Articles

By K. Datta, IANS, See what an Olympic medal can do for you. If it happens to be a gold medal it can even fetch you a doctorate from a university as it happened in the case of Abhinav Bindra in Chennai. Till only the other day the media didn't think it worth its while talking to boxers or wrestlers. The Beijing bronze medals have changed all that. Now Vijender Singh and Sushil Kumar are much sought after by camerapersons and reporters. Even those who didn't win a medal, Akhil Kumar for one, are receiving flattering attention.

By Arun Kumar, By IANS,

By Nigar Ataullah for Twocircles.net Bengaluru: When you walk into the premises of the Banjara Academy, a counselling centre, you could be forgiven into believing...

By Gyanendra Kumar Keshri, New Delhi: Indian stocks are likely to witness extreme volatility during the trading week beginning Monday amid exit polls and...

By Sajid Anjum, Muslims are one-third of the world. How can they contribute to saving the earth? The world’s one-third population is not paying attention to their claim in associating themselves with their beloved Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) while He was the staunch advocator for the cause of environmental protection. According to Prophet (Hadith by Al-Bukhari) "There is none amongst the believers who plants a tree, or sows a seed, and then a bird, or a person, or an animal eats thereof, but it is regarded as having given a charitable gift”[for which there is great recompense].

By Nasiruddin Haider Khan I have been to Gujarat for the third time this year for my studies and work. Every time I have returned with a new experience. New dimensions get added to my database which I have gathered by reading and talking to others.

By Ram Puniyani, The ongoing elections have created turmoil and churning in the society at an unprecedented level. Media, social sites and whatever platforms are there, are full of the intense debate about the so called ‘Gujarat Model’ the failures of the UPA II and related issues. While there may be few who are sitting on the fence, a large numbers has made up their mind one way or the other. To ensure that most people vote Election Commission wrote to all the educational heads to appeal to their students to vote.

By Ehtasham Khan, They cried in unison when notorious Raj Thackrey and his henchmen started rioting against poor north Indian migrants in Mumbai and its adjoining areas. It appeared as if we were all against regionalism and its ugly politics. The fact, as it may seem so, is different. We all react as per our need. We all speak for our interest. It happens, at least in Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).

By Abul Kalam Azad, "History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce" - Karl Marx Trumpets blaring, announcing the ending of a prolonged beginning! Delirious...

By Anand Philar, IANS, It was only a sting, not a bite, and so it might turn out to be as Indian hockey attempts to cleanse itself of scandal and corruption. The Indian Olympic Association-appointed committee of grey-haired Olympians would like the country to believe that it would be so, but beneath the surface, precious little has changed or is likely to. The dissolution of the Indian Hockey Federation in the wake of the "Chak De" sting operation leading to the resignation of secretary-general K. Jothi Kumaran, has only served to throw the game into more turmoil.

By Mohammad Sajjad,

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS, The Maharashtra assembly elections have assumed an even greater importance for the Congress in the aftermath of its recent setbacks in the by-elections in Gujarat. Besides, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)'s good showing in Bihar, along with that of its junior partner, the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), has also been discomfiting to the party. The only way for the Congress to recover its poise is to fare well in Maharashtra, the home of India's financial capital Mumbai.

By Vinod Behl, IANS,

By Aadil Mir As a young journalist working in Delhi, I find it always irritating to face the frequent question from people - even strangers...

By TCN Special Correspondent, With the next assembly elections drawing nearer, cow seems to have become a `political tool’ in Gujarat.

By Maulvi Yahya Nomani, (Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)

By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net,

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,

By Shaik Zakeer Hussain, TwoCircles.net, Tamil Nadu is the land of regional Dravidian politics, where two dominant parties have held the reins of power for decades now. Though national parties like the Indian National Congress and BJP have had presence here for long, however their influence over the state and its people has been negligible. But is this election going to be any different, especially with the proclaimed Narendra Modi wave sweeping the country. If yes, how would it change the politics here, and if no, why.

By अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net 9 दिसम्बर की इस घटना की रिपोर्ट शायद ही पाठकों तक पहुंच पाई हो. जब संसद मार्च को निकले विभिन्न...

