"Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), an outfit backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), will will deliberate on issues such as terrorism and communal riots in its “biggest ever” Ulema conference on Saturday here, although the All Indian Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind (JUH) have decided not to participate in it... Stating that MRM is inspired from working of the Sangh parivar that runs educational institutions and medical help centres for poor and tribals, Afzal said, “RSS never did any thing which was anti-Muslim”.
"The show-cause notices sent by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) to three television news channels, NDTV 24x7, Aaj Tak, and ABP News, for so-called violations of the programme code prescribed under the Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 in their coverage of the serious issues arising from the execution of Yakub Memon are a flagrant attempt to stifle constitutionally-guaranteed freedom of speech and expression.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi rarely makes a speech without referring to “yug purush” Deendayal Upadhyaya. Early this year, the Publications Division of the Information and Broadcasting Ministry published books on him, along with other political leaders, ahead of the Book Fair. Nearly Rs. 1,500 crore has been set aside for the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gramin Kaushal Yojana — targeted at providing job opportunities for rural youth.
"The Mumbai Police on Sunday have rounded up 13 couples and 35 others following raids at hotels and a beach here for indecent behaviour in public, provoking a storm in the social media which asked why consenting adults cannot stay together. Consenting adults who checked into several hotels in Madh Island and Aksa area were in for a shock when they found policemen knocking on the doors of their rooms and rounding them up.
"On paper, the total comes to a mindboggling Rs 4,500 crore. But investigators say the worth of Asaram's shady empire will cross the Rs 10,000-crore mark if the land and real estate are valued at market rates instead of the old circle rates used by the police to value them... A murky money-lending nexus, shady land deals and clandestine conspiracies to buy police officers. Transactions in a range of financial instruments worth hundreds of crores. Investments in little-known American companies. Suspect foreign currency transactions worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"It started as a quiet, almost innocuous government order, which was also surprisingly precise. Last week, India's telecoms ministry ordered internet service providers to block access to 857 websites hosting pornographic content. But not even the government could have predicted the scale and level of outrage that the order unleashed as Indians heaped criticism and scorn on the move. A week later, it's seemingly scaled down the directive.
"In what might be called a classic case of political naivety, the Student Islamic Organisation of India (SIO), the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami of India, recently organised an international seminar on ‘communal harmony’ and ‘nation-building’ in collaboration with the Department of Political Science, Banaras Hindu University (BHU) where Indresh Kumar1 of the RSS was invited as the chief guest. Since Indresh Kumar could not turn up, Laxmikant Vajpayee, the State President of the BJP, substituted for him.2
"All indications are, India is fated to deal with another missing prime minister... Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ideological moorings have often been debated. But his attributes as a leader are also coming under scrutiny. Detractors will say that his leadership was always an illusion, a virtual trick, designed to hoodwink the gullible. Supporters will be immune to any reality check. But Modi’s actions are demonstrating qualities that are opposite to the mythology surrounding him.
'The federal court has overturned the Abbott government’s approval of Australia’s largest proposed coal project, Adani’s Carmichael mine in north Queensland. The court has ruled the environment minister, Greg Hunt, ignored his own department’s advice about the mine’s impact on two vulnerable species, the yakka skink and the ornamental snake. The decision leaves Adani, which is yet to secure sufficient financial backing for Carmichael and recently slashed its workforce on the project, without legal authority to begin construction.
"On the evening of 21 February, 2015 I and my friend walked through the narrow lines of Vasant Kunj, New Delhi looking for an accommodation for him. On both sides of narrow roads, three-storied buildings blocked sun rays reaching the ground. Here and there scrapheap assaulted our nostrils and a flock of bees and mosquitoes hovered around the area keeping watch. Our eyes waded through the gates of the buildings looking for a signboard announcing vacancies. We pushed a gate open and entered the building looking for the owner.
