External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar briefed the leaders on the latest situation in Afghanistan after the Taliban captured power there last week.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has sought a ban on the upcoming Kamal Hassan Tamil flick 'Uttama Villain', claiming it would offend the religious sensibilities of Hindus.
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
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.
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Jaitley keen to uplift the insurance sector.
'Tipu Sultan was no doubt a valiant fighter who vigorously opposed the British, but that cannot mitigate the fact that he was also by all accounts a religious bigot -- a figure incompatible with modern secular times,' says Vivek Gumaste.
Bharatiya Janata Party Vinay Katiyar and Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman P J Kurien had a heated argument.
A bipartisan Congressional resolution has been introduced in the House of Representatives calling on the US government to continue the policy of denying a visa to BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi on the grounds of religious freedom violations.
'The international community should call upon Pakistan to take sustained, verifiable and irreversible actions against terror outfits operating on the territory under its control'
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'The entire brouhaha with regard to the CAB smacks of blatant Hinduphobia, a duplicitous exercise, morally corrupt in its construct and aimed at divesting deserving Hindus of basic human rights by raising the bogey of Muslim discrimination, and must be called out for what it is,' says Vivek Gumaste.
India's most powerful prime minister in five decades gets publicly admonished -- if gently -- by the US vice-president. The question is, would this make him reflect on how and why, or which ones of his government and party's missteps exposed his flank like this? asks Shekhar Gupta.
China on Wednesday warned that it will take "necessary measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests after India "obstinately" allowed the Dalai Lama to visit the "disputed" parts of Arunachal Pradesh causing "serious damage" to the bilateral ties.
From a four-each score in 2008 to a 7-1 drubbing in 2013, the BJP, which had once proclaimed that Dakshin Kannada is its stronghold, appears to be on a weak footing today. Vicky Nanjappa tells you why
Smoothly juggling Sandhya's curiosity and closure until her moment of awakening, Sanya Malhotra is emerging into one of the finest actresses of this generation, observes Sukanya Verma.
'The BJP will be the ruling party.'
Deadlock in Rajya Sabha continued for the fourth day on Thursday as opposition kept demanding a reply by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a debate on religious conversions, which the government steadfastly rejected.
Additional Inspector General Jamil Ahmad said that police has taken the accused in protective custody.
The DMK feels its genuine gestures have had no bearing on the governor's politico-administrative conduct, which is 'more political and politicised than administrative and Constitutional', observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
'The Indian government has accepted and is a party to international agreements, standards and conventions on religious freedom.' 'We did not force it on them. We are not trying to impose something on them that they haven't already agreed to...' 'India has never allowed us to visit, which is very disappointing for such a wonderful country with such a rich democratic tradition. They seem to be afraid to let us in.'
India comes under attack over religious intolerance, human trafficking and slavery at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
'The wonderful thing about being a liberal is that you can go ahead and be the very last one left standing.' 'So go ahead and fling social media faeces at us, tell us how irrelevant we are, and accuse us of opposing Modi to be cool,' says Mitali Saran.
'She was not forced into the decision," a close friend of Yuvraj Singh tells Subhash K Jha.
The state BJP, meanwhile, has urged the government to drop its decision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti and not to stand on 'prestige' or 'ego'.
Despite the Oscars, the box office glory, and the universal acclaim, Francis Ford Coppola, I am sure, remembers The Godfather with as much frustration as pride. Like Michael Corleone, he got into it with the best of intentions, and got out of it on top but lost in the heights. Sreehari Nair revisits the film as it turns 50 this month.
'The change of vocabulary in the India-US conversation was significant and refreshing.' 'It matched the styles of Trump and Modi.' 'The differences were not papered over, but there was determination to resolve them in the days ahead,' says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'Bhagwat, aware of the advantages of keeping the BJP in power, is wary about the RSS taking steps that would undermine the popular standing of either the PM or the party.'
In fresh incidents of attacks on Christian places of worship in Karnataka, some unidentified persons burnt religious books belonging to a church in Ujire and also damaged furniture at a church in Chikamagalur district and statue of Mother Mary at Kolar. According to authorities of the St George Church in Ujire, a group of miscreants destroyed the Holy Bible, prayer books, statues and icons in the church and poured kerosene over the carpet.
The SC said that it would examine the question as to whether the Kerala high court can annul the marriage of a Muslim man with a Hindu woman.
'India has always been a land of acceptance of diversity. But if the evangelical activities continue unabated, there is no doubt this will cause a backlash.' 'One exclusive ideology begets another. The hit list will spread. The more strident the evangelists, the more strident the voices for Ghar Wapsi will grow.'
The 23-year-old youth from Kalyan in neighbouring Thane landed in Mumbai on November 28 last year after returning from IS.
An Indian connection to the war crimes tribunal has emerged, further complicating matters, says RS Chauhan
Leader of Opposition in the Legislative Council K S Eshwarappa alleged that the government has 'misused' the office of the President by getting Tipu's name mentioned in the speech.
'None of these three countries -- Turkey, Iran or Malaysia -- ever made a hostile move against India to support the Pakistan-based terrorist elements,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Online bullies, haters, trolls - call them what you will - are the blight of social media, for not just individual users but also brands and companies.
In a small victory for religious minorities in Malaysia, a court on Friday ordered a woman's body to be handed over to her family for a Christian funeral after Islamic authorities retracted their claim that she had converted to Islam.
Today, hour-long, high-pitched 'debates' at prime time, replete with inflammatory visuals and captions, using half-truths, insinuations and lies, pour venom against Muslims and seek to divide Hindus and Muslims, notes Jyoti Punwani.
'Politics is playing a very big role in keeping communities apart in terms of religion,' says Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
'The Parivar's ideology and politics was and remains the very opposite of what Dr Ambedkar stood for.'
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