All laws have been modified to omit the domicile clause for property rights in the valley. This effectively means that anyone with enough money to spend can now technically buy property there, writes Sai Manish.
It is a tribute to India's democracy, however flawed, that the very same MPs who had harangued her intermittently from Opposition benches now surged towards her, anxiety writ large on their faces. One offered her some homoeopathic tablets, another advised her to stay seated, another grasped her hand wishing her good health... the crowd parted as Prime Minister Narendra Modi strode up to congratulate her. But it was mostly well-wishers from the Opposition and the NDA that kept the finance minister cocooned with good wishes until it was time to leave, reports Aditi Phadnis.
Responding to a series of questions on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir during Question Hour, Shah also asserted that not a single person has died in police firing after August 5 when the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir was scrapped.
The opposition parties also alleged that the gangster was killed to protect the UP government.
"Most Muslims were thinking that there was 99 per cent chance that the Ayodhya judgment will favour the waqf board. That's why we are feeling disappointed. This verdict is the most unexpected. We have no choice but to keep calm. What Allah does is, always, good for the community. As I said, there was more danger in store for us if we would have won the Ayodhya case."
The "halal" version of Facebook launched by Pakistanis last month after a ban was imposed on the social networking website for featuring blasphemous caricatures is going strong with 333,000 users having signed up at the last count.
Awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Shri, Pandit Jasraj also popularised semi-classical music like 'haveli sangeet' and reached out to devotees with his 'bhajans', a particular favourite for his fans being "Om Namo Bhagavate" in praise of Lord Krishna.
'Were they two yaars of yesteryears brought together again by fate?' 'Were they two crafty spies hoodwinking each other?' wonders B S Prakash.
Indrani exclaimed excitedly, her face lighting up like a little girl's: "I know him soo0o well." Sanjeev Khanna, Accused No 2, jokingly suggested to Badami: "Influencing the witness!" Badami retorted good humouredly: "She can't influence witnesses. She can only influence you and Peter."
Ghulam Rasool Khan alias Khan Mirza, the Afghanistani national who was recently arrested in Purnia district in Bihar for his alleged links with the Taliban, holds a Pakistani passport.According to sources, police have recovered a Pakistani passport, issued in 2005, and a diary from Khan. Acting on a tip-off by the IB, the police arrested Khan in Purnia on January 13, and he was brought to Patna for further interrogation.
Various state governments had announced free transportation and accommodation, including West Bengal that ran special metro service for candidates.
Scattered incidents of violence, including torching of buses and clashes, occurred and 1,600 people were arrested during the 12-hour bandh.
Though he went back to writing "beautiful scenes" for other Bollywood directors, his deep interest in the lives of ordinary citizens never slackened, evident from the way he made himself available to human rights groups whenever they called him.
Four Lashkar-e-Tayiba gunmen, who stormed into the Kabul guest houses packed with Indian officials, came clad in burqa to hide their strapped explosives and appeared to have a detailed knowledge including names of their intended Indian victims.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi also issued notice to the Centre's Land and Development Office on the plea of the AJL, publisher of the National Herald.
Here are some beautiful excerpts from Shaukat Azmi's book.
Zardari's "shut up" video mysteriously disappears from internet
Sarfraz's on-field taunt in Urdu was caught by stump microphones but he denied that they were aimed at South Africa all-rounder Andile Phehlukwayo or anyone else in an apology he issued on Thursday.
This is the first arrest under the Act which came into force in July 2017, replacing the 1982 vintage law, according to which an accused can face a maximum punishment of life imprisonment till death and his properties can be confiscated, police said.
Special Public Prosecutor in the 26/11 trial Ujwal Nikam was visibly upset over a report published in a Mumbai daily.
If the finance minister's tax proposals have stimulated demand at all, it's for CAs, notes Kanika Datta.
Khan's government will be the third consecutive democratic government in Pakistan since 2008.
Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud has claimed that controversial American security firm Blackwater was behind the deadly bomb attack on a market in Peshawar that killed 105 people on Wednesday. In an interview with BBC Urdu, he claimed that Blackwater and 'Pakistani agencies' were involved in attacks in public places, in an attempt to discredit the militants. Reports in the Pakistani media have claimed that Blackwater has established a presence in the country.
Presenting excerpts from Shaukat Azmi's beautiful book, Kaifi And I.
'Our great Indian nationalists are rousing passions against their own people, not against another nation. Our fraud nationalists go after their own citizens for their religion, or for their views. Their concern and their passion is the enemy within. That is not love of nation or love of anything else. It is hatred and it is bitterness,' says Aakar Patel.
The politicisation of ethnic sentiments in the state has coincided with the ascent of the BJP and increased activities of far right Hindu outfits, which organised rallies and other events on religious occasions such as Ram Navami a festival not very popular in West Bengal- unlike states in north India.
Now, as part of Transport for London's investment programme, the upgrade means all touch screen machines in every station will also offer Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, Greek, Gujarati, Hindi, Polish, Punjabi, Tamil, Turkish and Urdu. More than 300 languages are spoken in London and LU is now one of the world's leaders in providing a large range of language translations.
'By annoying the Arabs and cozying up to Iran, Pakistan may end up losing Arab economic support, annoying the Americans and increase Shia-Sunni tensions domestically,' Colonel Anil A Athale (retd) points out.
The Taliban rejected Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik's claim that they had killed commander Baitullah Mehsud's father-in-law and his kin on charges of espionage, while acknowledging they were in the militants' custody.
The ninth edition of Mijwan was a night to remember.
The legendary ghazal singer enthralled a jam-packed audience on the banks of the Dal Lake.
The official said the listeners of all the languages are sending messages through e-mails and WhatsApp to AIR. "The gist of the messages are that the people are considering this act of Pakistan as unIslamic as punishing innocent is against the tenets of Islam. Travellers are given high regards in Islam," the official added.
Here are the latest updates from the Valley.
As the battle in lawless Waziristan intensified, the Pakistan government on Monday raised the bounties on the heads of 19 Tehrik-e-Taliban terrorists, including its chief Hakimullah Mehsud to a whopping Rs 41 crore or USD 5 million.
'The credit (for the nuclear bomb) goes to me and my team because it was a very difficult task, which was next to impossible. But given the US and European pressure on our programme, it is true that had the Afghan war not taken place at that time, we would not have been able to make the bomb as early as we did,' Khan told the Aaj News Television.
The apex court, which delivered a historic verdict and put the curtains down on the vexatious legal battle that had torn the social fabric of the nation, said that dividing the land would not subserve the interest of either of the parties or secure a lasting sense of peace and tranquillity.
The editor of a local Urdu daily 'Awadhnama' has been granted bail.
Ever since the trial began in May, Kasab, a fourth standard dropout of an Urdu medium school, has been keenly observing the proceedings and picked up bits of English and even Marathi as witnesses, lawyers and the judge speak in these languages although the evidence is recorded in English.
The new bench comprises Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi and Justices S A Bobde, D Y Chandrachud, Ashok Bhushan and S A Nazeer.
Ahmen Khawaja mistakenly sent a 'Queen is dead' tweet on Wednesday.
