New Delhi/Washington: India has sharply rejected that it “financed problems” in Afghanistan to create trouble for Pakistan, as alleged by Chuck Hagel, President Barack Obama’s Defence Secretary nominee. Despite the controversy, the US Senate on Tuesday cleared the way for confirmation of Mr Hagel to be the US’ next Defense Secretary. The confirmation is expected later in the day. “Senator Hagel’s remarks are in sharp contrast to the viewpoint of the […]

For more than two weeks, the Shahbag area in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka has been the centre of an extraordinary protest, with tens of thousands converging there every day peacefully to demand that those convicted of 1971 war crimes must be given nothing less than the death sentence. In this interview with Nirupama Subramanian, Bangladeshi writer, columnist and development worker Farah Ghuznavi, who was in Chennai for The Hindu Lit for Life 2013, described the […]

Indian police say they have arrested a man suspected of passing military secrets to arch-rival Pakistan. The man, an Indian citizen, was held in the western state of Rajasthan near the two countries’ border. Police say he passed details of military exercises held last week to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence. India and Pakistan frequently accuse each other of spying. The arrest comes after weeks of tension over the disputed territory of […]

“Come near Chandrayangutta bridge. Thoda baata karne ka hai (We need to talk to you),” ordered the voice in Hyderabadi Urdu on Sunday morning The man who identified himself as an officer from Hyderabad police’s East Zone was in fact calling Dr Ibrahim Ali Junaid from Mohammed Rayeesuddin’s phone. Rayeesuddin had been called for questioning and the police wanted to quiz Junaid as well. When Junaid told the officer he […]

For the first time, a Muslim woman has become the head of a wing other than the women’s wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party in UP. Among the new office-bearers, whose names were announced on Saturday, Rumana Siddiqui, a housewife, is president of the minority wing of the party. Except the women’s wing, which is always headed by a woman, the BJP has never had a woman heading any of […]

New Delhi, February 24: Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Sunday said the culprits involved in the Hyderabad blast, which killed 16 persons and left several injured, would be booked soon. “We have got some materials there (at the blast site) and tests are being done in the forensic laboratory. Soon we will get the results and the culprits will be booked soon,” Shinde told newspersons here. He said the […]

KABUL: Suicide bombers targeted Afghanistan’s intelligence agency and other security forces in four coordinated attacks in the heart of Kabul and outlying areas yesterday, officials said, a bloody reminder of the insurgency’s reach nearly 12 years into the war. The brazen assaults, which occurred within a three hour timespan, were the latest to strike Afghan forces, who have suffered higher casualties this year as US and other foreign troops gradually […]

BJP today warned the government against going ahead with the Sethusamudram project, saying the sentiments of crores of Hindus are attached to the issue and it will not tolerate any tampering with the Ram Setu. Please follow and like us:

PRESUMING THE UPA government gives in to the demand for a separate Telangana state, three issues will merit pondering. First, the creation of India’s 29th state would follow a Congress assessment that it could persuade the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) into an alliance in the 2014 General Election. Second, the impact of an individual — or rather of his sudden death and absence — would have had astonishing and far-reaching consequences. […]

Unless we learn to forget our differences and stand together as Indians first, earnestly believing that the cause of the Motherland is bigger than the interests of our groups and parties, the terrorist network cannot be rooted out, says Tarun Vijay. Afzal Guru was a dreaded terrorist who was part of a meticulously planned attack on India’s parliamentarians by the Jaish-e-Mohammed and the Lashkar-e-Tayiba . The five jihadis attacked the […]