Thousands of Dalits (formerly untouchables) converged in the Indian capital, Delhi, at the weekend to protest against recent caste riots in the northern town of Saharanpur. They were led by the Bhim Army – the BBC’s Geeta Pandey profiles its young, charismatic leader, Chandrashekhar. On Sunday afternoon, Delhi’s Jantar Mantar observatory, a popular venue for all sorts of protests, turned into a sea of blue when demonstrators wearing blue cloth […]

Describing Uzma Ahmad as “India’s daughter”, Swaraj welcomed her to India. “I am sorry for all that you have gone through,” she tweeted. On her return, Uzma, speaking to the media, said, “Pakistan is like a well of death.” “They could have sold me or used me in a risky operation,” she said about a family in Buner, Pakistan. Uzma said she was not the only woman duped into marry […]

Suddenly media circles are rife with the need for tax-free sanitary napkins, better menstruation hygiene and what not. You hear people talking about how the lack for sanitary napkins is keeping girls away from schools and how only 12% of Indian women are using sanitary napkins. As a middle-class Indian girl brought up in a tier II city in the country and working in its commercial capital, I have quite […]

Contrary to popular belief, Chinese academic Yi Fuxian recently claimed that India is the world’s most populous country with a population of about 1.32 billion and has overtaken China. According to a report by The Guardian, Yi believes that Chinese statisticians have overestimated the country’s population by about 90 million. “China’s real population may have been about 1.29 billion last year, which is around 90 million fewer people than the […]

The Income Tax Department today said it has identified over 400 benami transactions and attached properties worth Rs 600 crore in about 240 cases. Keen to implement the new Benami Act to ensure “visible outcomes on the ground”, the tax department last week set up 24 dedicated Benami Prohibition Units (BPUs) all over India. The department started initiating actions under the new Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016 from November […]

I was 12 years old when the Delhi rape incident took place. I remember my mom joining the march for the Nirbhaya (meaning fearless) campaign with 500 people for several weeks to support the victim and her family. Curious about the protest, I asked my mom if I could come along one day. Soon, I started attending the protests every weekend. The more often I went, the more enraged I […]

Britain was in anguish on Tuesday after 22 people were killed and nearly 60 injured when a suicide bomber targeted a concert hall in Manchester, described as the worst terrorist attack in the country for more than a decade. Victims included children – the youngest an 8-year-old girl – and teenagers who had gathered for a sell-out concert in the Manchester Arena (capacity: 21,000) by popular US singer Ariana Grande. […]

Sir Roger Moore has passed away at the age of 89. The Bond legend’s family revealed that the actor died after a ‘short but brave’ battle with cancer in Switzerland. A statement from the family said: ‘It is with a heavy heart that we must announce our loving father has passed away today in Switzerland after a short but brave battle with cancer. ‘The love with which he has surrounded in […]

Surpassing the ranks of the previous Guinness World Record holders – the ghost pepper, Naga Viper, Naga morich, the Trinidad moruga scorpion, the Carolina Reaper and all the other ‘hottest’ chili peppers you’ve ever heard of or tasted, scientists have accidentally given birth to the world’s hottest chili pepper! Dragon’s Breath – as it has been named – is so spicy that the consumption of even a single one may […]

The government said on Monday the goods and services tax (GST), scheduled to be rolled out from July 1, was set to benefit consumers, as the tax incidence on smartphones, medical devices and cement would come down. The GST Council, comprising state finance ministers and headed by the Union finance minister, last week finalised the tax on most of the items and services. A smartphone currently attracts two per cent […]