Taslima Nasrin vs MF Hussein’s case
By Syed Ali Mujtaba
The current episode of Taslima Nasreen once again has brought out the hypocritical attitude of many Indians. I am amused about the hullabaloos made by the BJP the Sangh Privar and some others for this Bangladeshi writer.
The current episode of Taslima Nasreen once again has brought out the hypocritical attitude of many Indians. I am amused about the hullabaloos made by the BJP the Sangh Privar and some others for this Bangladeshi writer.
All Muslim sects should agree to disagree: Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Based in New Delhi, Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is a noted Islamic scholar. In this interview with Yoginder Sikand, he talks about the urgent need to promote dialogue and ecumenism between the different Muslim sects.
YS: Although the Quran stresses Muslim unity, Muslims are divided into numerous sects, and some of them see the other sects as enemies. How do you account for this phenomenon of intense sectarianism and the fact that, unlike in the Christian case, there is really no Muslim ecumenical movement to bring the ulema of the different sects on a common platform for serious dialogue?
Bush visits the good and bad guys in the Middle East
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti political commentator Maria Appakova) - President George W. Bush is going to visit the Holy Land - Israel and the territory controlled by the Palestinian National Authority - for the first time since becoming president.
TCN special: Misra Commission report excerpts- Part 18
By TwoCircles.net news desk
Misra Commission report excerpts- home page
CHAPTER 9
DEMANDS FOR AMENDING CONSITUTION (SCHEDULED CASTES) ORDER 1950
Constitutional Provisions
The Constitution of India does not restrict the Scheduled Castes class to any select religions. The term “Scheduled Castes” has been defined in Article 366(24) read with Article 341(1) as:
Let’s not export saffron mischief to Malaysia!
By Sampathkumar Iyangar
Malaysia has been of the very few countries with which India can be said to be enjoying consistently friendly relationship. Bilateral trade volumes, currently at USD 4.5 billion, are growing. The relation has been marked by full respect to for each other and been mutually beneficial. There has been no talk of one of them taking advantage of the other.
Demeaning silence of Muslim leadership on custodial death of Khalid Mujahid
By Dr. Shakeel Samdani,
Planning for ‘The Future Commission’
By Rahul Singh,
As the Narendra Modi government completes 100 days in office, the prime minister seems keen to implement far-reaching changes, phasing out the old and ushering in the new. One of the first things he did was to question the relevance of the Planning Commission - a question also asked by his predecessor Manmohan Singh in 2009.
Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence Bill
Who failed the law?
By Abdul Hannan Siwani Nadvi,
Jharkhand BJP legislator gets one-year in jail
Ranchi,: Dhullu Mahto, a legislator of Jharkhand's ruling BJP, was on Wednesday sentenced to one-year imprisonment in a 10-year-old case related to obstructing official...
Assam elections: Polarisation over Bangla immigrants led to BJP victory
By Rekha Bhattacharjee
With the dust settling on a raucous election campaign and with a new regime taking the reins in its hands, an analysis...
Gujarat HC grounds Modi’s pet Shanghai-like SIR project
Ahmedabad : The Gujarat High Court on Thursday grounded Prime Minister Narendra Modi's much-publicised Special Investment Region (SIR) project of Dholera, directing the state...
Without Aligarh, India Wouldn’t Be Same Again
By Aijaz Zaka Syed
It is said that in his quest to establish a world-class university for Muslims, Sir Syed Ahmed Khan would stop at...
Food crises or rising prices?
By Mirza Anwarulhaq Baig
Why much outcry is over the rising food grains prises while Mr Sharad Pawar, Union Agriculture Minister has recently revealed pleasing news for those who were much haunted by the ghost of rising prises that India got the record-breaking wheat productions in the running year, now there is no need to import food-grain.
मुस्लिम राजनीति में चूकते ओवैसी
By काशिफ़ युनूस
ओवैसी के लिये बिहार चुनाव एक दुखद हादसे की तरह था. ओवैसी इस हादसे को टालना चाहते थे. वह उन...
Addressing diabetes is vital for strengthening tuberculosis control
By Amit Dwivedi,
Patients with type-2 diabetes may be at increased risk of contracting tuberculosis (TB) because they generally have a compromised immune system, which results in life-threatening lung infections that are more difficult to treat
Perfecting the science of shoe-throwing: New course for media schools?
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
Throwing shoes during news conferences is an extreme form of editorialising which professional reporters must refrain from, especially those who are a poor shot.
