International cricket: It’s all about money, money, money
By Veturi Srivatsa, IANS,
A major offshoot of India unexpectedly winning the 1983 World Cup was that the Indian board was emboldened enough to...
Stakes for Elections 2014: Secularism or Democracy
By Mazher Hussain,
Finally we seem to have succeeded in dividing India, a country of a billion plus, into just two groups. Both groups claim to be secular. The only difference is that while one group accuses the other of being communal, the other brands the first group of being pseudo secular.
Bond market’s take on Indian election outcome
By Vatsal Srivastava,
As the world's largest democracy braces itself for the results of the ongoing general elections, due May 16, Indian equities already seem...
Realty industry has reason to expect better days
By Vinod Behl,
With projects worth over $100 billion stalled or abandoned due to poor sentiments, the realty industry in India expects better days ahead, riding on the mood generated by the political stability expected in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government. There are strong indications of that as well, with the realty index of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) rising almost 45 percent in May alone.
Jaitley’s budget mustn’t sell rupee short
By Vatsal Srivastava,
The Iraqi crisis and the possibility of an oil supply shock have shown how quickly things can change in the foreign exchange market. The global macro risks that have merged out of the Middle East in recent weeks have pushed crude prices higher by about five percent and this in turn has led to the rupee breach the all important psychological 60 mark to the dollar.
Xi visit to India: Symbolism should not score over substance
By Saurabh Kumar,
The focus of the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping later this week should be on tangibles - on mutually beneficial diversification and intensification of economic and cultural ties, tapping of all possible complementarities through imaginative arrangements and programmes. Not on political documentation, which there is a surfeit of already.
Pakistan again raises Kashmir in UN
By Arul Louis,
United Nations: Raising the Kashmir issue yet again at the UN, Pakistan dragged the UN Military Observer Group (UNMOGIP) into the current...
Jaitley’s clout has grown with latest cabinet expansion
By Arvind Padmanabhan,
That the defence portfolio will be taken away from Arun Jaitley was a given. The lawyer-politician, who will turn 62 next month, had himself said in as many words that it was an additional charge he was holding, which would be assigned to someone else at the first given opportunity.
India home to most poor, but poverty rate lowest: World Bank
By Arun Kumar
Washington: India was home to the largest number of poor in 2012, but its poverty rate was one of the lowest among...
SEZs: Government must clear misgivings before moving ahead
By Sushma Ramachandran
IANS
The controversy over the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) appears to be unending with the latest agitation at Nandigram highlighting the depth of feeling in this country over these new entities. The disturbances have taken place even though West Bengal has dropped the idea of SEZs for Nandigram and Singur.
The three circles of American Muslims
By Anis Hoda
Stars, stripes and the Crescent : a series on American Muslims.
Muslim quotas in AP
By Aariz Mohammed
Â
It is the duty of the State to evolve criteria to identify ‘Backward Classes’ Irrespective of Caste, Religion, race, Sex and place of birth in accordance with the Philosophy of the Indian Constitutionalism.
Pakistani nukes and global hazards
By Alexander Koldobsky, IANS
The word "nuclear" has a way of quickening people's pulse. The recent earthquake in Japan would have been just another earthquake, but the fact that it set off a fire at the world's most powerful nuclear reactor, which subsequently leaked radioactive material, grabbed the headlines.
Pakistan, which has recently experienced a metaphorical earthquake in the form of Islamist terror, would also barely merit a mention on the inside pages if it were not for that country's nuclear arsenal.
Sixty years of freedom, one hundred fifty years of struggle
By Kaleem Kawaja
India's Independence Day this year marks full sixty years of freedom from the colonial yoke. Also it marks the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of India's first war of independence in 1857. It marks one hundred fifty years of the struggle of the Indian masses to remove the domination of foreign control on their society, their ethos, their educational system, their economy and their place among the comity of nations.
Prepare youth to be the leaders of tomorrow
By Nathan Render, CG News Service
What do religious extremists and interfaith youth organisers have in common? A lot more than one might think.
College students begin their search for summer internships with enthusiasm and excitement at the opportunity to make an impact. Unfortunately, many end up doing busywork, unable to share their skills and talents. Still, these overworked, underpaid students are motivated to find meaning in their jobs. Most are trying to find purpose in their lives as they transition from childhood to adolescence, and ultimately adulthood.
Endgame in Afghanistan and the Musharraf factor
By Brig Arun Sahgal (retd) and Rahul Bedi
The United States' apparent determination to somehow ensure a second term in office for Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf is closely linked to Washington's efforts to 'manage' Afghanistan that is fast spiralling out of its control.
Information pieced together from diplomats as well as military and Western security sources reveal that the US is embarked on a course to orchestrate the 're-coronation' of Musharraf in return for his assistance in brokering a deal with the 'good' and 'moderate' Taliban.