Dr Syed Zafar Mahmood, It's never too late to mend. Muslims take this with a pinch of salt in the context of the Congress' additional manifesto declared in respect of minorities welfare. Major recommendations of Sachar Committee and Mishra Commission whose implementation will have far reaching positive bearing on Muslim welfare have so far been swept beneath the carpet by the UPA II. But, now that the Congress has realized, though midway through the ongoing polling for Lok Sabha elections, that it is going to be pushed to the wall, it suddenly recalled what all Muslims have been reminding it all these years and months.

By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS, The numbers for the Indian Premier League (IPL) are not in, neither for the viewership nor the ones that balance the books. But be sure, when they are out, the former will be a cause for yet another party, and the latter a cause for some concern. There are lessons to be learnt from the inaugural edition. Next year there will be more time to sell and attract sponsors and, more importantly, a lot of expenses will come in for a severe scrutiny.

By Asghar Ali Engineer What is religion? It is simple but difficult question to answer. What is generally considered to be religion may be mixture of many things – superstitions, customs, traditions, cultural practices and so on. What is received generally by a believer is often blend of all this. For a believer all this is integral part of religion. Any violation of any of this is considered as violation of religion itself.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin) - The European Union is beginning this difficult week with the discussion of its financial problems, which are getting more serious with every passing day.

By Danish Khan,

By K. Datta, IANS

By Syed Zarir Hussain, IANS,

By Jasim Mohammad, Emergence of Sir Syed Ahamd Khan on Indian horizon was not an ordinary incident but has proved to be a mile stone in the history of the Indian sub-continent. Sir Syed Ahmad Khan began his life and work when the Mughal empire was on decline and the sun of British empire was rising fast. At that time Indian Muslims were standing on a cross road from where they were not getting any direction or guidance. In this bleak and dark scenario, emerged Sir Syed Ahmad Khan like a shining star.

By Ram Puniyani, Just a month ago (August 2014) a group of Muslim activists-scholars organized press meets in various cities. They issued a statement condemning the brutal violence being committed by ISIS. There statement carried a visual saying Islam Means Peace. The statement said “Indian Muslims Condemn the Brutal Atrocities by ISIS against Minorities in Iraq and Syria; denounce religious intolerance, persecution and violence in the name of Islam” I circulated the statement to many lists. One of the members on the list wrote back that “‘Islam means Peace’ is the biggest joke of the century”. Simultaneously in India, the propaganda about love Jihad is being spread like wild fire by communal elements. Irrespective of the fact that in such a propaganda few cases of marriage-conversion, the girls changing their version the boundary line between love and imposition being regularly breached, have been picked up as an example of Muslim men on a path to Jihad for conversion to Islam, by marrying Hindu girls by deceit. A friend demanded whether I can cite even 100 cases where Muslim girls have married Hindu men. To my good fortune I could locate a list longer than that of 100 and also a Google search of Hindu Men Muslim wife gave good many beautiful stories (https://www.facebook.com/R3alityofPorkistan/posts/613266692020533 ) of such ‘love jihad’ in reverse! To add to the already existing atmosphere Al Jawahiri of Al Qaeda issued a Video declaring its plan to expand the activities in India.

By M.R. Narayan Swamy, IANS,

By Sushma RamachandranGlobal crude oil prices are rising once again. And once again developing countries like India are going to be the worst hit....

By Syed Zubair Ahmad,

By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS

Although the Indian communists are using an ideological cover to explain their opposition to the nuclear deal, there may be another explanation for their obdurate stand. It is the depressing realisation in their ranks that they will never play a major role in Indian politics. As such, they seem to have only a limited stake in India's development.

By Imran Khan Patna: RJD chief Lalu Prasad, one of the main players in Bihar's murky politics for over two decades, is facing desertion...

Tens of thousands gather in a field, hundreds sleep on rail tracks on 12th Oct. to press the demand for AMU centre in Bihar district By Mohammad Mudassir Alam,

By Ofri Ilani

By Khalid Anis Ansari,

As many as 75 countries across the world have adopted the system. The operational term in many cases is not ‘Shariah’ but “interest-free” banking. By...