Tharoor, his Twitter – and the humourless Indian political discourse
By Mayank Chhaya, IANS,
In the realm of bogus controversies what India's junior Foreign Minister Shashi Tharoor is in the midst of is laughably unserious. Someone needs to flush the sanctimony that clogs India's political discourse.
Verdict 2016: How did the Urdu Dailies report Assembly poll results?
By Mahtab Alam for Twocircles.net
While there is a lot of discussion happening around on how ‘Muslim voters’ polled in the recently concluded assembly elections...
Infosys must redeem itself, reinstate Muslim employee sacked on false terror charges
By Adnan Alavi,
India's leading software company Infosys may be a an IT giant but its action against an employee on false terror charges has finally been questioned by the court also.
Gujjar agitation: Dark side of affirmative action
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
When then prime minister V.P. Singh lit the fires of caste conflict by implementing the Mandal formula of job reservations for the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in 1990, the politicians, who saw electoral benefit from the measure in spite of the resultant confrontation between the upper and lower castes, were not too perturbed. The reason was that the upper castes were numerically not strong enough to figure in their vote-winning calculations.
India’s creative class evolves
By Amit Kapoor,
According to a leading economist and social scientist Richard Florida, the creative class is the key driving force for economic development. It’s the class of workers who engage in problem finding and problem solving at various levels of our society. This creative class could be from any background - scientists, engineers, university professors, poets and architects. It also includes people in design, education, arts, music and entertainment whose economic function is to create new ideas, new technology and creative content. Another section of the creative class includes positions that are knowledge intensive; these usually require a high degree of formal education. Examples of workers in this sector are health professionals and business managers, who are considered part of the sub-group called creative professionals.
Muslim MPs spent just 17% of constituency fund in 2009-10
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net,
In another shameful revelation, Muslim Members of Indian Parliament have been found doing very little for the people of their constituencies. The Muslim Members of Lok Sabha, the Lower House of Indian Parliament, spent just 16.86% of the annual central government fund for their constituencies in the year 2009-2010.
Muslim-Hindu Relations in Jammu Province – Part 4
By Yoginder Sikand, TwoCircles.net,
Full Series: Muslim-Hindu Relations in Jammu Province
From jihad to ijtihad
By Asghar Ali Engineer,
‘JIHAD’, with its imbued wrong meaning, became a notorious word in the West after 9/11. Terror now has an overwhelming presence in parts of the Muslim world, including Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. Violence there seems at times to be out of control as it is Muslims themselves who are targeted by terrorists.
National Media: Eighth Wonder of the World
By Hasan Kamal,
Translated from Rashtriya Sahara 3 May 2014
Did you know that along with Parliamentary elections in Orissa, state assembly elections are also being held? If yes then we congratulate you for being well informed. If not then we do not regard you as uniformed and do not blame you for this. You are among those innumerable people who do not know that in Orissa not one but two elections are being held and are being held simultaneously.
Isolating Moscow will not help India or the West
By Amit Dasgupta,
By all accounts, the Russian economy is in imminent danger of collapse. After a period of relative economic stability under President Vladimir Putin, the rouble is now in free-fall. The central bank has announced an increase in interest rates from 10.5 percent to 17 percent. It failed to stabilize the rouble. This has reduced the purchasing power and seriously affected ordinary Russians, as the bulk of food and consumer goods are imported.
Who is to be blamed for backwardness of Malda and Murshidabad?
By Mumtaz Alam Falahi, TwoCircles.net
TCN Series: Visit to Malda and Murshidabad, Part 4
India’s e-vault to store documents on cloud draws crowds
By Sharon Thambala
Bengaluru : A key part of the "Digital India" initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the free government scheme that...
A surrealist masterpiece for children – and its abiding influence
By Vikas Datta,
What do James Joyce, Vladimir Nabokov, H.H. Munro 'Saki', Salvador Dali, John Lennon, Pink Floyd, Jefferson Airplane, Aerosmith, Walt Disney and Tim Burton have in common? Some of their most famous creations have been inspired by characters of a supremely enduring work of literature with an impromptu origin.
The Siege and a Twitter account: Questions Begin
By Amit Dasgupta,
The Sydney café siege is over. While no tears will be shed over the gunman, two families have lost their loved ones. Christmas will not be the same. The incident has left fun-loving Sydney shaken and will trigger introspection and investigation. In a separate incident, techie Mehdi Masroor Biswas was arrested with the assistance of MI6 and the Bengaluru police have started retracing his digital footprint to identify his proximity with the IS network. Are there parallels between the two incidents?
