This was a soaring evening that sent hearts aflutter and for a few brief moments we tasted the breath of pure freedom that has been missing in this country for the past several years.
The first national flag in Independent India was hoisted at Fort St George in Madras, not at Delhi's Red Fort.
'Arundhati Roy is like a ballerina performing on a high wire, cool, supremely at ease but conscious of all the adoring eyes on her,' notes P Vijaya Kumar.
'What does Indira Gandhi want from me? At this age, what will I do to her?'
The Bombay High Court criticized the Maharashtra government for arresting a 19-year-old student from Pune for her social media post on Indo-Pak hostilities, calling its reaction "radical." The court granted the student bail and said the state's actions were unwarranted and had turned a student into a criminal. The court also questioned the conduct of the college for rusticating the student, stating that an educational institution's approach should be to reform, not punish. The student had reposted a post on Instagram that criticized the Indian government for provoking a war against Pakistan, but she later deleted the post and apologized for her actions. The college, however, deemed the post to be anti-national and expelled the student. The court emphasized that mistakes are bound to happen, especially at a young age, and urged the college to focus on reforming students rather than punishing them.
Stunning landscapes, natural beauty, clean beaches, cultural wealth, mouth-watering food, shopping options, safety for solo travellers, warm hospitality, easy visas, and connectivity make Vietnam a must-visit destination, discovers Ramesh Menon.
Justice G Jayachandran also sentenced Ponmudy's wife P Visalakshi to three years in jail. The judge also imposed a fine of Rs 50 lakh each on Ponmudy and his wife.
Sheikh Sajjad Gul, the head of Lashkar-e-Taiba proxy The Resistance Front (TRF), has been identified as the mastermind behind the Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people in April. Gul, who is based in Pakistan, has a history of planning terror attacks in Kashmir, including targeted killings, grenade attacks, and ambushes of police personnel. He was designated a terrorist by the NIA in 2022 and a reward of Rs 10 lakh was placed on his head. The TRF claimed responsibility for the Pahalgam attack, where tourists were shot at point-blank range after being asked their religion. Gul's history includes a 2002 arrest in Delhi for planning serial blasts and a subsequent 10-year prison sentence. After his release, he moved to Pakistan and became the leader of the TRF in 2019, a move orchestrated by the ISI to present a facade of an indigenous terror movement in Jammu and Kashmir.
Former Kerala Chief Minister and veteran CPI(M) leader V S Achuthanandan, a key figure in Kerala's political history, died on Monday at the age of 101. He was a founding member of the CPI(M) and served as Chief Minister from 2006 to 2011.
The killings of Gopal Khemka and his son Gunjan, seven years apart, bear a striking resemblance, reports M I Khan.
'We are now in a situation where our country is not yet free.' 'China is still very strong and militarily powerful.' 'In such a situation, we need the Dalai Lama to bring about a resolution to the cause of Tibet.' 'That's one of the main reasons that at age 90, he has accepted that there should be a 15th Dalai Lama after him.'
Standing near the noose, he recited a couplet in which he said he wished nothing but to sacrifice his life for the motherland. Utkarsh Mishra remembers Ram Prasad Bismil on the revolutionary leader's 128th birth anniversary.
The current situation in Kerala politics is perhaps best described as a case of the state's traditional two front politics now seeing a third front (the BJP) muscling in with the potential outcome being either a messy three front affair or a renewed endorsement of the two front pattern but with one of the old fronts compromised or quashed, observes Shyam G Menon.
'The Dravidian movement was started for the Hindus who were rejected by the upper castes.'
'Parents are forced to provide their children to Russian re-education camps in occupied territories and in different parts of Russia, for example, in Chechnya, where Ukrainian children wearing military uniform are taught to use weapons.'
Bangladesh has demanded a public apology and compensation from Pakistan for the 1971 atrocities, raising "historically unresolved issues" during the first foreign secretary-level talks between the two countries in 15 years. Dhaka also asked Islamabad to pay USD 4.3 billion as its share from the combined assets at the time of East Pakistan's split from West Pakistan in 1971 to form an independent Bangladesh.
