Laxmii is dull, boring, stale, unbearable, complains Moumita Bhattacharjee.
Controversy erupted at the World Cup after the International Cricket Council asked former India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to remove the dagger insignia from his wicket-keeping gloves.
Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday made a strong pitch for roping in organisations like those run by Catholic Church to bring development in Maoist-hit areas but asked them to respect the 'Lakshman Rekha' and not engage in "religious mobilisation".
Pravin Gaikwad, the state coordinator of Maratha Kranti Morcha, has two rare qualities: he has an unparalleled connect with people from his community and, at the same time, underpins his ideology on a strong analytical base.
Any defeat for the BJP now would imply that anti-incumbency against Modi has set in, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'Although Narendra Modi had no direct participation in the Ayodhya agitation, he would not have been in the dominant position he is now had it not been for the Ram Janambhoomi agitation.'
'The Rajapaksas have been in active politics for decades and survived many challenges, but they seem to have misread this one.'
"Bring an ordinance on Ram temple and fulfil at least one promise made to Hindus," said the party.
After the court exonerated him in the case, a happy Prof Joseph told Rediff.com over the phone, "I am very happy. I had no intentions of hurting anyone. When the protests happened I had given an unconditional apology to both the public and the college but it was not accepted. Today they know that I was innocent."
By sacrificing an important component of the right to free speech, we have strengthened the hands of the fundamentalists, the bigots and the publicity-seeking goondas. And of the hate-filled political establishment, points out Vir Sanghvi.
'The book was NOT banned. There were NO book burnings. There were NO riots. The author was NOT sent death-threats. On the contrary, the plaintiffs pursued due process. The case is a textbook example of how to proceed with civilised, democratic dissent,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Kamal Haasan's list of controversies is as long as his impressive filmography.
We celebrate January 26 as Republic Day because that's the day on which we adopted the Constitution in 1950. Yet, in the days preceding and following Republic Day 2021, three different courts violated the Constitutional rights of citizens, observes Jyoti Punwani.
The preferred course of action to challenge Wendy Doniger's many published works and polemical Hinduphobic statements is to debate it, Aseem Shukla tells Rediff.com's Arthur J Pais.
'The response to savagery and mass injustice is never a persistent howl.' 'There will be, among the victims, those who choose to forget the scars, those who go on living, those who challenge the overall environment of sentimentality.' 'And the more effort you put into including these other voices, into assimilating these spoilsports, the more balanced your depiction of the tragedy in question will be,' observes Sreehari Nair.
The Delhi Police on Thursday filed a first information report against the 'pro-Khalistan' creators of a 'toolkit', which was shared by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and others on Twitter in connection with the farmers' protest, alleging it aimed to wage a 'social, cultural and economic war against the Government of India'.
What happened within the last 40 years that turned this society from secular democratic to Hindu right-wing that clench their collective fists of spiritual nobility against the fictional enemy that never was? The internet happened, says Vinay Menon.
Two first information reports were registered by the police at Siyana police station in Bulandshahr -- one over cow slaughter and the other on the mob violence in which a village man was also killed.
Wednesday's expansion shows that Modi still has a keen eye on Bengal. The BJP is gearing up for the panchayat elections in Bengal next May and the Lok Sabha elections in 2024.
The spiritual head urged the government to legislate a special law and ban illegal slaughterhouses across the country.
The state BJP, meanwhile, has urged the government to drop its decision to celebrate Tipu Jayanti and not to stand on 'prestige' or 'ego'.
Dear Friend is for those who idealised Dil Chahta Hai all out of proportion, and then warmed up to the premise that friendship could be a lot more complicated, and transient, observes Sreehari Nair.
'With his stature as a playwright and actor, Girish Karnad was one of the voices of modernity for not just Karnataka but the entire country.'
The ministry of information and broadcasting on Saturday issued an advisory to all television channels and cable TV operators in the wake of the Supreme Court's Ayodhya verdict to adhere to programme code and ensure that debates, discussions and visuals do not incite any "divisive" or "anti-national" feelings.
'In a country like India, it is clear that respecting religions -- in politics or in the kitchen -- is disastrous,' says Amberish K Diwanji.
'Tamil Nadu is a paradox. We have more places of Hindu worship per square kilometres than any other place in the world. 'We break more coconuts for religious reasons everyday than any other place in the world.' 'At the same time, we also have a very strong Periyar-infused movement of rationalism.'
'The missile mounted near Kailash-Mansarovar is called DF-21. It is a medium-range, 2,200 kilometres ballistic missile. Its advantage is that it can cover all cities of north India, including New Delhi'
The apex court is hearing its two-decade-old 'Hindutva' judgement for an authoritative pronouncement on electoral law categorising misuse of religion for electoral gains as "corrupt practice".
The action against Zakir Hussain, a councillor from Shakar constituency in Kargil district, followed registration of a first information report against him by police on Friday even as the councillor submitted a public apology over his remarks, the officials said.
The SC asked the Kerala government to file its response during the day on an application against the three-day relaxation in COVID-19 restrictions in the state in view of the upcoming Bakrid festival.
Paintings of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, alleged to be "obscene", were on Friday removed from the exhibition hall of the fine arts faculty at the Maharaja Sayajirao University in Vadodara, after Vishva Hindu Parishad activists opposed its display and lodged a complaint in this regard.
The sports fraternity came out in support of Mahendra Singh Dhoni for wearing the dagger insignia on his wicketkeeping gloves during India's World Cup game against South Africa.
Voicing his displeasure over several incidents of mob violence in the country, he said, "Lynching is not the word from Indian ethos, its origin is from a story in a separate religious text. We Indians trust in brotherhood. Don't impose such terms on Indians."
'A speedy trial is absolutely essential.' 'Not only justice is given, it is given expeditiously.'
India's majoritarian regime is now making a dangerously fast-paced move towards theocracy, like its western counterpart did a few decades ago, warns Mohammad Sajjad.
Google India has blocked access to an anti-Islam film that has triggered violence in many countries and led to the killing of the United States ambassador in Libya, the government said on Sunday.
Modi said India has taken an important step forward in protecting its youth population against the disease.
Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran criticised those who were trying to give a communal colour to the tourism department tweet on the Kerala delicacy -- "Beef Ularthiyathu" and said in the southern state none links food with religion.
Neta app claims BJP is down to 212 seats from its 2014 tally of 282.
Today, the two countries, ruthlessly divided by the Radcliffe line that pierced their very heart, grapple with the political challenges of the present. Yet, when friendships develop there are no borders, observes Payal Singh Mohanka.
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