Problems and Prospects of Islamic Banking in India – Road Map ahead
By H Abdur Raqeeb,
Modern, secular and industrialized countries like Britain, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan have become hub of Islamic finance and banking. If London, Tokyo, Singapore and Hong Kong can become hub and house of Interest free Islamic finance and banking, why not Mumbai and Cochin? asks the author while analyzing problems and prospects of Islamic banking in India. The paper was presented at an Islamic banking conference in New Delhi recently— Editor
Banking
Mirza Aejaz Baig: An ordinary teacher with an extra-ordinary zeal for poor to complete...
By A Mirsab, TwoCircles.net,
Central government is spending crores of rupees to eradicate illiteracy through scores of schemes such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (The...
No cakewalk for anyone, Bihar votes from Monday
By Imran Khan
Patna : Some 66.8 million people will be eligible to vote from Monday in staggered assembly polls in Bihar in the...
Kartar Singh Sarabha: A pioneer of the Ghadar movement
By Jaspal Singh
May 24th, 2018 was the 122nd birth anniversary of Kartar Singh Sarabha. He was born in Sarabha village in Ludhiana district of...
To end parliament logjam, government to play Dalit card
By Brajendra Nath Singh
New Delhi : To end the impasse in parliament, the government is planning to bring out next week its...
A history of the Scientific Society
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.
Unmarriageability: the unspoken stigma behind dishonour killings
By A.B.Karl Marx Siddharthar
Unmarriageability noun
1. (in India in the present) the practice of not marrying outside one’s caste
2. refers to the caste-based endogamous practice
3. a form of discrimination...
A critique of religious extremism
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan,
(Translated from Urdu by Yoginder Sikand)
Kashmir Lynching case: High Court directs trial court to not pass any judgement
By Raqib Hameed Naik, TwoCircles.net
Srinagar: After the brother of deceased trucker Zahid Rasool Bhat filed transfer application in the case pertaining the petrol bomb...
Changing character of the Kashmir Movement
By Balraj Puri
For three consecutive summers, Kashmir has been on a boil. In 2008 protest started jointly by all separatist parties over allotment of 100 acres of government land to Shri Amarnath Shrine Board which its Chief Executive Officer wrongly said was purchased permanently. The land was to be used for construction of pre-fabricated huts for langars and other facilities for the yatris (pilgrims). It was interpreted by the leaders of the agitation as a conspiracy to change demography of Kashmir.
Mysterious silence of global community, Muslim world on killings in Burma
By Syed Zubair Ahmad,
Height is not everything, Mr Houghton
By K. Datta, IANS,
It appeared as if nothing else mattered when the six-week IPL cricket show was on your television screens. Hardly was that exciting period over when the Euro 2008 grabbed eyeballs. Again, it appears nothing else matters for viewers of sports channels. But not quite so, you can take my word for it.
UN seeks $261 million to help 4 million displaced Iraqis
By TwoCircles.net news desk
The United Nations refugee agency is seeking $261 million this year to help some of the 4 million people uprooted by the conflict in Iraq, covering many of the 2.2 million Iraqis displaced within the country and the 2 million who have fled beyond its borders.
Torture in police custody should stop
By M Ghazali Khan,
Reports of police torture of Malegaon blast accused are shameful. The notice issued by the National Human Rights Commission...
What was Gandhi’s evaluation of RSS?
By Ram Puniyani,
With the new ruling dispensation, Modi Sarkar, attempts are being made to present Gandhi in a light which is favorable to the RSS combine. First, the Swachata Abhiyan (Cleanliness drive) was inaugurated on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2), then it was claimed that RSS had nothing to do with Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse.
Bihar poll diary: Campaigning in the time of call drops
By Brajendra Nath Singh
At least one thing is sure. Call drops don't just affect the common man. Even ministers are victims of the sudden...
Obituary: Prof Asad Ahmad
By Naved Masood,
Prof. Ahmad was Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta and a distinguished Molecular Geneticist.
The news of Prof Asad Ahmad's passing away came as a complete shock for though for the last several months we were not in touch, such 'net silence' on his part was not unprecedented. It comes out though that this time round it was his serious illness and not his occasional hibernation that led to his silence. His death gives me much thought to reminisce and introspect.
