Articles

New Delhi : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said a nation is always empowered by its women. “Nation is always empowered by its women....

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.

By Shafeeq Hudawi, TwoCircles.net Kozhikode: The AMU Malappuram centre was established in 2010, but even after six years, it is no secret that the off-campus...

By Firoz Bakht Ahmed, IANS On behalf of all Muslims who believe in reason and sanity, I declare that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) affidavit (since withdrawn) questioning the existence of Hindu god Ram was vitriolic, scathing, unfortunate and blasphemous -not just to Hindus but to all those who cherish our pluralistic cultural heritage. How can a government decide the veracity of a figure like Ram? He Ram ke wajood pe Hindostan ko naaz/Ahl-e-nazar samajhtey hein usko Imam-e-Hind!

By TwoCircles.net Staff Reporter, Pune : Well-known Marathi author Dr. Shripal Sabnis has lodged a complaint with the Maharashtra Police, alleging that he received...

By TwoCircles.net Staff Writer,

MOSCOW. (Political commentator Maria Appakova) - After the talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah, George W. Bush said that a peace agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis would be reached by the end of the year. He was less optimistic on the settlement within Palestine - he is not sure that the head of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Mahmoud Abbas will be able to resolve this problem in the foreseeable future.

Srinagar : Normal life across the Kashmir valley was partially affected on Tuesday due to shutdown called by separatists to protest the killing of...

By Ayoob Rahman,

By Anjuman Ara Begum, TwoCircles.net,

By Mahtab Alam, TwoCircles.net Assam Violence 2012: Stories from the ground: Part 3

By Jaspal Singh, Punjab is considered to be one of the most prosperous states in India.A study came out a few days ago that states that 98% of rural households are in debt.The average amount of debt per household is close to 5 Lakh Rupees. The report points out that more than half of the debt is to non institutional lenders,the Arhtias,the middlemen and money lenders.Small and marginal farmers can not go to the banks and other lending institutions,so these loansharks charge them interest rates upto 60% per annum on the amounts borrowed which is annually compounded.

Not every business idea flourishes and not all business ideas are dated. Following this mantra, IANS picks up interesting reads from the book pile to help you decide. Take a look.

While Modi’s belated rebuke to the cow brigade is welcome, it is unfortunately selective and is motivated by the upcoming polls in UP,...

By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net

By Kul Bhushan, IANS In another three months, some NRIs may be thinking of sending their children for higher education in India. NRIs in different countries have different reasons for preferring Indian higher education.

Anger against illegal Bangladeshi immigrants spills over to take rape accused person’s life By A Ghyasuddin, TwoCircles.net, A lot has been said by many but the fact remains that there was a serious breach of law and order by Nagaland government and the outcome was killing of an under trial rape accused in a most horrifying way for a modern world.

By Mohd Shahanshah Ansari & Abdul Rahim Ahmed, The Census 2011 that began nationwide from 1st April 2010 is being conducted in two phases, namely i) Houselisting and Housing Census and ii) Population Enumeration. The census 2011 will help decide number of BPL people in 2013. If anyone fails to get into the databank he will be out of UIDAI which is an indirect proof of ‘citizenship’ for every individual.

By Ruwa Shah Srinagar : The weddings are still taking place, albeit quietly, in the Kashmir Valley. But invitations to wedding receptions have been cancelled...

By Shaik Zakeer Hussain,

By Jasim Mohammad

By Zainab Lakhani,

New Delhi : The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will be the personal responsibility of Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi to ensure...

By Zaheer Ali,

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS, Since honesty is not generally associated with Indian politicians, it is always a matter of surprise and admiration when someone deviates from the usual cynical norms to acknowledge a widely accepted truth. Rahul Gandhi's description, therefore, of the anti-Sikh violence of 1984 as "wrong" is bound to earn him a round of applause. Yet, so pervasive is the prevailing scepticism about political calculations that the comment has been interpreted by some as an attempt to influence Sikhs before the elections to the Delhi and other assemblies.

By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,

By Afzal Usmani, The Aligarh Movement was not an instant phenomenon. It took its shape in many many years and was started even before Sir Syed moved to his final home Aligarh. Among the first step towards establishing M.A.O. College and Aligarh Movement was establishment of Scientific Society at Ghazipur in 1864. This was a new beginning of Cooperation between Indians and British and among Indian intellectuals living in British India. Here is a brief history of Scientific Society and establishment of Aligarh Institute.