Explaining shari’a
By Noah Feldman
Last month, Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, gave a nuanced, scholarly lecture in London about whether the British legal system should allow non-Christian courts to decide certain matters of family law. Britain has no constitutional separation of church and state.
Who speaks for German Muslims?
By Loay Mudhoon
The German Islam Conference has achieved its first concrete result: Muslim religious education will be introduced as a subject in German schools from next year. The move was agreed upon by representatives of the state and its Muslim population – in spite of what was sometimes a bitter controversy. A number of Muslim participants wanted to see a different kind of religious education – the sort of neutral education about Islam which half the German states already offer.
Will the Nepali Maoists go the Hamas way?
By Shylashri Shankar, IANS,
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) pulled off an upset over the traditional ruling parties such as the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML) in the elections to the Constituent Assembly (CA).
Once the results for the 240 seats decided on first-past-the-post and the 335 seats decided on the basis of the proportional electoral system are tallied, the Maoists are likely to be the single largest party.
South Asia’s tryst with democracy here to stay
By Harold A. Gould, IANS,
In our understandable preoccupation with the political events unfolding in Pakistan, we may be doing an injustice to an equally compelling process that is taking place across much of South Asia. While we focus our attention on the struggle of democracy to emerge in Pakistan, on India's western frontier, very little notice has been taken of a comparable democratic process that is struggling to be born in Nepal, on India's northern frontier.
Are conditions ripe for negotiating with Iran?
By Steven Kull,
A number of serious voices are saying it is time for a new approach on Iran. Senator Diane Feinstein and former high-level US government officials have called for the United States to enter into negotiations with Iran without preconditions, at the same time proposing ideas to surmount the current impasse over Iran's nuclear program. Combined with new polling suggesting that public opinion in Iran and the United States echo these views, conditions appear to be ripe for renewed efforts to improve US-Iran relations.
Cynicism, casteism haunt women’s reservation bill
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Since electoral considerations rather than a genuine desire for women's empowerment were behind the latest move to revive the 12-year-old legislation for reserving parliamentary and assembly seats for women, its fate may be no different from what happened earlier.
The very manner in which the measure was introduced in the Rajya Sabha, with several women MPs shielding the law minister from unruly critics when he tabled the bill, showed that its passage would not be easy.
Dip in industrial growth: time to change gears
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS,
It's more bad news for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government on the economic front, even as it looks forward to the general election in 2009. Industrial growth has dipped to a six-year-low of three percent in March this year. Coupled with raging inflation, the economic outlook is far from satisfactory at a time when both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram were expecting to pat themselves on the back for a great five-year performance.
At least 14 dead in mounting South Africa xenophobic violence
By Xinhua,
Johannesburg : The death toll in a week-long wave of xenophobic violence in South Africa rose sharply over the weekend as reports of people being burnt and beaten to death poured in from squatter camps around the business capital Johannesburg.
The police said that 12 people were killed over the weekend as shack dwellers in one poor community after another turned on migrants living in their midsts, beating them, sometimes fatally, torching their homes and looting their possessions.
An empowered agency can control terrorism
By N.R. Madhava Menon, IANS,
How does one characterise the predicament of the country today with terrorist attacks continuing unremittingly? There has been no proper response that is capable of instilling some sense of fear in terrorists and a degree of security for the people.
The nation seems unable to act decisively to control the menace on the ground that the constitution would not allow the centre to take on issues relating to law and order or that a stricter law may be misused by state governments.
PM scores a morale-boosting goal for Indian hockey
By K. Datta, IANS,
Prime minister Manmohan Singh meant to cast no aspersions on cricket when he revealed he was no devotee of the game. He was only voicing the feelings of millions of people, the 'aam admis', as politicians with an eye on votes describe them, a class of people among whom there is little fervour for the so-called religion of cricket. These masses, less articulate than cricket fans, are drawn more to games like hockey and football.
Bangladesh government’s clean up act might backfire
By Sreeradha Datta, IANS,
The Bangladesh caretaker government is not giving up. This time it's a month-long nationwide drive against crime that has been launched. Beginning from May 30, over 12,000 have been arrested in the first week. The numbers will only multiply over the next few weeks.
Obama finds more support among Indians the world over
By Kul Bhushan, IANS,
Having faced racial prejudice at one time or another, many Indians across the globe have expressed support for Barack Obama as the Democratic candidate for US president.
Although Hillary Clinton would have been the first woman in this office, which too would have been pathbreaking, Obama as the first possible non-Caucasian US president seems more popular with Indian origin people in the US and in other countries.
Why Jammu burns after Kashmir burnt
By Balraj Puri,
Soon after taking over his assignment as the Governor of J&K state NN Vohra, made first overture to ease the situation in the valley by offering to surrender the land the state government allotted to the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board of which he is the ex-officio head. It immediately caused a backlash in Jammu region when the BJP and other Hindu organizations called for a Bandh and led protest marches.