SIO और BHU के बीच लटकती साम्प्रदायिक सौहार्द्र की हक़ीक़त
सिद्धांत मोहन, TwoCircles.net,
वाराणसी: कम्यूनल हार्मोनी यानी साम्प्रदायिक सौहार्द्र पर बात करना या उसे किसी चर्चा का विषय बनाना उतना आसान नहीं, जितना सोचने में...
Life limps back to normalcy in flood-hit Chennai
Chennai : Life in flood-hit Chennai was slowly limping back to normalcy on Monday, with shops opening up and a massive clean up initiated...
Kawish, an effort to empower through guidance and counseling
A Year-long Series on Education, Sponsored by The Aligarh Forum : - A Mirror on our Efforts, our Successes & our Shortcomings ; Stories...
How Islamic is the “Islamic State”?
By Maariyah Siddique for TwoCircles.net
About 3 million Iraqis displaced, around 4 million of Syrians fleeing their country in tremendous horror. Women captured, beheaded...
निज़ामुद्दीन मरकज़ के बहाने सरकार की ख़ामियों पर पर्दा डालने की कोशिश
साजिद अशरफ़
क्या इनका क़ुसूर सिर्फ़ इतना भर है कि इन्होंने लॉकडाउन के उस दिशा निर्देश का पालन किया, जिसमें कहा गया है कि जो...
It’s not a festive season for the BJP
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS,
The traditional gaiety associated with Holi is unlikely to have lifted the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) spirits because of the election-eve rupture with its coalition partner in Orissa, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD).
It isn't only the end of a decade-old relationship which hurt the BJP. After all, the party has never been averse to ending an alliance if it feels it can gain from the split or if the partnership has become politically meaningless.
Envisioning Delhi’s urban future
By Amit Kapoor,
One of the greatest shifts the modern world has seen is in the context of urbanization with more than 50 percent of the world population now residing in urban centers. Some of this is due to an ever-increasing influx of people in urban areas and also in some cases due to the creation of newer agglomerations with modern planning and global capital.
Nehru in AMU
By Dr Mohammad Sajjad,
During his tenure as the first Prime Minister of India, notwithstanding the immense charisma of Nehru, he was seen with...
A Tale of Two Vehicles – Sadhvi’s Motorcycle and Rubina’s Car
By Ram Puniyani,
Can there be two type of Justice delivery system in the same country? This question came to one’s mind with the...
The Left’s rickety new ‘third’ platform
By Amulya Ganguli, IANS
The Left's fascination for an anti-Congress and anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) third front led by it stems from a desire to play a meaningful role in Indian politics.
As the agenda outlined by Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) general secretary Prakash Karat shows, the front will be "anti-communal, will advocate pro-people economic policies and will fight for an independent foreign policy".
Does Religion Matter? Communal Violence in India
Dr. Ram Puniyani
The carnage or to put it more precisely the anti Muslim violence in Delhi (February-March 2020) has shaken us all. Analysts are...
नन्हें रोज़ेदारों की दिलचस्प दास्तान
फ़हमिना हुसैन, TwoCircles.net
दिल्ली: रमज़ान के पाक महीने में रोज़े के साथ इबादत का मज़ा ही कुछ और है. तभी तो बड़े तो बड़े बच्चे...
India and Pakistan: Lengthening shadows of a toxic past
Sixty-four years after they parted ways, their toxic past and violent split still continues to haunt India and Pakistan and hundreds of millions of people on both sides of the divide
Defining moment expected for corporate mergers, takeovers
By Jagannadham Thunuguntla, IANS,
There is widespread anticipation regarding possible revision of the threshold limit for mandatory open offers for the purpose of takeovers from current level of 15 percent to 25 percent. If that eventually happens, interesting shareholders' activity can be expected in several listed companies.
Herbal Park, a metaphor for today’s India
By Jaspal Singh,
During a recent journey down the Shivaliks along the Jamuna river, we soon crossed the ranges to be in the plains, on...
The Question of allegiance: Quandary of Aligarh Muslim University
By Akif Ahmad,
The Aligarh Muslim University administration has proved it time and again that at some occasions it is more loyal to the ruling class than the class itself.
For Modi, the real test will be taming ‘gau rakshaks’
By Amulya Ganguli
A year ago, the Prime Minister had admonished the gau rakshaks (cow vigilantes) in no uncertain terms. He did so again last...
