The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
'The nuns were subjected to abusive language and all types of mental torture.'
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Sunday took note of religious conversions, saying that an anti-conversion law should be made to stop such acts.
Alleging that the NGO allows its name to be used "at the behest of some selected political interest", the Union of India told the top court that it is guilty of collecting huge funds by exploiting the agonies of riot-affected people.
'The BJP is keeping its options open and that the final decision is still tightly held.' 'That is consistent with the party's tendency to preserve suspense, avoid premature factional conflict, and use leadership selection as a way of resetting internal hierarchies.'
'India is at a critical juncture in this century. I want to be a part of the diplomatic team that works to make India great.'
In an unusually hard-hitting response to criticism against it in a United States government report on religious freedom, India on Friday described the findings as 'deeply biased', visibly driven by 'votebank' considerations and a mix of imputations and selective usage of facts.
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
The Chhattisgarh State Women Commission has directed the Director General of Police to file FIRs based on complaints from three women who allege assault and molestation by Bajrang Dal workers. The women were initially involved in a human trafficking and forced conversion case.
The 'Karnataka Protection of Right to Freedom of Religion Bill' was passed by the Legislative Assembly in December last.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
The Chhattisgarh high court has disposed of two petitions seeking the removal of hoardings prohibiting entry to pastors and 'converted Christians' in eight villages, holding that they were installed to prevent forced conversions through allurement or fraudulent means and cannot be termed as unconstitutional.
Sources in the AAP claimed that the chief minister was 'extremely displeased' with Gautam.
'They should be given a strong message that they are not the ones who decide the rule of the land, and they are not the ones who decide what justice is.'
Yoga guru Swami Ramdev has criticised religious conversion by inducement and said he would work to build a healthy and stronger India by taking the benefits of yoga and ayurveda to more than six lakh villages in two years.
Religious freedom and related human rights in India are under ongoing threat, the US Commission for International Religious Freedom alleged on Tuesday in an unusual year-end update of the status of its assessment of religious freedom in the country.
The EOW conducted searches at the house of PC Singh, the bishop of the Church of North India Jabalpur Diocese, on Thursday morning following registration of a case of cheating against him.
The face-off between Trinamool Congress MP Kalyan Banerjee and West Bengal Governor C V Ananda Bose intensified further on Wednesday after the politician lodged a counter-complaint against the state's Constitutional head at the Hare Street Police Station within 24 hours of the latter having filed a first information report (FIR) against the former at the same PS.
The US Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) also recommended to the Congress to raise the issue of religious freedom during US-India bilateral meetings, and hold hearings on it.
'The implementation of the judgment has largely been left to the discretion of the very executive authorities it sought to restrain.'
'Dating someone during divorce proceedings is legally permissible as long as it does not involve provable physical intimacy,' says lawyer Navaneet Kumar.
He said Muslims were trying to spread their religion by migrating to new areas, infiltration and Jehad.
A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, particularly before parliamentary, state assembly and local body elections. The court has agreed to hear a batch of petitions challenging the Election Commission's decision to undertake special intensive revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.
BJP state chief Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated that the arrest of two nuns in Chhattisgarh was due to a 'misunderstanding' and that they will be released on bail soon. He met with Archbishop of Trichur Andrews Thazhath to brief him that the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister have assured the nuns would be released on bail.
Coming on the heels of two successful bilateral meetings between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Joe Biden -- the Official State Visit of the Indian leader here in June and a bilateral meeting in New Delhi in September -- USCIRF in its announcement of the meeting said the Congressional hearing is on how the US government can work with the Indian government to address violations.
Nurses at a Mumbai hospital allegedly threw books critical of religion at an official who gifted them, claiming the books hurt their religious sentiments. A video of the incident has gone viral.
'They have to prove the credibility of their talk; whether they want to focus on the secular face of India, whether they want to focus on democracy and above all freedom of an individual to practice his or her religion.'
The judge made the remarks while sentencing 25-year-old Mohammad Alim to life imprisonment, convicting him for raping and threatening a student after falsifying his identity.
Religious tolerance in India is "deteriorating" while religious freedom violations are "increasing", a rights expert has told American lawmakers.
As of now, there is nothing to suggest that the 'Michaelpatti episode' has the potential to polarise Dravidian Tamil Nadu on religious lines, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Iranians admire Indian cinema and often mention Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan when you meet them.'
"Bhagwat has done national service by speaking the truth on what missionaries do," the Sena said.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has strongly criticised Maharashtra Minister Nitesh Rane for calling Kerala a "mini Pakistan", saying the remark is "highly provocative and condemnable". Vijayan said Rane's comments expose the Sangh Parivar's approach towards Kerala, which he said involves alienating and spreading hate campaigns against the state. He also criticised the leadership of the ruling party for not reacting to Rane's "serious breach of oath". Vijayan called for all democratic and secular forces to unite against the Sangh Parivar's "hateful propaganda".
Jemimah Rodrigues rose through the ranks in Mumbai to become one of the key batters for India, but the journey wasn't easy.
On October 14, 1956, Dr B R Ambedkar, fulfilling his long-held vow to renounce Hinduism, embraced Buddhism along with over 500,000 followers at Nagpur's Deekshabhoomi, marking a new era of social and spiritual liberation for India's Dalits.
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.
Jaishankar said that the Pahalgam attack "was an act of economic warfare. It was meant to destroy tourism in Kashmir, which was the mainstay of the economy. It was also meant to provoke religious violence because people were asked to identify their faith before they were killed."
A US federal government commission has flagged the alleged worsening of religious freedom in India and called for it to be designated as a "Country of Particular Concern".
The Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that religious freedom does not include a fundamental right to convert other people to a particular religion and that it certainly does not embrace the right to convert an individual through fraud, deception, coercion or allurement.