Dividing Jerusalem
By Uzi Benziman, CGNews,
On June 9, 1967, two days after Israel Defence Forces (IDF) troops reached the Western Wall, Anwar al-Khatib, the Jordanian official responsible for administering the Jerusalem district, was whisked away to the Ambassador Hotel in the eastern part of the city for a meeting with IDF General (res.) Chaim Herzog, who only minutes earlier had been appointed the military governor of the West Bank.
Shebaa Farms can create momentum for peace
By Cesar Chelala, CGNews,
Shebaa Farms is a sliver of land located in the border area between Israel, Lebanon and Syria. It can play an important role, much larger than its size. An agreement on that area – located some 16 square miles on the western slopes of the Hermon Mountain range – can help create a much-needed momentum for peace in the region.
Sign language over cell phones now possible in US
By IANS,
Washington : A Washington University team has developed a software that enables deaf or hard-of-hearing Americans to use sign language over a mobile phone video link.
The real-time video communication between cell phones, demonstrated for the first time in the country, has evoked tremendous response from the aurally challenged since its posting on YouTube.
"A lot of people are excited about this," said principal investigator Eve Riskin, a professor of electrical engineering at the Washington University (WU).
Terror in Delhi – will the political leadership be found wanting again?
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
The multiple terror attacks that struck the national capital Saturday is the fifth such lethal attack since May this year. In the last four months, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmedabad within the country and the Indian embassy in Kabul have been targeted. This begs the obvious question: is the Indian state unable or unwilling to prevent such attacks and protect its citizens?
The related issue is: what is the way ahead in a robust democracy that otherwise sees itself as an emerging major power in the Asian and global grid.
Nanavati Report on Godhra Tragedy: Erasing the obvious truths
By Ram Puniyani
Recently Justice Nanavati-Mehta (N-M) submitted their report to Govt. (Sept 2008). What it has done must be very close to the desire of the ruling establishment which reaped a rich harvest due to the Godhra train burning and the anti Muslim pogrom in the aftermath of the same.
‘Eichmanns’ with Z-class security propel repetitive terror
By NM Sampathkumar Iyangar
Adolf Eichmann, the genius scientist who invented the gas chamber for the Nazis as a ‘perfect solution’ to end the ‘Jew menace’, remained incognito for 15 years after Nazis fell. When he was captured in a covert act by the Mossad in Argentina, Argentina and even UN initially said it as “violation of the sovereign rights of the Argentine Republic.”
Narayana! Narayana!! Prescription by India’s ‘terror experts’!!!
By Sampathkumar Iyangar,
Whatever be the continually sliding rank of India is in indicators like human development index, there can be no dispute that it ranks high in number of 'experts'. Thanks to 'expert' legislators and bureaucrats who usurped control as the British gladly vacated the no-more-lucrative colony, India enjoys top rank in terms of number laws, their total length, antiquity as well as rate of proliferation of new laws.
Perils in Parallels
By Shakeel Syed,
Calling Mumbai tragedy, an "India's 9/11" is parallel to the chatter of Texan cowboy. Indian Babus, I believe, ought to be smarter than that. 9/11 lexicon is now proven to be perilous.
The ashes in Mumbai raise more questions than the number of dead from several countries. It was an international tragedy. The Indian Government is partly responsible for its sorrowful state of intelligence and law enforcement.
Whispers of sanity in the frenzy of madness
By Shobha Shukla, CNS
It was indeed refreshing to hear the views of Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, a Right Livelihood award recipient, on the politics of terrorism. He rightly believes that terrorism is not born of any religion, but is the outcome of political situations.
In India, the demolition of the Babri Masjid triggered the spate of terrorist activities in the country. The Indian government’s pro America stance aggravated the situation further, with America getting a lot of flak for its activities in Afghanistan and Iraq . All this prepared the soil for volatile activities.
Vote share of national parties actually slipping
By Gilles Verniers, IANS,
A quick look at the vote shares of the many contenders in the 15th Lok Sabha elections tells us quite a different story from the one told about the United Progressive Alliance's landslide victory. Not only have the national parties not increased their vote shares nationally, it appears that very small local players in many states have played a determining role in the Congress' victory by splitting the opposition vote.
Camelot or estrangement: US-India relations in Obama era
By Harold A. Gould, IANS,
Hillary Clinton, America's Secretary of State in the Obama administration, made her pilgrimage to India (July 17-21) for the purpose of determining the nature of the relationship which the world's two largest democracies will pursue with each other now that the George W. Bush administration has run its course.
There is a touch of almost romantic irony in the fact that for the first time in US history the country's foreign policy has been conducted in sequence and across successive administrations by women secretaries of state.
Rajya Sabha merely enforced its code in suspending 7 MPs
By M.R. Madhavan, IANS,
Some members of the Rajya Sabha tore papers on the chairman's desk Monday while protesting the women's reservation bill. Tuesday the house took action against them by suspending them for the rest of the budget session.
Parliamentary procedures and etiquettes are carefully crafted to permit all members to contribute to debates in a constructive manner. This implies that objections may be raised to an issue with the permission of the chair. This also implies that members should listen to others who may have a different point of view.
