Opinion News Updates

New Delhi: Pakistan’s former president and military ruler Ayub Khan had “no intention” of going to war with India in 1965, and was taken aback when India “launched an attack”, said his son Gohar Ayub Khan, a retired Pakistani military officer and a veteran politician. An aide-de-camp to his father Ayub Khan, Pakistan’s first military […]

The surveys and online polls that throw up dismal figures in terms of the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan may well give the opposition a handle to criticise the pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But sadly, what they do not realise is that the cleanliness programme that the prime minister initiated on the […]

India’s public-health system needs urgent attention, investment -especially in the rural areas – and attention, reveals an IndiaSpend analysis. There is an 83 percent shortage of specialist medical professionals in community health centres (CHCs), according to the Rural Health Statistics-2015, released by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The CHCs constitute the secondary level […]

New Delhi: In 2002, when experimental cinema was not as welcome as it is today, Meghna Gulzar dared to be different with “Filhaal…”, a film on surrogacy. The filmmaker is only glad she is “ahead of time” with her creativity. ” ‘Filhaal…’, even though it was appreciated, didn’t do very well commercially. Back then, people […]

London: A second dengue infection can be life-threatening, new research shows. This is because, for decades, scientists have thought that there are four genetically-distinct types of the deadly dengue virus. Now, a global consortium of laboratories has shown that far more important are the differences in the virus’ anti-genic properties – the “coats” that the […]

New Delhi: The recently-concluded World Hindi Conference in Bhopal was conducted by people with “obvious party affiliations” which left out noted Hindi writers, Hindi media persons and students, says a veteran journalist and noted writer. Mrinal Pande, who chaired one of the sessions at the event, feels the Narendra Modi-led NDA government had “erred in […]

By Aadil Mir Srinagar: “A wailing mother jumped inside the grave and asked me to bury her along with her son who was killed in cross-firing while on way to school. I could not control myself and my eyes welled up,” says a grave digger who has been at the job for around 25 years. […]

New Delhi: The Ramayana and the Gita are not religious texts and should be taught in schools, according to union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma. Sharma said that including the Ramayana and the Gita in school curriculum was an attempt to inculcate spiritual and cultural values in children. “It is an attempt to teach spiritual values […]

New Delhi: The death of Kannada rationalist and literary scholar M.M. Kalburgi has sparked protests among people of all spheres in Karnataka. Many political leaders have drawn parallels between his death and those of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare. According to those who were closely associated with Kalburgi, the killing represents a worrying trend […]

New Delhi: Words have not matched deeds on the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, according to one of its brand ambassadors. Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who was appointed the clean India mission’s brand ambassadors along with eight others by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said that the government has been unable to transform its publicity blitz into action. […]

The long festering OROP (one rank-one pension) issue that goes back to 1973 has acquired disturbing visibility in recent months due to the protest mounted by the retired veterans at Jantar Mantar and the ignominy of the Delhi Police manhandling the country’s retired soldiers a day before Independence Day. The matter found mention in Prime […]

New Delhi: Revving up his SUV (sports utility vehicle) septuagenarian K.K. Sehgal has been checking his vehicle’s engine ahead of a challenging journey. An engineer by profession, cancer survivor Sehgal, 75, would soon be speeding down the highways, criss-crossing the desert state of Rajasthan with over a dozen other car rallyists, educating people about timely […]

The long festering OROP (one rank-one pension) issue that goes back to 1973 has acquired disturbing visibility in recent months due to the protest mounted by the retired veterans at Jantar Mantar and the ignominy of the Delhi Police manhandling the country's retired soldiers a day before Independence Day

Baramulla: Nearly a year later, Jammu and Kashmir is yet to recover from the devastating floods that claimed nearly 300 lives and caused widespread destruction. But many Kashmiris say the deluge has united them like never before. In Baramulla district, around 40 km from Srinagar, an IANS correspondent met many people who are still living […]

Patna village (Madhya Pradesh): A simple innovation like a check-dam has dramatically turned around the lives of the 500-odd people in 90 poor Adivasi houselholds in this village located on a water-scarce plateau in Madhya Pradesh, where the nearest water body was once over four kilometres away. Located in the Chhatarpur district of Madhya Pradesh’s […]