SSA students witness India’s first robotics show
From GUWAHATI: Students of Srimanta Sankar Academy Guwahati
became the first lot of students from the North East to witness a live performance
of robots, made...
Defending the Indefensible
By Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam
As a roaring chorus of condemnation of the Sangh-inspired storm of intolerance rises to high heavens, the...
Where are the peers?
By Vishnu Makhijani,
About a decade ago, 2004 or thereabouts, I found myself at the media launch of a British certifying institute that was offering a staggering 250 courses ranging from Pitman's Shorthand to oil exploration. The two Brits on stage waxed eloquent on how in a changing world, conventional degrees were not worth the paper they were printed on and what school-leavers needed to do was to focus on vocational courses. In the midst of all this, the buffet was being laid out and this was all the more irritating as I had skipped breakfast.
What ails rape investigation in India?
By Aruna Kashyap, IANS,
The outrage following the gang-rape of a young woman in Delhi has led to demands that capital punishment be introduced to deter rape.
Games Congress loves to play with Muslims
By Ehtasham Khan for TwoCircles.net
Soon after United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power for the second term, a Muslim organization felicitated some select Members of Parliament whom they consider “well-wishers of the community.” Almost all the Muslim MPs, disregarding their political affiliation, were invited. Non-Muslim MPs included mainly from Left parties.
Obituary: Protagonist of modernity was Mahmood Hashmi
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.
Loot of India’s antiquities goes unchecked
Theft of antiquities is robbing India's history and heritage; even Tajmahal was under threat at one time. Read this article from Syed Ali Mujtaba.
By Syed Ali Mujtaba, TwoCircles.net
An ancient idol of Lord Sabranath was stolen from a Jain temple in Kurdi village of Baghpat district in UP. Unidentified men entered the temple and took away the idol. The idol was never recovered.
An ancient idol of Lord Sabranath was stolen from a Jain temple in Kurdi village of Baghpat district in UP. Unidentified men entered the temple and took away the idol. The idol was never recovered.
Copenhagen: Success for some, catastrophe for most
By Joydeep Gupta, IANS,
Politicians and bureaucrats from large developing countries and some developed ones are congratulating themselves for having protected their traditional industries at the Copenhagen climate summit. But for the vast majority of people around the world already affected by global warming, it has been a disaster.
India preparing a revolution in the arms market
(RIA Novosti correspondent in India Yevgeny Bezeka) - All participants in DEFEXPO-2008, which opens in New Delhi on February 16, are bound to see the beginnings of a revolution in the Indian military-industrial complex.
This revolution is certain to acquire global dimensions, because India is in the top ten in arms spending - in 2007-2012 it will buy $30 billion worth of weapons.
Muslims, Yadavs will count in Bihar’s final round
By Imran Khan,
Patna: The last of 57 assembly constituencies in Bihar go to the polls on Thursday in a sprawling region home to a...
How to conquer those sugar cravings
By Amar Chandel,
What can be almost as strong, if not even stronger than hunger pangs, is sugar craving. One goes almost berserk when it strikes and one is willing to throw all dietary discipline out of the window for the sake of those sweet treats. Take heart. There are a few simple little techniques which can help you tide over those vulnerable moments.
Woes of Indian Muslims: vast resources but to no avail
By M Ghazali Khan
In spite of owning 600,000 acres of properties and thus being the most resourceful community, Indian Muslims are one of the poorest sections of the country, a gathering of Muslims, mainly of Indian origin, has been told at the House of Lords.
Return of the Angrezi Raj
Dr Mohammad Manzoor Alam
The circular issued by Maharashtra’s BJP government late last month has raised concern in liberal, informed sections all over India regarding...
War for TV viewership is harming our society
By Indscribe,
Electronic media loves controversies. For the sake of higher TRPs that brings advertisement revenues, some of the TV news channels can create controversies as well.
Hope for Pakistan
By Mike Ghouse
Much has been written about Benazir Bhutto, her death is a severe blow to democracy in Pakistan.
She threatened the extremists, a dare move perhaps calculated to win the support of majority of moderates in Pakistan who want to live a normal life. They got to her before she could get them.
Iftar in Haji Ali dargah
By Rehan Ansari, TwoCircles.net
Mumbai: Gateway of India and Bandra Worli Sea link are landmarks but Haji Ali Dargah is the Wonder of Mumbai situated about nearly half a kilometer away from the Lal Lajpatrai Raod, worli, in south Mumbai. This monument has been sentinel to the shores of Mumbai since a long time.