Manmohan Singh’s second term: Drift, disunity, unfulfilled expectations
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Expectations about the Manmohan Singh government performing better in its second term as the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) completes a year since it returned to power are yet to be fulfilled. It was hoped that a more secure majority in parliament and the absence of an obstructionist Communist bloc would enable the prime minister to push ahead faster with economic reforms and provide more purposeful governance.
Government’s anti-Maoist policy mired in confusion
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Notwithstanding Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's description of the Maoist insurgency as the gravest internal threat faced by India, the government seems unsure about how to proceed against the leftwing rebels. As a result, the Maoists seem to have gained the upper hand at present, carrying out their acts of depredation - killing security personnel and blowing up railway lines - with impunity while the government gives the impression of helplessness.
Ujanmaidan – where 14 tribal women were raped in 1988
By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net,
He asked me if he’ll die or live: Hangal’s son
By IANS,
Mumbai: A.K.Hangal's son Vijay says he was speechless when the veteran actor asked him whether he will live through his ordeal in the hospital.
Court verdict on presidential reference boost for reforms
By Rohit Bansal and Manoj Kumar, IANS,
Ukraine crisis throws up a lot of trading opportunities
By Vatsal Srivastava,
British foreign secretary William Hague has termed the recent events in Ukraine as the "biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century".
However,...
Special Social Development Corridor can ensure inclusive growth
By Sachi Satpathy,
Can the new NDA government break the existing political vendetta in the administrative system and open space for all chief ministers, irrespective of their political affiliation, to collectively work and take ownership of the much-awaited nation building process and help achieve the much needed growth in selected worst performing states on major human development indicators? In this direction, a national program with focus and complete concentration on specific areas and issues can be an option to bring balanced inclusive growth in the country.
Ebola: No panic movement by Indians from West Africa
By Francis Kokutse,
Accra: There is no panic movement out of West Africa by Indian nationals living in the region following the spread of the...
India largely lacks innovation skills
By Amit Kapoor,
Entrepreneurship and innovation are intrinsically linked with growth and development of any economy. Newer ways of competing define not just innovation but are also intrinsic to the very idea of capitalism. India of late is realizing this paradigm of innovation. How real is it? There are several organizations (the likes of ISRO, DRDO, various CSIR labs, L&T) that are engaged in and are doing path-breaking work. These are in several areas like space science (the Mangalyaan mission which has been described by China as the Pride of Asia) amd technological innovations (weapon systems co-developed by L&T and Indian Navy). A grassroots innovation movement has also taken strong shape in India. Newer frameworks like ‘jugaad innovation’ have become buzzwords. There is also a paradigm of ‘Reverse Innovation’ in which companies are innovating in India or a developing world context and once the innovation has taken proper shape, introducing it to the developed market.
Delhi HC notice on school management quota issue
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notice to the city government on a petition questioning its decision to scrap management quota...
Summer safaris and spirituality for NRIs
By Kul BhushanUnlike most NRIs who would not go to India during summer, Siddharth 'Sid' Verma landed in New Delhi this month. With temperatures...
A president should be someone with a vision for India
By Shekhar Tiwari
India is in the thick of electing a new president and the time could not be more opportune to reflect on the qualities we must look for in the new leader even though the office is more symbolic than executive. It is disheartening to notice that the entire debate on the presidential election ends up focusing on the superfluous, the partisan and the non-essential.
Rise of Fascist forces in India
Independent People's Tribunal on Rise of Fascist Forces and the Attack on the Secular State
By Anhad Delhi
Groundbreaking event in Muslim-Christian solidarity
By Claude Salhani, CGNews
"The future of the world depends on peace between Muslims and Christians." An open letter carrying this message was sent by 138 of the world's most senior Muslim leaders to the heads of all Christian churches — including Pope Benedict XVI, addressing Christians around the world on the eve of Eid ul Fitr, the Muslim holy day marking the end of Ramadan.
Benazir’s Assassination: A Tragedy Foretold
By Sreeram Chaulia, IANS
The assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Benazir Bhutto by snipers and suicide bombers Dec 27 in Rawalpindi has left the world shell shocked. One could see it coming, though, as a predictable outcome of the tailspin into which Pakistan's polity and society have hurtled through incessant militarisation. Beyond the semantics about derailment of democracy, Benazir's violent end brings into sharp relief the inseparability of Pakistan's governance and social life from Kalashnikov and jehad culture.
Scholarships for minority students
Andalib Akhter, Journalist
Keeping its promise to share the fruit of development with all section of society, the UPA government at centre on Wednesday generously approved a handsome amount for the educational upliftement of minorities in the country.
Come to save country from communal claws
By Tanveer Jafri
India which teaches world the lesson of love, harmony, tolerance and co-existence, is passing through a phase of political infection these days. There is no doubt that there is an atmosphere of peace prevalent in the greatest democracy of the world. At the same time, however, some extremist powers and organizations are active spreading poison in the name of religion, and many a time undertake violent and inhuman activities which worry the peace-loving society of the country.