'Thankfully, as Indians, we have a long history of trans people in our culture, in our religions, in our mythology.' 'It's not a fad which has suddenly come into existence, the way that a lot of Americans treat it.'
A magistrate's inquiry has found five policemen responsible for the custodial death of Akshay Shinde, who was accused in the Badlapur school sexual assault case. The Bombay High Court ordered an FIR to be registered against the five policemen, following the magistrate's report. Shinde was arrested in August 2024 for allegedly assaulting two minor girls and was killed in an alleged police shootout in September while being taken from prison for questioning. The police claimed he snatched a gun and opened fire, but the magistrate found the five officers responsible for his death. The court has asked the public prosecutor to inform the bench in two weeks on which probe agency will investigate the case.
Balaji was arrested on June 14 last year by the ED in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged cash-for-jobs scam when he was the transport minister in an earlier AIADMK government.
Allegations of corruption against its leaders, constant bickering with the lieutenant governor over governance issues and a spirited campaign conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party were enough to ensure a rout of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Delhi assembly polls, the results of which were declared on Saturday.
'Putin will not be bound by any kind of deal he would sign with the US.'
A fan who racially abused Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr and Villarreal player Samuel Chukwueze in two games at Mallorca last year has been found guilty and handed a suspended prison sentence.
Sections of our media and elites take Western reports/judgements at face value and are ready to condemn the targets without understanding the deeper power linkages behind such actions, asserts Colonel Anil A Athale (Retd).
The Bombay high court has granted parole to a man to bid farewell to his son, who is going to Australia for further studies, holding that if parole can be granted to share grief, it can also be for a happy occasion.
A United States court has sentenced an Indian-American couple to prison for coercing their relative to work at their gas station and convenience store for over three years by bringing him to the United States on the pretext of helping enrol him in a school.
'Jairam Mahto's new party dented the NDA because he pulled a lot of the OBC vote.'
Restoration of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir's statehood as well as implementation of the autonomy resolution passed by the erstwhile assembly in 2000 are among the National Conference's 12 guarantees announced in its manifesto for the upcoming polls.
Inmates operate the FM radio stations, make announcements on the jail's time table, play patriotic, devotional and folk songs and music for fellow prisoners.
Sisodia is presently lodged in Tihar jail number 1, where he stays in his separate cell shared with two more inmates, who are lodged in non-heinous cases, official sources said.
'Those giving voice to the voiceless should be welcomed, not punished.' 'Yes, I paid a price -- 10 years in jail -- but it wasn't only me who did so. There are many paying the price.'
Run by a former cricketer and son of India's military heroes, Mike's Forest Retreat is an ode to all that we hold dear.
A video purportedly showing gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, lodged in Ahmedabad's Sabarmati Central Prison since August 2023, speaking to Pakistan's gangster Shahzad Bhatti on a video call surfaced on Tuesday, prompting the Gujarat government to order a probe.lawr
He could have blazed a trail that few Indian judges had. It was a missed opportunity of a lifetime, notes Ramesh Menon.
Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who was injured in a scuffle with another inmate in a Jammu jail, remained critical at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.
People from all walks of life -- former students of several educational institutions, clay modellers, rickshaw pullers and junior doctors -- separately hit the streets of Kolkata on Sunday in continued protest over the rape and murder of a medic in a state-run hospital a month ago.
The condition of Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who was injured in a scuffle with another inmate in a jail in Jammu, remained critical on Saturday. Sanaullah is on a "ventilator, remains unconsicious and is on dopamine and noradrenaline infusions to maintain his blood pressure," sources at the Post Graduate Institue of Medical Education and Research said.
She also pointed out that the poor from villages are afraid to go to court.
'These problems teach us to think and assess information in a rational way.' 'That's all important at a time when a minister for education crudely humiliates a schoolteacher for giving the right answers,' says Devangshu Datta.
Will Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who gets his orders from New Delhi, call the shots or allow a democratically elected government to independently govern, questions Ramesh Menon.
Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah Ranjay, who was injured in a scuffle with another inmate in a Jammu jail, was critical and in deep coma at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh.