The website of Haji Ali Dargah claims that the structure was erected on a set of high rising rocks and was given its present day shape in the early 19th century after the Trust was legally formed as an entity in 1916.
Indian American in White House! Why not?
By Kul Bhushan, IANS
While celebrating the election of Bobby Jindal as the governor of Louisiana, many Indian Americans are beginning to ask, "Why not an Indian American in the White House?"
Ashok 'Rocky' Madan writes from California, "The White House is not far now!"
(T)error of War against Terror
A reflection on September 13 Delhi blasts and its aftermaths
By Mahtab Alam,
It is complete six months today since the Batla House encounter in Delhi’s Jamia Nagar. The globally much-publicized encounter now is part of the history – mainly for two reasons. While the police officer leading the shootout was posthumously honored with Ashok Chakra, the incident stirred the entire nation – particularly 150 million-strong Muslim community – minus government. This piece by Mahtab Alam is a reflection on nationwide aftermaths of the September 13, 2008 Delhi serial blasts.
What of Goa if MaNo is commandeered into NaMo cabinet?
By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar,
Close your eyes and fling an empty beer bottle into any bar or teahouse in Goa, chances are it will either hit someone who loves Manohar Parrikar or loathes him.
Men against violence-3 : Violence strike at one’s heart
By Nasiruddin Haider Khan,
Dhaka : Why we talk so passionately about gender based violence? Why do we put so much energy on it? The big question is WHY? WHY?? WHY??? Answer lies on the impact of violence. Is not so?
A call for second freedom struggle
By Kashif-ul-Huda, TwoCircles.net
15th August is the celebration of an independent India. Schools, colleges, and government offices mark the day by parades, speeches, and unfurling of the Tricolours. For children it is a holiday and a day when they get lots of candies. It has been 62 years since we gained independence from the British and this month we should contemplate what we have achieved and where we as a nation want to go.
Incredible but True
By Jayatilaka de Silva, Prensa Latina,
Five Cubans -Rene Gonzáles, Antonio Guerrero, Fernando Gonzáles, Gerardo Hernández and Ramón Labañino were arrested on September 12, 1998 by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation.
They have been languishing in US prisons under solitary confinement for exactly 10 years. Having kept them for long without trial, they were later tried by a "partial" Court in unfriendly Miami, Florida – the home of Cuban exiles and anti-Cuba mafia with links to the White House.
Obama and Modi can change global climate of inaction
By Rajendra Shende,
It was early morning. I was listening to US President Barack Obama's 2015 State of the Union address in my farm up in the hills in India when I was distracted by a raucous verbal spat. A farmer's wife was exchanging rough and wild words with other women who had come from down in the valley to collect the cow-dung droppings scattered along the slopes.
‘Contact with Napoleon a death sentence for Tipu Sultan’
By Vikas Datta
Jaipur (IANS) : Napoleon's life and career disapproves the Leftist challenge to the "Great Man" theory of history, for he not only...
Price of oil approaching $100 per barrel
MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator Oleg Mityayev) - At the end of the working week, on Friday November 23, the price of American WTI oil was $96-$97 per barrel.
When it reached $99.29 per barrel on November 21, it seemed that this unprecedented psychological barrier - $100 per barrel - would be overcome this week. But operators of oil futures are still capable of surmounting it in the nearest future.
Big retail’s time has come in India
By Sushma Ramachandran, IANS
India's United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government seems determined to go ahead and gradually liberalise the retail sector despite continuing opposition from the Left parties.
Mission Mukhyamantri: BJP has task cut out in UP
By Mohit Dubey
Lucknow: The question is ringing loud and clear. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has Sarbananda Sonowal in Assam. But what...
Currency Corner: Indian equities should remain uptrend despite Iraq oil crisis
By Vatsal Srivastava,
Militant insurgency and violence in Iraq have put the brakes on the great Indian rally. Investors are weighing in the potential impact of higher energy prices as the possibility of a supply disruption from the world's sixth biggest oil exporter is priced in global oil benchmarks. Both WTI crude and Brent crude are trading at 10 month highs with the spread between these two benchmarks having widened to $7 per barrel. India is the world's fourth largest importer of oil and imports nearly 75 percent of its demand.