Budget will spur sustainable, inclusive growth
By Lt Gen (retd.) S.S. Mehta, IANS
The budget 2008-09 has taken the necessary steps to boost consumer demand and revive manufacturing in the light of emerging global slowdown and inflationary pressures. The strategy to revise upwards the slabs for personal income tax, reduce excise on key items and reduce Cenvat from 16 percent to 14 percent will help bolster flagging consumer demand, and consequently favourably impact the consumer durables segment.
Urdu must be kept alive, and not just on FM and films
By Firoz Bakht Ahmed, IANS
The head of a government-run primary Urdu medium school in Delhi made a shocking revelation recently. Last year Urdu books were not available till October although schools opened in the summer and Urdu is a second language in the city along with Punjabi.
And this is just one of the many problems confronting Muslims towards quality education.
Management of contradictions key to India-Pakistan stability
By C. Uday Bhaskar, IANS,
The just concluded visit of Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee to Islamabad (May 20-21), and the tenor of domestic developments in both India and Pakistan over the past week, suggest that many opposing impulses are at play in both polities and that astute management of these multiple contradictions will hold the key to nurturing stability in the troubled bilateral relationship.
India needs economists to manage economic affairs
By Syed Zahid Ahmad,
It is better to see Dr. C. Rangarajan resigning as chief of Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC). He might be eying a bright career as consultant for new growing business of financial inclusion. This way he might have escaped from facing the utter failure of UPA government on economic front.
Changes brought by Games highlight scientific outlook on development
By Huo Xiaoguang, Yuan Zhenyu, Meng Na, Xinhua,
Beijing : With the Beijing Paralympic Games in full swing, people in the Chinese capital are not only experiencing the same enthusiasm for sport in full-packed competition venues as during the Beijing Olympic Games, but also enjoying the same cheerful living environment, including blue skies, clean air and smooth city traffic.
This is because the city has continued to enforce a series of environment-friendly and traffic control measures, introduced in late July in the final run-up to the Olympics.
Waiting for the promised
‘CHANGE’
By M. Burhanuddin Qasmi,
The Muslim world has no illusions that the new US president is going to be a ‘liberator’ for the dieing, war-prone people around the glob. People know it well, he does not have ‘Aladdin’s stick’ with him nor does he belong to an imaginary ‘superman’ category. But they rightly hope, he will be more fair and even-handed when it comes to the conflicts, and end the tension that started between Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Washington under the Bush brigade.
Media frenzy must end: Australia not an unsafe place for Indians
By Rajni Luthra, IANS,
Most Indian homes in Australia have had this phone call from concerned family in India by now. "Are you alright? What are they doing to you guys over there?" It's almost as if Australian gangs are roaming the trains seeking out Indians to bash up, or roaming the streets seeking out Indian homes to throw petrol bombs into.
"Stay safe," the relatives are saying over the phone from across hundreds of miles. "Don't go out alone at night; don't take 'pangas' with others on the trains ..."
Can tropical forests save the world?
By Nalin Srivastava, IANS,
Expectations about a new global climate deal have reached a fever pitch with only a few weeks to go before the start of the 15th annual United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen to finalise a global climate pact beyond 2012, when the first term of the Kyoto Protocol will expire.
BJP unity will now be at expense of moderates
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The premature exposure of the Liberhan Commission's report on the Babri Masjid demolition may have given the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day to put its thoughts together. But the extra time wasn't of much help since the earlier revelations proved to be reasonably accurate after the report itself was placed before parliament on Tuesday.
Nor was this turn of events unexpected since the "leaks" were published and telecast by reputed newspapers and television channels. There was no reason to suspect, therefore, that they were wide off the mark.
Congress-BJP pact on n-liability bill is sign of political maturity
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
Notwithstanding minor differences over the draft of the nuclear liability bill, the fact that the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - and even the Left - are on the same page on its passage through parliament is a positive sign.
Considering that the BJP had sided with the Left in 2008 to oppose the India-US nuclear deal, its decision to team up with the Congress this time is more than a reappraisal of its earlier stance. It shows that the BJP has become mature enough to put aside partisan interests for a national cause.
Whither urban development? Bleak future stares at India’s cities
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
A New Delhi newspaper reported last Thursday that local authorities received 117 complaints of waterlogging, five of falling trees and six of building collapses, in one of which a four-year-old boy was killed. A school bus carrying 35 children became so deeply "embedded" in a road that a crane had to be called in, but it, too, got stuck. There was another report of a road caving in. Since it was in an area where several embassies are located, the incident will not send a flattering image of India abroad.
Batla House encounter – Justice in waiting
By Afroz Alam Sahil (translated from Urdu by Rehan Ansari),
Tendulkar and Dhoni can stop this overkill of cricket
By Veturi Srivatsa, IANS,
The killing cricket schedule is unsparing, and when it comes to the Indian Premier League (IPL) cash cow, even the players are not complaining of overkill.