By Navaid Hamid, I got the news of the demise of Swami Akshay Brahmchari, freedom fighter and a Gandhian, through an email of Syed Shahabuddin, President of All India Muslim Majlis e Mushawarat.

The Quran is firstly a book of morality and ethics and only later a book of law. The Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) mentioned that he had been sent to the world in order to fulfill morality or ethics. This is why we would need to re-read the Quranic revelation within the framework of the universal Islamic morality, which is based on human nature.

By Soroor Ahmed, TwoCircles.net,

Prime Minister Modi's visit should be an occasion to discuss the current state of human rights and religious freedom in India, Coalition Against Genocide...

By Arul Louis New York:An Indian woman infected with a rare drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis has created a health scare in three US states and...

By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS, With the mandate for the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) clearly in favour of development, economic issues will top the agenda of the new government, as it seeks to meet the high expectations of the poor and homeless and fulfil the aspirations of the masses as quickly as possible.

By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS, You're a Delhi-based wannabe terrorist needing to communicate with your handlers. What do you do? Invisible-ink notes are passe, as are carrier pigeons. You will, of course, use electronic options. Like e-mail. Walk into a cyber cafe, log into a G-mail or Yahoo account. Don't use an account in your own name. And don't send e-mail. Simply read instructions left for you in an unsent mail, saved as a draft in your account. Then, to reply, just edit the unsent e-mail, and save it back as a draft. If e-mail isn't travelling, it can't be intercepted.

By Ram Puniyani, With Modi coming to power in the 2014 elections various analysts have been arguing about the shape of things to come in very diverse ways. Modi himself is being compared to the likes of Nixon, Margret Thatcher, Reagan on one side and Hitler on the other. His being compared to Hitler has met with severe criticism by many other commentators (‘Comparing Hitler’s Germany with India 2014 is odious’, Marcus Pindur and Padma Rao Sunderji, HT 23rd may 2014) have strongly come out saying that Modi is no Hitler and India of 2014 is very different from Germany of 1930s. The authors argue that after the defeat of Germany in the First World War, Germany was going through a rough patch which was worsened by the great depression of late 1920s and this created a situation of the rise of Hitler and his genocidal politics. The second factor which they assert is about the weakness of German Democracy where the Nazi’s with just 30% of the votes could come to power.

By ए मिरसाब, TwoCircles.net देश में हैदराबाद विश्वविद्यालय के छात्र रोहित वेमुला की मृत्यु के बाद एक शोक और आक्रोश का मिश्रित माहौल है. विश्वविद्यालय...

By Youssef Chouhoud According to a recent Gallup poll, a majority of Americans still have little to no knowledge of Islam's basic tenets. More disheartening, if not outright frightening, is that even given this avowed lack of knowledge, a sizeable percentage of US citizens nonetheless maintain a negative perception of Muslims.

By Bilal A Malik for Twocircles.net The Kashmir issue has crossed decades of violence and unrest. It has, unfortunately, become one of the Asia’s,...

By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS,

For Mehnaaz, helping the needy, irrespective of caste or religion is a way of life. And that is Islam. And it is this that Muslims need to introspect about. By Nigar Ataulla,

नैय्यर इमाम सिद्दीक़ी विश्व के सबसे बड़े लोकतंत्र की दहलीज़ पर इंसाफ़ के लिए 25 साल से इंतज़ार करती बाबरी मस्जिद के क़ातिलों में से...

By Mayank Chhaya, IANS, Had George Bush's presidency not already entered its lame duck months, the less than flattering departure of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf so close to the time when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin took off his gloves would have dealt a staggering personal blow to the US president.

By Dr. Joseph D'souza International President, Dalit Freedom Network www.josephdsouza.com On August 15th, India celebrates her 60th birthday as a modern independent nation. Celebrations are already on as Indians proudly remember their past 60 years and the many successes in them. The Dalit freedom movement too celebrates the founding of the democratic Indian nation. There is much to be proud of.