Gujarat riot victims still in relief camps: Muslims should ask Antulay
By Dr. Mookhi Amir Ali,
“Gujarat Muslims still live in fear,” says the UN Human Rights Council in its latest report, slamming India for denial of justice to the victims of the communal violence in 2002. The Congress party was quick to use the report as a stick to beat the Gujarat government with, but did little for rehabilitation of the riot victims.
बटला हाउस एनकाउंटर: किसी ने जान ली तो किसी ने माल पीटा
अफ़रोज़ आलम साहिल, TwoCircles.net
19 सितम्बर 2008 को दिल्ली के जामिया नगर इलाक़े में बटला हाउस स्थित एल—18 फ्लैट में एक कथित पुलिस ‘एनकाउंटर’ के...
Kashmiris will benefit from India-Pakistan peace: Vohra
Jammu/Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir on Tuesday celebrated the Republic Day on Tuesday, with Governor N.N. Vohra saying the state will benefit the most from...
AMP appeal: Ensure enrolment in Census 2011
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.
Worshipping Gods in the times of Elections
By Ram Puniyani,
Arun Shourie, who was part of NDA, a fellow traveler and an ideologue of BJP wrote several books, many of them against minorities and dalits in particular. One of these which was strongly protested against by large sections of people, dalits in particular, was his “Worshipping False Gods”. In this book he expressed the mind set of RSS-BJP politics towards Ambedkar. In this long bulky volume he was heavily critical of Ambedkar’s ideology, his agitations for democratic values and his struggles for social justice. Now a decade and half later on one side many a dalit leaders, Ramvilas Paswan, Udit Raj, Ramdas Athwaley are vying to sit in the lap of the politics of BJP for apparently their own personal gains on one side and on the other the BJP’s Prime Ministerial Candidate Narendra Modi is going miles to woo the sections of dalits. It is another matter that while doing this in his usual trade mark style he has no qualms about misrepresenting the events, speaking lies and putting the blame of all that has not taken place to his political adversaries.
Governance of Muslim minority affairs in Bihar: An analysis
By Arshad Ajmal,
The governance of Muslim minority affairs in Bihar needs special attention in view of rampant backwardness of the community that constitutes 16.5% of the total population of the State, and also the fact that over the years, the state budgetary allocation for the community has been decreasing.
Budgetary allocation for Muslim minority
Journalism as literature: The writings of Ryszard Kapuscinski
By Vikas Datta,
Journalism, or especially news reporting, is a rather ephemeral form of literary expression, concerned as it is with bare facts of a developing situation in a terse and concise style. But there are practitioners of the craft whose reportage is no less a work of literature - like this intrepid, peripatetic Polish reporter, whose coverage of Africa (and its messy experience of colonialism's end) and Central America was unparalleled and enduring, and made him a credible contender for the Nobel Literature Prize.
Myth of elections as savior of democracy
Today in India, what we need is a nation that is full of wisdom, with transparent democracy, true freedom for all, equal justice, adequate...
The Left has limited stake in India’s development
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.
Bakrid and the fight over choice of food
By Kouser Fathima for Twocircles.net
As if we don't have enough reasons to fight.
Food wars seem to be the new trend especially during the...
India’s religious minorities and Dalits weep alone
By John Dayal,
India’s several religious minorities weep alone when they are in pain. So to do the Dalits and the Indigenous people, called...
The competitiveness of Inddia’s insurance sector
By Amit Kapoor,
The Rajya Sabha passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 on March 14 after the Lok Sabha had earlier passed it on March 4. The enactment of this bill has the potential to be a historic game-changer for India's insurance industry.
Myth, History and Politics
by K.N. Panikkar,
Now that Ayodhya is no more a potent force, Ram Sethu has emerged as a possible alternative.
Does only commemoration of birth anniversary of Sir Syed fulfil the message?
Mere words without action will be “dishonesty”, claims a doctoral student of AMU
By Mumtaz Ahmad Numani,
On October 17, 2014, Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) celebrated the 197th birth anniversary of its founder Sir Syed Ahmad Khan. The celebration is always meant to be symbolic to recall and remind ourselves his powerful vision and mission. Can we exactly recall what is it that we commemorate? Most probably yes. It is after all, ‘education’. It is/was the education of political, social, economic and cultural studies to enlighten the citizens, but more than that ‘Muslims’ of the sub-continent.
Iqrar and Habeeb: two different paths to jail
Unheard & Unspoken: Terror stories from Madhya Pradesh: Part 5
By Mohd. Ismail Khan, TwoCircles.net