‘Documentary “An American Mosque” needs to be seen by people across the globe’
By Ras H. Siddiqui,
California: Many people in this country are not aware that South Asians came to the United States over a century ago. They gravitated to California and more specifically in the Yuba City and Live Oak areas near the state capital of Sacramento long before British India was partitioned in 1947 into what became India and Pakistan. The vast majority of these immigrants were Sikhs but they also contained a significant Muslim population and the Hindus amongst them ranked third in terms of numbers. The Muslim Mosque in Sacramento has catered to community needs since 1947 but distance and the need for catering to an aging population of worshippers, growth in numbers due to family reunification, other forms of immigration, plus marriages outside the community necessitated the building of more localized Mosques, like a project started in the early 1990’s in Yuba City.
On safety, small-car-makers must look beyond pricing
By Rohit Bansal, IANS,
Some years ago in the US, Saurabh Narain, a top banking executive, was hit by a distracted trucker. His BMW turned...
European Central Bank has acted strongly to combat deflation
By Vatsal Srivastava,
The markets began 2014 looking to move in the direction of how two underlying themes play out - the "great rotation" and the "great normalisation". Asset managers were bullish on equities. Since the financial crisis, money had largely been pumped into debt and as a gradual recovery gathered pace, this "great rotation" would push equities higher (above their 2013 highs) as money flowed from bonds to stocks.
The Gandhis must vacate for an opposition to take shape
By Saeed Naqvi,
After the vigorous opening speech in the Lok Sabha by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sonia Gandhi's rump of a party looked even more battered and bruised.
BJP now wants to rule Haryana
By Jaideep Sarin ,
Chandigarh: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Haryana had always played second fiddle to regional players in the state. But with...
Modi sends Advani, BJP old guard into exile
By Amulya Ganguli,
In the Hindu way of life, old age entails exile from home and hearth. As the Manu Smriti says, when a man sees "his skin wrinkled and his hair gray and when he sees the son of his son, then he should resort to the forest".
Israel and Saudi Arabia in a jam in Gaza
By Saeed Naqvi,
The US decision to launch limited air strikes to check the ISIS in Iraq and the Gaza initiatives in Cairo are obviously linked.
To understand the collective Arab panic over the Gaza ceasefire, an overview is required.
States as magnets for investment
By Amit Kapoor,
The theory that developing countries should attract investments is based on the fact that investments, especially FDIs have immense ability to raise the standard of living of the people. FD’s continued to be the most significant foreign inflows to developing countries in 2014. If the inflows to China are taken out of the equation, FDIs become the second largest inflows after remittances. India accounts for roughly $71 billion out of the $608 billion expected to be remitted to countries, according to the World Bank, in 2014. China is at a close second and is expected to have remittance flows of $64 billion.
Walks to remember: Memories of Kalam
By Radhika Bhirani
New Delhi : "What would you want to be when you grow up," he asked. "Sir, I just hate maths...
Do we have a new energy Cold War?
By Bhamy V. Shenoy
Ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a pipeline deal in May this year with the presidents of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to transport their gas through Russia to Europe, there has been a cacophony on the new energy Cold War. Is this really an energy war? And is it even new? How is India placed to play its role in this energy war?
Cynicism of ‘secular’ parties helps Hindu, Muslim extremists
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
As if to show that Hindu extremism too is alive and well, the Shiv Sena of Mumbai followed up the Islamic fundamentalist Majlis-e-Ittehadul-Muslimeen's (MIM) attack on Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen by ransacking the offices of Outlook magazine for depicting Sena chief Bal Thackeray as a villain.
Dark clouds over Manmohan Singh government are lifting
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
The immediate threat to the Manmohan Singh government over the civil nuclear deal with the United States seems to have disappeared. For a start, it has been able to work out a formula for pacifying the belligerent Left parties by setting up a committee to examine the deal. But it is clearly no more than a typical delaying tactic to defuse the situation and doesn't mean the pact is about to be scrapped.
It is really a step that will enable the Left to claim that it has not been roundly rebuffed.
Instability raises questions on Pakistan’s future
By Rahul Bedi, IANS
A steady collapse of governance across Pakistan and the resultant loss of state control over large swathes of its territory have heightened insecurity in the country, triggering ominous portents for the future.
The Pakistani state - represented almost exclusively by the army and the larger security apparatus - exercises limited control over the western Balochistan province, parts of neighbouring Sindh province and portions of North West Frontier Province (NWFP).
Is India aligning in a new Cold War?
By Sreeram Chaulia, IANS
Even as Russo-American tensions smoulder from Eastern Europe and Central Asia to the Arctic seabed, the US Secretary of State is denying the onset of a renewed Cold War. Yet, unmistakable signals of a counter-balancing effort by Russia and China were sent last month through the largest-ever war games of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a six-nation anti-US alliance.
