Millions of people across India took to the streets to douse other people in coloured powder for the annual Holi celebrations. Revellers were seen partying in temples and throwing gulal over one another. The festival is one of the largest celebrations across India, which commemorates the start of spring and the end of winter. These amazing images capture people marking the joyous occasion by partying and having fun.
With the November Congressional polls entering the crucial last 90 days, five Indian-origin candidates, including 25-year-old "young gun" Ranjit 'Rikky' Gill, and a Hindu-American woman remain in the race for the US House of Representatives.
He was a member of Azamgarh (Sanjarmur) module of the IM and was based in Nepal where he was teaching at a school.
When the highest court gave a decision on the Navtej Singh Johar case, it held that LGBT citizens have a right to not be discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation. It was keeping this in mind that this same sex couple approached the Delhi high court.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the 24-hour average concentration of lung-damaging fine particles known as PM2.5 in Delhi-NCR shot up from 243 micrograms per cubic metre at 6 pm on Thursday (Diwali day) to 410 micrograms per cubic metre at 9 am on Friday, around seven times the safe limit of 60 micrograms per cubic metre.
As the clock struck 12, the protesting crowd burst into a cheer to greet the fellow protesters the new year, and moments later broke into the national anthem in unison which was followed by the slogan 'Inquilab Zindabad'.
Over the last decade, individual Muslims have started breaking from the tradition of sacrificing animals on Bakra Eid, motivated by the thought that the considerable amount spent on buying and sacrificing animals would be put to better use for the community's welfare, specially education.
Hundreds of millions of people follow the Hindu religion and it is difficult to imagine a worse way to welcome visitors from the Indian subcontinent to London than sacking a woman for wearing a Hindu nose stud, he said.
'What the Sabarimala majority verdict has done is to elevate the principle of equality over all others, including the right to worship, and declared that this will be the litmus test of all practices, and re-emphasise that practices that are ultra vires will be junked,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
In her weekly QnA with Rediff readers, life coach and mental health guru Anu Krishna addresses issues relating to mental health and offers solutions.
An Indian American woman is among 12 faith leaders to be honoured as "Champions of Change" by the White House for their efforts in protecting environment and communities from the effects of climate change.
There have been at least 1,641 cases of the virus in the Gulf region. Dubai has postponed its March boat show until November and Abu Dhabi postponed the ITU World Triathlon event this month, after earlier cancelling a cycling event in which two riders were diagnosed with the virus.
Reacting to those criticising her for her comments made at the event in the morning, Irani said, "As far as those who jump the gun regarding women visiting friend's place with a sanitary napkin dipped in menstrual blood I am yet to find a person who takes a blood soaked napkin to offer to any one let alone a friend.
If the spouse is the guarantor of husband's business loans, banks can hold her liable for default. Here are ways to ring-fence her assets.
If the Congress recovers some of its earlier influence among the Dalits, the BJP will be in a quandary since the Dalits were among the party's latest acquisitions. To lose them will be a disaster for the saffron camp not only in UP, but all over India, observes Amulya Ganguli.
This Haryana village believes it has 'found' the Saraswati river of the Vedas.
Varanasi Commissioner submits a preliminary report to chief secretary, blames university administration for not handling the matter in a sensitive manner.
Four more people belonging to the gay and lesbian community urged the Delhi high court on Thursday to declare that marriages between any two persons irrespective of their sex be solemnised under the Special Marriage Act (SMA).
But the 'tantri family' will accept it, Sabarimala head priest Kandararu Rajeevarau said.
Other strong men have stopped Modi and his hordes in states before, but none of them with a footprint or battle cry to shake up New Delhi, observes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
'The key factor, to my mind, is happiness.' 'If either party, for whatever reason, is not in it, they should have the choice to walk away as painlessly as possible,' points out Vasu Primlani.
The group will not just seek permission for women to offer prayers in the mosques, but also fight for appointing them as 'imams' (clerics).
On the lines of Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, around 50 women along with children have been squatting near the Clock Tower in Lucknow's old quarters. The women protesters alleged that blankets provided to them by some organisations were taken away by police. The police dismissed the allegations.
'Why exclude those who are curious about our faith but not born into it, to experience the temple?'
As the situation went out of control, police first used water cannon and then burst tear gas shells to disperse the unruly crowd.
The decision of the government to amend the Hindu Marriage Act has come under fire from men's rights organisations.
The Indian government today does not care what it does to Indians as long as it can continue on its path, observes Aakar Patel.
'All of our lives are going to be changed in a permanent way...' 'We just have to ride out the tide right now and we will see a rainbow at the end of this.'
Braving freezing cold, the protesters also brought along sandals to give them to the Pakistani embassy officials.
The BJP's embarrassing rout in Delhi may affect Modi in many ways.
The hypocrisies of high-caste Hindus have cost their followers very dear. Millions have left their dharma, their great religion which boasts of the loftiest philosophical ideas, says Tarun Vijay.
A decision on this could be taken before Christmas, which might not necessarily result in a formal announcement as that could be delayed till the next year, people familiar with her thinking process said.
Good intentions and elaborate roadmaps apart, there is an urgent need for the Tamil Nadu chief minister to come up with branded schemes like MGR's meal scheme, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
'We will talk to Muslim, Christian organisations and form a broad alliance so that every temple, church and mosque will have freedom to manage their affairs and not to be intervened upon.'
The BJP/Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and right wing outfits have made it clear that they would not allow any woman in the 10-50 age group to offer prayers at the shrine, where the deity is 'Naishtika Brahmachari' (perennial celibate).
The figure assumes significance as the Sabarimala temple had witnessed frenzied devotees opposing the entry of women belonging to the menstrual-age in the wake of landmark Supreme Court verdict permitting women of all ages to offer prayers at the hill shrine.
The bench also observed that it would examine whether the Kerala high court was correct in annulling the marriage while hearing a habeas corpus petition.
If you think the film is gutsy, you are simply being blind to the truth that the whole men-are-worthless slant is saleable right now, argues Sreehari Nair.
People close to the erstwhile royal family underline that Jyotiraditya Scindia is neither as accessible nor as unpretentious as his father.
A 12-hour hartal is being observed against the preventive detention of a Hindu Aikya Vedi leader.