By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net, Diplomacy is not just about hype and hoopla as many of our television era journalists would like us to believe. It is a serious business and there is little scope for theatrics. Sometimes too much publicity and media-hype harms the larger cause of the nation.

By Vatsal Srivastava, IANS, The Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffet once said participants should treat market fluctuations as a friend rather than an enemy. Indian...

By Masoom Moradabadi, A court in UP has sentenced the accused of Lucknow and Faizabad bomb blasts, Maulana Tariq Qasmi, to life imprisonment. A fine of Rs100,000 has also been imposed on him. Another co-accused in this case, Maulana Khalid Mujahid, had already died in 2013 while in police custody.

By Manzar Imam Qasmi “See when I talk of secularism, I do not mean that only Muslims are secular. In fact 90 percent of Indians are secular”, this is how Maulana Asrarul Haque Qasmi defines the secular Iindia during an interview with CNEB news channel on 21 May 2009. The newly-elect Member of Parliament from Kishanganj constituency of Bihar, Maulana Qasmi may be a little less known figure in Indian politics. But for the people of Kishanganj he has always been the man who has stood for their cause.

By Amulya Ganguli, From the time in the 1960s when undeclared income, or black money, stashed away in foreign banks was said to constitute a parallel economy, the issue of unaccounted funds has remained a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

By Darryl D\'Monte, IANS I have two images of Baba Amte in my mind. The first is a ramrod-straight, weather-beaten Roman gladiator, perennially clad in a sleeveless, open-necked white vest and matching white shorts, ready to take on all odds - physical pain as much as social and environmental wrong-doings. The second is of him bed-bound, keeping an eagle eye on the 'dharna' that is milling around his cot, out in the open, in a dusty, tribal village in the heartland of India.

By Manoj Kumar, IANS,

By Syed Zafar Mahmood, There is general consensus in the world, and rightly so, that every terrorist must be given exemplary punishment. Kouachis too have met with their deserved fate. However, the well considered purposes of any punishment include retribution, incapacitation and deterrence. In the case of Kouachis, the first two have been more than fulfilled but what about deterring their kind of persons from committing similar crimes in future? Keeping that in mind if we simply feel content to have quickly caught and brought Kouachis to ‘justice’, we would be lamented by the posterity as short sighted and selfish – not adequately concerned with the welfare of the upcoming generations. What happened in Paris was not an isolated act of terrorism; it manifested a mindset we need to go deep into.

By Brajendra Nath Singh New Delhi: Demanding that the files on the mysterious death of Lal Bahadur Shastri be de-classifed on the lines of those...

By Dhirendra Sharma, IANS,

By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi, Commenting on the Editorial "The Message from Speedy Trials" of The Hindu dated 22nd March 2014 in the context of Mumbai Sessions Court's judgment in the Shakti Mills gang-rape case in which 4 accused got life imprisonment, Mr. Siddharth, an ordinary Indian man, raises valuable points. He says that these kinds of incidents will continue to happen unless we realize that the basic cause is the commercialization of lust brought about by films and pornographic industry. "Who dares to oppose them?"

By Mazher Hussain,

By Kul Bhushan, IANS, Cricket-loving Indians across the globe are ecstatic about the latest and greatest tournament under the Indian Premier League (IPL). This humongous extravaganza combines the glamour of Bollywood with the fanatic following of cricket among Indians across the world. The Twenty20 matches are as long as a Bollywood film and - hopefully - just as exciting. No wonder it has been dubbed as "Cricketainment".

By Dr Wasim Ahmad,

By Navaid Hamid,

By Sheikh Qayoom Srinagar: Panic stricken former militants and sympathizers of separatists have started migrating out of Kashmir's Sopore town following the killings of former...

By Kul Bhushan, IANS NRI investors are sharp. They waste no time in picking up stocks when the prices are down on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) -- and sell them quickly when the prices move up. The short-term investors know the game of making money on the BSE.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Pyotr Goncharov) - The world panics whenever Pakistan conducts a test of missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. A Muslim state with nuclear weapons and extremists is also testing missiles? But this criticism is hardly justified. What should Pakistan do if it has nuclear warheads? It couldn't possibly carry them by aircraft.