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS Kuala Lumpur's imaginative 'Malaysia truly Asia' campaign emphasising the country's multicultural society has taken a hit following the recent violence involving local Indians, many of whom are Tamil Hindus. Although the outbreak was brought under control fairly quickly, the fact that the agitation was spearheaded by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) was a disturbing sign. Though small, such outfits can remain active for a long time if the grievances of its ethnic supporters are not adequately addressed.

By Manzar Imam, Noted Urdu critic and litterateur Mahmood Hashmi died in a city hospital in New Delhi recently. He was 70. He is survived by two wives, four sons and a daughter besides grandchildren. The septuagenarian poet Hashmi developed sudden epilepsy in April 2007 and was in intensive medication since then. Born in Delhi on 29 November 1939, Hashmi received early education in Mumbai, passed High School examinations from Delhi’s Anglo-Arabic School and went to Punjab University for further studies.

By Prasanto K. Roy, IANS, There's no polite way to put this. China is a rogue nation, a military dictatorship masquerading as a people's government. It's an apparent economic success in the short term, but its aspiration to become an economic superpower is not compatible with its political model.

By Dr. Shakeel Samdani,

By Nupur Basu, IANS,

By Asghar Ali Engineer,

Mussadiq Ameen opens up his heart to the global Muslim Community. Soon after my birth, I became too busy carrying the burdens that the world loaded on me. The first burden was my studies, which I relinquished in the middle of my college days. I did realize that the scholastic education cannot take me any where if I lacked perspiration and self-effort. I was not ready to carry empty bowls in the form of degrees to beg for alms from some employees. Hardly could I find any guidance to develop me – neither my parents were capable of guiding me nor the world could stop for a while to tell me how to proceed. Therefore, I wanted to make myself. Yes! Today, I do not put any academic qualifications beside my name, but I have learnt how to be loyal to my creator (Allah); I know what is good and bad; I know how to be kind and compassionate; I know I should never follow the ways of wrong doers; I have learnt how to be a self-employed and do successful business. Thus, I begin my journey all alone – but I know the ever compassionate Lord is with me all the time guiding me from within.

By Gilles Verniers, IANS, Although it is yet too early to draw conclusions or formulate a detailed analysis from the results of India's 15th general elections, there is a series of significant aspects that will most probably reshape the understanding of Indian politics in the years to come.

MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Dmitry Kosyrev) - The main event of this last day of the outgoing year could well have been the court hearing of Muntadhar al-Zaidi, the infamous journalist who threw his shoes at U.S. President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad. "This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog," yelled al-Zaidi in Arabic as he threw his first shoe toward the U.S. president. "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq," he shouted as he threw his second shoe.

By Shalim M Hussain As campaigning for the 2016 Assam assembly polls was gaining steam in the warm and wet spring, Sunny and his friends...

By Amit Kapoor, One of the biggest issues confronting Indian universities is their absence from the list of top-ranking varsities across the world. The best...

By Maulvi Waris Mazhari, (Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)

By Ellen Francis The "axis of evil" has no relevance for me when I think of Iran, a country I've found to have a human, loving, hospitable face throughout 40 years of encounters. I lived in Iran between 1968 and 1978, and started returning again, this time with peace delegations, in 2005. It is one of the great joys of my life to see the layers of misunderstanding and fear gradually fall away from those who visit Iran today for the first time.

By Saeed Naqvi, IANS, She walked into my study with a sort of aggressive authority that has become the hallmark of younger TV interviewers, custom made for shrill current affairs chat shows.

By Mahmad Sidat, TwoCircles.net, With the rise of the right wing politics in India, there has been spurt of communal violence against Muslims in various...

By Kul Bhushan, IANS, NRI investors are watching the current bearish days on the Indian stock market with trepidation. From the peak of the bull run at over 20,000 on June 8, the Sensex has plummeted to less than 14,000 now. The rise in crude prices has fuelled inflation at over 11 percent and the recent monetary policies to curb demand have accelerated the decline of the Sensex.

By Amulya Ganguli, IANS, While Mayawati has received a shot in the arm from her successes in the recent by-elections in Uttar Pradesh, the dismal run of setbacks for the Communist parties continues unabated. Not only did the Left lose all the three seats it contested in Kerala, the comrades received their most stunning blow in their other stronghold of West Bengal where they won only one out of 10 seats. As a result, there is now a distinct possibility of the Communists losing the next assembly elections in the state after an uninterrupted success story since 1977.