"You have no idea how well versed she is with Indian tradition. The way she covers her head, does aarti, listens to the shlokas... You cannot see Western culture in her." Meet Pandit Radheshyam, the priest who conducts a havan before Sonia Gandhi files her nominations from Rae Bareli. In exclusive conversation with Rediff.com's Swarupa Dutt.
Even as its demand for disenfranchisement of Muslims community has evoked sharp reactions from political parties, the Shiv Sena on Tuesday sought to know why the issue of voting rights of Kashmiri Pandits has not been raised in the same manner.
In a media release, the financial services behemoth said that its board of directors has appointed Vikram Pandit as the company's new chief executive officer and member of the board of directors, effective immediately.
Sayeed said his government was committed to bring the displaced community back but ruled out setting up 'Israeli-type' separate clusters
27-year-old Vinod Dhar's entire family was massacred when he was just a teenager. He now has a government job and a flat alloted by the government in a township for Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu but almost a decade later, the horrors of that night remain with him. Archana Masih reports from Jammu.
'Kashmir is heaven on earth. I had to come back.'
Teri Baaton Mein Aise Uljha Jiya releases on February 9.
'We are puppets. We have to go where the government takes us.' Archana Masih reports on Kashmiri Pandits facing a third migration after they fled their homeland in the late 1990s.
The Kashmiri Pandits have lost hope of returning to that place in the Kashmir valley they once called home and that is one of contemporary India's biggest tragedies. Archana Masih reports on a people callously termed as 'migrants' in their own land.
An eminent American lawmaker has introduced a resolution in the United States House of Representatives condemning the 'extremist violence, lack of religious freedom, and human rights violations committed against Kashmiri Pandits for more than two decades now.'
>After 30 years, Kashmiri Pandits held special prayers at the Shiv temple at Dhobiwan village in the Tangmarg area of north Kashmir's Baramulla district.
The Jammu and Kashmir government is making constant efforts to bring back Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley as without them, Kashmir is incomplete, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said on Wednesday.
A wave of high-profile player releases, including four prominent captains -- Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul, Rishabh Pant, and Faf du Plessis -- has reshaped the landscape of the league.
Brisbane Roar to 5-1 win over Dempo FC in their opener at the Bhausaheb Bandodkar Memorial Trophy on Saturday.
'I come from a conservative family.' 'They had sent me to Bengaluru to study and wanted me to focus on my career.' 'I went for the Miss India auditions because it was something I wanted to do for myself.' 'My family was there and saw me perform live.' 'After I got through the finals, they supported me.' 'Now they want me to be the game-changer -- to be the first-ever Kashmiri Pandit to carve a niche in the fashion world.'
Kashmiri Pandits have impressed upon the central government that there should be no dilution of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and nothing should be done to weaken the state's integration with the country. A group of Kashmiri Pandits met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in Delhi on Sunday night and apprised him of their views on the current volatile situation in the state.
Shah Rukh Khan joined the jubilant KKR players and support staff on the field, high-fiving them and sharing emotional embraces after their thrilling win over the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Gandhiji asked me if I had sufficient warm clothes in view of the coming cold season. I said yes. But he verified my statement by asking Miraben to search my bag to make sure. Such was Gandhiji.
Even as KPs lined up across special polling stations in Jammu amid tight security, several of them had to return without casting their vote.
Pandits, including women and children, converged at the temple, some 20 kms from Srinagar, from various far-off places including Delhi and Jammu, to offer special prayers on the occasion of Zyeshth Ashtami.
Global Kashmiri Pandit Diaspora, a body representing the community across the world, said the decision cements territorial, political and cultural unity of the Indian Union.
When Pandit was in Japan last week, meeting International Monetary Fund and World Bank officials, Michael E O'Neill, the new chairman of Citigroup since April, was applying the final touches of his masterplan to remove Pandit.
Observing that working conditions have made doctors and health professionals susceptible to violence, the Supreme Court on Tuesday constituted a 10-member task force to formulate a national protocol for ensuring safety and facilities for them in the wake of the rape and murder of a medic in Kolkata.
Pandit will be replaced by Michael Corbat, who previously served as Citigroup's CEO of Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Wankhede Stadium witnessed a gathering of cricketing royalty in the past two days
The shock of losing her husband to cancer is yet to sink in.
O'Neill told Pandit in an "abrupt encounter" at the end of the day on October 15 that "the board has lost confidence in you".
Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena has accorded sanction to prosecute author Arundhati Roy and a former professor in Kashmir under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act for allegedly making provocative speeches at an event in New Delhi in 2010, Raj Niwas officials said on Friday.
Terming Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings his favourite teams in IPL, Gavaskar said Kolkata Knight Riders would be the dark horse.
As tensions grow between India and Pakistan, anti-India terrorist groups plan to intensify their operations against Kashmiri Pandits to seek local support of homegrown militants in Kashmir.
A delegation of Kashmiri Pandits had, during an interaction with Raza in New Delhi, demanded that they be allowed to visit the Shardapeeth once a year. Raza had assured them he would facilitate their visit to the temple.
'It is a matter of regret that the BJP and PDP refused to take the Pandits aboard in this government.' 'The present government is following a policy of soft secessionism.'
This is the biggest people-to-people initiative after 15 years and a move towards return of the Pandits to the valley.
As per a regulatory filing by Citi, Pandit's pay package for 2011 included a salary of $1.67 million, a cash incentive of $5.33 million and stock options valued at $7.98 million, totalling to $14.98 million.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said return of Kashmiri Pandits should not be kept hostage to the dictate of the separatist leadership and strongly demanded a "secured zone" for those who want to return to their homeland.
A turnout of about 59 percent -- the highest in the past seven elections -- was recorded in the first phase of assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, Chief Electoral Officer P K Pole said, adding polling passed off peacefully.
'The Abdullah family is the problem and facilitator of the instability that we are seeing in Kashmir.'
Major opposition political parties and separatists groups in J&K on Wednesday slammed the move of the government to create separate townships for Kashmiri pandit migrants.
Anupam Kher lashes out at Haider director Vishal Bhardwaj.
