India is multilingual and the kids grow up already bilingual or trilingual so learning another language or learning other spelling patterns is not really that hard.'
Announcing her appointment, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde hailed the Mysore-born Gopinath as "one of the world's outstanding economists with impeccable academic credentials, a proven track record of intellectual leadership and extensive international experience".
Russian prosecutors have decided against taking forward their case seeking a ban on a translation of Bhagvad Gita, bringing to end an issue that had enraged Hindus worldwide and even threatened to strain Russia's ties with India.
The teachings of the Bhagwad Gita will soon be compulsory for students in Urdu-medium schools of Madhya Pradesh.
Saris were in vogue at the dinner President Droupadi Murmu hosted for G20 leaders on Saturday evening and earlier as well on Saturday morninbg when Kyoko Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's wife, hosted the leaders's spouses in New Delhi.
A day after a Russian court rejected the petition to ban Bhagwad Gita, the government on Thursday said its observation that the petitioner has not gone through the original text of the holy scripture has been vindicated.
In the wake of an uproar over a case in a Russian court seeking ban on Bhagavad Gita, the government on Tuesday termed the complaint as "patently absurd" and expressed confidence that Moscow will resolve the matter "appropriately".
The verdict in the right to privacy case is historic and of global significance because it establishes dharma, righteousness and destroys adharma.
The Bhartiya Janata Party's external affairs wing organised a demonstration at the Russian embassy in Delhi on Wednesday and handed over a memorandum addressed to President Dmitry Medvedev to the country's deputy ambassador, expressing outrage at a move in Tomsk to seek a ban on the Bhagvad Gita. The memorandum said the sentiments of millions of Hindus all over the world have been grievously hurt and hence the Russian government should ensure the dismissal of the case.
Did the Indian government chose to remain mum and do nothing to prevent the move by a Siberian court to ban the Bhagvat Gita, despite the fact they were alerted by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, almost a month before the controversy broke out?
In the wake of an uproar over a case in a Russian court seeking ban on Bhagavad Gita, the government on Tuesday termed the complaint as "patently absurd" and expressed confidence that Moscow will resolve the matter "appropriately".
An initiative by a mutt in Karnataka to teach the Bhagavad-Gita has broken out into a controversy after plan by the Swarnavalli Mutt, was endorsed by the Karnataka state government.
A Russian court on Wednesday rejected a petition, described by India as "patently absurd", which had sought a ban on a translated version of Bhagvad Gita, bringing cheers to followers here as well as those across the world.
In the wake of an uproar over a move to ban Bhagwad Gita in Siberia, Russia has expressed sadness over the development, saying it is "inadmissible" that a holy scripture is taken to court.
In the wake of an uproar over a move to ban Bhagwad Gita in Siberia, Russia on Monday night expressed sadness over the development, saying it is "inadmissible" that a holy scripture is taken to court.
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