If the troubled Northeast is to have a future marked by justice and peace, women in the region will have to continue playing a central role, opines Ninglun Hanghal .The picturesque northeastern state of Manipur known for living with violence and unrest was once again in the news these last few months. The proposed visit of the Naga nationalist leader ...

The psychology of most of the systems of philosophy is to achieve God-consciousness. The goal of all mental spiritual discipline is quietude, the attainment of a condition when no further contribution is required and one's identity is lost in the universal consciousness, writes KAILASH VAJPEYI continuing his spiritual discourseIn the history of Western thought 'psychology' is a subject that is ...

Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan's recent warning about plans to turn Kerala into a Muslim majority state in the next 20 years is mainly based on intelligence reports and materials seized in recent raids from the residences of Popular Front of India activists in connection with the attack on a professor and chopping off of his palm.Certain organizations in the ...

Educated Muslim women today are increasingly yearning for better futures for themselves and their daughters. They see the burqa or niqab as a hurdle in the way of progress in a modern secular society, contends social watcher K.DATTA.From Paris in France to Surat and Kasargod in India the burqa has been in the news. A month after the French parliament ...

If you have been sick of reading books and articles loaded with the same old stuff on complex relations between independent India and communist China, just try former Foreign Minister K Natwar Singh's China Diary. I am sure it would not disappoint you. The author gives us an account of his own life and times in and on China : ...

First it was his troublesome Achilles heel that slowed Ussain Bolt down a bit. The winner of double sprint gold medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the world championships at Berlin in 2009 is now out of action with back trouble. The participation of the world's fastest man in next month's Commonwealth Games in Delhi was the subject of ...

Mr Prime Minister, as I write these lines from Hong Kong after an Independence Day luncheon get-together with a large number of highly successful professional Indians hailing from all parts of the country (Kashmir included) I find that one major concern agitating their minds is scandals and scams in Suresh Kalmadi's Commonwealth Games.These young men and women are proud Indians ...

For our cover story on Islamisation of Kerala, veteran journalist and a seasoned Kerala hand K Gopalakrishnan interviewed state chief minister VS Achuthanandan. Salient points from the interview.Excerpts :Q: Your recent statement in New Delhi on some Islamic outfits has created a storm among secular parties in Kerals and in some other states as well. Was there a specific instance ...

The UPA-II is in its second year. What differentiates it from the UPA-I on promise and performance? Is it already drifting or struggling to have a sense of direction? Veteran political commentator and former government information head S Narendra seeks to find the answers.Prematurely the UPA II has entered the phase of midlife drift. It was a surprise winner in ...

Former IAS officer of the 1971 batch from Haryana cadre, Shahabuddin Yaqoob Quraishi was appointed in the Election Commission as a member on June 30, 2006. He has now taken over as the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) replacing the controversial Naveen Chawla. Drawing his priorities clear a soft-spoken and suave Quraishi wants a few essential reforms in the electoral process. ...

"You see him here, you see him there, you see himself almost everywhere," that's Superman with due apologies to the scarlet pimpernel. But that's the way with Hollywood. After nearly two decades in oblivion that winged comic-book hero is back in "Superman Returns," which should not be confused with "Batman Returns," writes film buff Ervell E. MenezesRemember it was Christopher ...

Pranay Gupte provides us a highly gripping multi-dimensional account of Indira Gandhi's life, times and politics. As a credible journalist of long-standing with varied media outlets like prestigious New York Times, Forbes and BBC he has taken great pains in reaching out his potential news sources as to capture the complex personality of India's Prime Minister as objectively as a ...

The cover story on the current Kashmir scenario in the August issue of your magazine is highly topical and praiseworthy. It has highlighted various dimensions of the burning conflict in the Valley and how the government - at the Centre and in the State both - as a whole has miserably failed in extinguishing the fire that has come to ...

Those who think that Al-Qaeda's global jihadist networks are working aginst secular democracies alone may think afresh . The networks are motivated by extremist interpretations of Islamic religious doctrines and want the entire Muslim land to follow them. They want to establish regimes based on such a version of Shariah law, attacking Western targets and removing all traces of Western ...

Kerala chief minister VS Achuthanandan has startled the entire nation by a revelation about a 'plan' to convert the "God's own country" into a Muslim majority state. Though the majority of the Muslim community in the state are secular and peace loving, Achuthanandan's warning should not be ignored, not just in the interests of Kerala alone, but for the sake ...

The gory act of cutting off the palm of Professor T.J. Joseph, Head of the Department of Malayalam, Newman College, Thodupuzha, Kerala, indicates the growing intolerance and determination to terrorize the public by a fanatical group of people. According to Prof Joseph, he had set a question paper and the question No.11 was on punctuation. He took part of an ...

The New Delhi Commonwealth Games, useful or not, are upon us. The time is short. The Games will commence and end successfully only if the government appoints a special organizing committee as was done in the conduct of the 1982 Asian Games. Again, the Asian Games could never have been the mighty success that it was if Rajiv Gandhi and ...

We ought to pause and think of the end result of this never-ending CWG tamasha conducted on shady deals and falsehood. Tainted money and tainted VVIPs can only produce tainted democratic polity, states HARI JAISINGH.The media expose of the multi-dimensional and multi-million- rupee scam around the nation's most prestigious event of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi reminds me ...

Cutting off the palm of Prof. T.J. Joseph is the sort of punishment that the Taliban prescribes for alleged act of blasphemy. After confirming the criminal act the particular part of the body used for committing the crime is chopped off. Shamsuddin, one of the seven PFI activists who allegedly committed the criminal act, reportedly told the police that the ...

Extraordinary situations require special handling. The Army does not have any police powers under the Constitution. It is in the national interest to give it special powers for operational purposes when it is called upon to undertake counter-insurgency operations, argues Gurmeet Kanwal, Director, Centre for Land Warfare Studies, New DelhiThe recent criticism against the Armed Forces Special Powers Act is ...

We face shortage of even the basic necessities of life. Large numbers of our people live in abject poverty. There are slums in every nook and corner of the country. That too, after 63 years of independence. Is it merely because of the lack of facilities for education, healthcare, housing, potable water, sanitation and transport? Or is it something more ...

The issue of alleged misuse of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) is like a hot potato today before the political parties, media and public at large. It is surely a challenge before new Chief Election Commissioner S Y Quraishi, argues Vidyarthi Kumar.After last year's furore over possibilities of misuse of (ECI-EVMs), the Election Commission had rather quickly and authoritatively declared that ...

Reckless destruction of forests is going on unchecked in Himachal Pradesh in the name of development. Though the state government maintains that power projects and cement plants being set up would generate additional revenue to the state, these have only become major environmental hazards, argues Ravinder Sood, stationed in Palampur.Setting up of cement plants and execution of over two dozen ...

Independent non-executive directors cannot be allowed to take refuge in ignorance of what is happening in the company. This is a universal law and should be so in India as well. The fundamental principles of accountability cannot be diluted, argues advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court Vivek Kapoor.George Orwell in his novel 'Nineteen Eighty four' published in 1949 ...

There are several social evils that have had its origins in the middle Ages. One such evil against women is the witch branding practice. In history, be it in our country or medieval Europe, women have suffered unspeakable violence and indignity on account of this practice. The irony is that the evil continues to exist in this country even as ...