The bill was passed by voice vote on Tuesday night.
A day after a stampede in Hathras claimed 121 lives, Uttar Pradesh minister Asim Arun on Wednesday said the state government has started work on standard operating procedures (SOPs) for granting permission for large gatherings to prevent such incidents in future.
The avoidable stresses and strains in ties helped in one way. It showed for the entire region how a matured India handled diplomatic relations, especially with a smaller and suspicious neighbour, with practised dignity and patience, unruffled by provocations in word, deed and action, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
In a breather to about 17 lakh madrasa students, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed an order of the Allahabad high court that scrapped the Uttar Pradesh Board of Madarsa Education Act, 2004 calling it "unconstitutional" and violative of the principle of secularism.
The chief adviser alleged elections held under Hasina's regime were "rigged blatantly and generations of young people grew up without exercising their voting rights."
'It has been 14 years since I began living in exile and it's shocking that the situation in Balochistan has only worsened rather than improved.'
'The Indian government is better prepared this time and has reached out to all contenders and not putting all eggs in one basket.'
In private, questions are being raised about the wisdom of a 'dual-SIM' leadership during the long run-up to the 2026 assembly polls where 'family rule' could become an election issue, reports N Sathiya Moorthy.
'People worship Krishna. People don't worship Ved Vyas, who wrote the Mahabharata.' 'It's a cultural thing because we don't see the heroes behind the screen, we see the heroes who are in front of the screen.'
Representatives of Citizen and Society Development Welfare, who have given the slogan of Dharavi Banao Andolan, met Srinivas and submitted a memorandum seeking expedition of the survey being conducted in Dharavi.
The City of Toronto has formally apologised to the World Sikh Organisation of Canada for 'any delay' in reinstating the Sikh security guards whose services were terminated over a 'no-beard' policy.
On the night of July 5, the Tigers launched their first kamikaze operation. Miller took the wheels of the explosive-packed truck, smiled at everyone as he turned the ignition key and drove it slowly towards the Sri Lankan military camp. A few moments later all of Jaffna heard a thunderous explosion that brought the complex crashing down in clouds of dust. Miller had given birth to a deadly tactic that Prabhakaran would employ time and again with devastating consequences to Sri Lanka -- and India. A fascinating excerpt from M R Narayan Swamy's must read new book, The Rout Of Prabhakaran.
The Archeological Survey of India (ASI) on Wednesday urged a Varanasi court not to make its Gyanvapi mosque complex survey report public for at least four more weeks, according to the lawyer for the Hindu side.
According to eyewitnesses, the police arrived in the village before the incident took place, but the mob seized the victim from the SHO's custody and tied him to a tree, after which he was lynched to death.
The top court said the old practices of "human sacrifices" and 'sati' amounted to murder under law and could not be saved on ground of "essential religious practice".
In a significant directive, the home ministry said that state governments shall not impose any local lockdown outside the containment zones without prior consultation with the central government.
The leaders will also raise the issue of alleged "use of religious symbols" by the Bharatiya Janata Party in their campaign, they said.
Religious places and places of worship for the public, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality services along with shopping malls will be permitted to open from June 8, the ministry of home affairs said on Saturday. However, these facilities will not be able to resume operations inside containment zones designated by authorities in states, said a government notification.
'The time has come, my fellow citizens, for us to pause in our selfish little lives, take a breath, and contribute to creating this opportunity for fundamentalists to achieve their full potential,' says Mitali Saran.
The income-tax (I-T) authorities have tightened disclosure norms for charitable trusts. They now have to declare the nature of their activities from October 1 for tax purposes. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has notified changes in reporting rules where the charitable institutions have to mention whether the activities undertaken are charitable, religious, or both to claim tax benefits.
'Outside investors don't want to get tangled up in a religious war.'
Explore, engage, participate and excel in as many co-curricular activities and hackathons as possible to improve your self-confidence, communication skills and overall personality, advises rediffGURU Chocko Valliappa.
'What's sad today is that there are so many people who cannot find work, not because the country is devoid of that opportunity, but because we are not doing enough in the country.'
Where do Vijay and his TVK expect to get their votes from? Vijay has a huge fan following among women, but will they automatically become his voters like they had done for MGR's AIADMK, asks N Sathiya Moorthy.
https://www.rediff.com/news/report/with-195-incidents-up-still-the-hotbed-for-communal-violence/20180316.htm
'Who has seen what Sharia is? Who knows what actual Sharia is?'
It then went on to ask whether a lion could be named after Swami Vivekananda or Ramakrishna Paramahansa.
The Christian community, which has been critical of the Bharatiya Janata Party government following "attacks" on churches, on Friday welcomed US President Barack Obama's comments on religious intolerance in India, saying he spoke about the reality and pro-active action was required to ensure social harmony.
Obama made no reference to any country in his speech but said that his administration works to promote religious freedom around the globe.
An American court has ruled in favour of a decorated Sikh Army Captain who had demanded that the military accommodate his articles of faith.
The case has been registered against entities such as the Halal India Private Limited Chennai, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind Halal Trust Delhi, Halal Council of India Mumbai, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra and others for allegedly exploiting religious sentiments to boost sales by providing halal certificates to customers of a specific religion, the UP government said in a statement on Saturday.
Usman Khawaja suffered a setback after his appeal against the sanction imposed on him for wearing a black armband during the opening Test against Pakistan was rejected by ICC.
It noted that Article 15(5) of the Constitution does not empower the State to compel a minority educational institution to admit students from the Scheduled Castes or Scheduled Tribes or Backward Classes of citizens.
The Congress on Wednesday questioned the Election Commission's move to get a post on electoral bonds scheme deleted from social media platform X and said that the issue raised in the post makes the government 'extremely uncomfortable'.
Such a course would require a Constitutional Amendment, requiring a two-thirds majority in both Houses of Parliament. Even assuming that the INDIA combine comes to power at the Centre next year, a two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha could way off the mark for them, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Usman Australia's Usman Khawaja was reprimanded by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on Thursday for sporting a black armband after the global body's rules prevented him from wearing shoes with messages of support for Gaza in a Test against Pakistan.
The point made by sociologist M N Srinivas, that it represented a Sanskritic act that was linked to caste, is never raised in Indian debates and the disapproval of drink is almost universal, notes Aakar Patel.
Gujarat was labelled Hindutva's crucible and Modi was to become the chief 'chemist'. A revealing political saga excerpted from Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay's The Demolition, the Verdict and the Temple: The Definitive Book on the Ram Mandir Project.
'The 2024 election results will lead to much intense targeting of Modi, more intense debates, many more breakdowns in Parliament and many more movements on the streets.' 'The results have hit Modi's standing, and the politics of the Opposition parties will be sharply focused to ensure that Modi doesn't get back his charisma of being 'invincible' with help of State power.' Sheela Bhatt looks at the political situation through the prism of 2024 Lok Sabha election results.
'The Opposition parties will continue to woo Chandrababu Naidu even though he has said he will support the BJP.'