NRI passengers look for way out of the fog
By Kul Bhushan, IANS
The tourism promotion slogan 'Incredible India' can take a whole new meaning when NRIs land at Delhi or Mumbai this winter. Between Dec 10 and around Jan 15 each year, flights are badly affected by the dense fog in Delhi. As most flights from Europe and the US carrying full loads of NRIs and tourists arrive in the early morning when the fog is very dense they are sometimes diverted to other airports - as far away as Mumbai.
Magnetic power more than form gets Sehwag in team for Australia
By Veturi Srivatsa, IANS
There is some inexplicable magnetic power in Virender Sehwag that seems to attract successive India captains to strongly plead for his inclusion in the India team.
First, Sourav Ganguly not only fought for him to be included in the squad as a middle-order batsman but also created a place for him in the eleven by forcing him to open the innings on the 2002 England by dropping the regular opener Shiv Sundar Das. Sehwag justified his captain's confidence in him and poor Das' international career ended then and there.
Punishment on Harbhajan was too harsh: Qamar Ahmad
Punishment on Harbhajan was too harsh: Qamar Ahmad
Veteran cricket journalist Qamar Ahmad has seen ups and downs in world cricket from close range. He has covered 711 ODIs, a record in the history of cricket journalism. In an encounter with TwoCircles.net, he assesses Sydney cricket disaster: poor umpiring, Australians’ behaviour and Harbhajan’s case.
TCN: You have covered more cricket matches than any other journalist in the world. How many test matches have you covered? What are your future plans?
Healing Separation
By Lila Sophia Tresemer
In October 2006, a group of women from the Holy Land gathered in Colorado to co-create a Middle Eastern village experience—living, eating, and learning together. The women came from a wide variety of backgrounds: Jewish (several were religious, others secular and some pagan), Arab (Druze, Muslim, Christian and pagan), as well as women from the US with a range of cultural identities.
Will Muslim veil split secular Turkey?
MOSCOW. (Alexander Bakustin, RIA Novosti) - The Turkish parliament recently adopted a government bill lifting a decades-old ban on wearing the hijab - a headscarf used by Muslim women to cover their hair.
This revolutionary change has already caused fierce disputes between different classes of Turkish society, and may eventually split it altogether.
The Anti Terror Fatwa: but who is listening?
By Salil Kader,
31st May 2008 was an important day for all those opposed to acts of terrorism being carried out around the world and which are wrongly attributed to Islam and its teachings.
Will anyone ask for Bob Houghton’s head now?
By K. Datta, IANS,
Baichung Bhutia's men had done well enough in Hyderabad till the mud and slush at the Gachibowli Stadium became so unplayable as to force the organisers to shift the final to Delhi. They did even better on a drier, greener turf in the capital by winning the AFC Challenge Cup and qualify for the Asia Cup after 24 years.
US-Russia Escalation at heights over US missile deal with Poland
By IRNA,
Tehran : Escalation between Washington and Moscow reached its heights when the United States signed a deal with Poland to house the 10 interceptor missiles as part of the defense shield whose directional radar is to be sited in the Czech Republic.
The US and Polish officials say the timing of the deal had nothing to do with events in Georgia, but no one is going to believe this, least of all the Russians who will inevitably see it as a further gauntlet thrown down by the Bush administration.
Is India an outlet for Sotheby’s unsold art?
By Uma Nair, IANS,
Did international auction house Sotheby's bring famed contemporary artist Damien Hirst's works to India because a "mountain" of unsold works lies in wait in London? Is Sotheby's looking at India to sell hitherto unsold art?
These are the questions being asked by art critics and collectors in India, but a declaration Friday by the Bloomberg publication announced that Damien Hirst's London dealer White Cube has denied it has a "mountain" of unsold works before a Sotheby's sale that previewed in the Hamptons and New Delhi two days ago.
US attacks could have serious implications for Pakistan
By Wilson John, IANS,
Three days before Pakistan elected its 14th president, on Sep 3, at 3 a.m., two CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters landed in the village of Zawlolai in South Waziristan with ground troops from the US Special Forces. The troops fired at three houses and killed over 17, including five women and four sleeping children.
Election results bode well for Congress
By Gilles Verniers, IANS,
With election results in five states in, it appears that the Congress party will be quite unaffected by the recent economic slowdown and the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. This could bode well for the party for the next general elections which are due in April/May next year.
Interim budget a tale of delayed policies
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS,
An interim budget by an interim finance minister, in the midst of a global financial meltdown, is surely an extraordinary event by itself. No wonder then that all of us who were waiting with bated breath for an immediate solution to the country's economic crisis were sadly let down.
A hockey victory to rejoice after gloom
By Veturi Srivatsa, IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian hockey team's victory at Ipoh, jubilantly holding aloft the Azlan Shah Cup Sunday evening, is a cause for rejoicing as it has to been in the context of what has happened in the last three years.
First, India were humiliated at the 2006 Doha Asian Games finishing out of the medal bracket and then disaster struck them at Santiago when they failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years.
Activists oppose reintroduction of land acquisition and resettlement bills
By Bobby Ramakant, CNS,
The proposed introduction of the Land Acquisition (Amendment) and Resettlement and Rehabilitation Bills by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on the last day of the Budget Session despite of the objections by struggling peoples movements and one of the UPA key allies Trinamool Congress smacks of a conspiracy and only reflects the government succumbing to the demand of the industries, builders and corporations, said the activists of National Alliance of People's Movements (NAPM).
Jaswant episode demonstrates BJP’s lack of evolution
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
It is tempting to describe Jaswant Singh's unceremonious expulsion from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as a glaring example of the culture of intolerance of independence of thought that runs through India's political class. In reality, it is merely one political party's inability to define itself.
CAT glitch notwithstanding, education needs e-governance
By Sanjiv Kataria, IANS,
Millions of us woke up on Sunday morning with front-page headlines that screamed "Online birth pangs dog CAT", "CAT's e-debacle leaves students foxed", etc. But what was a matter of clever wordplay for newspapers spells uncertainty and unwarranted anxiety for 240,000 IIM aspirants and their parents.
Let us preserve a white Christmas for future generations
By Rev. Babu Joseph, IANS,
World leaders have just returned to their respective countries after hard bargaining at Copenhagen to arrive at a consensus on reducing carbon emissions.
With Dantewada massacre, Maoists on suicidal course
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The Maoists may have signed their own death warrant by carrying out the massacre at Dantewada in Chhattisgarh. The very success of the ambush can spell doom for them. No government can accept the brutal gunning down of as many as 76 security personnel at one spot without gearing up for a massive retaliation.
In a way, the episode was like 26/11, which convinced New Delhi of the futility of a dialogue with Pakistan. Similarly, what happened in Dantewada could prove to be a turning point in the government's anti-Maoist strategy.
The Champions of human rights
By Navi Pillay United Nation for High Commissioner for Human Rights, IRNA,
Book Review: Godse’s Children: Hindutva Terror in India
Reviewed by Mahtab Alam for TwoCircles.net
Book: Godse’s Children: Hindutva Terror in India
Author: Subhash Gatade
Price: Rs. 360/
Congress heavy artillery changes Punjab equations
By Jaideep Sarin ,
Chandigarh: When ruling Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal recently assured BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi that the...
We must not vote for those with self-declared criminal cases
By Jagdeep S. Chhokari,
The final episode of Satyamev Jayate, the popular Sunday TV show hosted by actor Aamir Khan, on March 30 focussed on criminalization of politics. It presented data from the Lok Sabha elections of 2004 and 2009. What shocked many viewers was that the number of people elected to the Lok Sabha and who had criminal cases pending against them, as declared in their affidavits, had increased from 125 in 2004 to 162 in 2009.
Gandhi family fights for survival after striking a deal!
By Saeed Naqvi ,
The Gandhi family is in this battle with its back to the wall. A burst of energy at this late stage...
Lessons in corporate leadership
(IANS Books This Weekend)
Whether you want to launch a new business or product, or are keen to know how to climb up the corporate...
Kerry visit a start, Modi visit to US pivotal
By Evan A. Feigenbaum,
John Kerry visits India Wednesday as a raft of crises consume American diplomacy. By contrast, US-India relations are at a moment of opportunity, but the US Secretary of State faces challenges in New Delhi that are significant in their own way.
Is (only) Jamia Nagar ‘bad’ for Women?
By Mahtabnama,
Having lived in Jamia Nagar for almost half of my life (nearly 14 years), last week, I was startled to read the heading of an anecdotal piece of writing in Okhlatimes.com, Is Jamia Nagar bad for women? A firsthand account from Aamna.
Why the Hindi belt must embrace English
By Birbal Jha,
Today, most people are aware that English is the most commonly used language among foreign language speakers. Moreover, English is no longer a foreign language in the strictest sense. Having the ability to contact with people globally and travel easily is just two of the many reasons for gaining English language skills.
A budget for the United Federation of India
By Amit Kapoor,
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 28 delivered a budget that will go down as one of the best since liberalization began in 1991. It took stock of India’s present set of challenges and accordingly adjusted the priorities and solutions. Six salient points reflect the government’s economic thinking and strategy.
NIA’s actions regarding Sadhvi Pragya reek of political opportunism
By Masood Peshinam for TwoCircles.net
The paradox created by the National Investigating Agency (NIA) on the eve of the bail application of the...
Jihad, crusades and tolerance: a Christian scholars view
By Marty Martin
Chicago, Illinois - Over the past five years, as part of a project on religious fundamentalism, I've studied and talked with Muslims from Houston to Auschwitz. And as I've gained a better understanding of how Christians and Muslims see each other, I've learned that how we communicate is as important as what we communicate.