In a bid to tackle food wastage, the Indian government recently announced plans to fix food portion sizes served in star hotels and restaurants. The proposal came after PM Modi labelled food wastage as ‘injustice to the poor’ in his recent Mann Ki Baat. Ram Vilas Paswan, minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, followed the PM’s concerns with comments reported by the Hindustan Times: “If a person can […]

Amidst the loud yet soothing chants of ‘Govinda Govinda…Venkata Ramana Govinda’, you will be amazed to see the unconditional love of devotees of the Lord of Tirumala – Balaji. The gracious Lord, whose abode atop seven hills in Tirupati region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, is visited by Lakhs of devotees every single day! His aura, charm and divinity attract people from all walks of life and across the […]

“My fingerprints and iris are mine and my own. The state cannot take away my body,” a lawyer told India’s Supreme Court last week. Shyam Divan was arguing a crucial petition challenging a new law that makes it compulsory for people to submit a controversial biometric-based personal identification number while filing income tax returns. Defending this law, the government’s top law officer told the court on Tuesday that an individual’s […]

An estimated USD 770 billion in black money entered India during 2005-2014, US-based think tank Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has said in its latest report. Nearly USD 165 billion in illicit money exited the country during the same period, the global financial watchdog said. During 2014 alone, about USD 101 billion black money entered the country while USD 23 billion exited, the report added. “Illicit financial flows (IFFs) from developing […]

Karnataka occupies the first slot in a list of states perceived to be corrupt on the basis of people’s experience in paying bribes for public services, a survey conducted by an NGO has revealed. Karnataka is followed by Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab. The Centre for Media Studies survey, which covered 20 states, found Himachal Pradesh, Kerala and Chhattisgarh to be the least corrupt. The […]

Kodinhi, a remote and sleepy village in Kerala’s Malappuram district, continues to be a mystery to researchers. This village has the largest number of twins in the country. According to estimates, there are at least 400 pairs of twins in the village that has a population of 2000 families. While official estimates in 2008 pegged the number of twins in the village to 280 pairs, the number has only increased […]

Muslims are assumed to be the largest consumers of meat while the fact is that Christians and Jews are the highest meat consumer communities. The world’s largest beef meat exporter country is Brazil followed by India,Australia, USA and UK. When we see this matter in an Indian perspective we would be surprised to know that out of six largest meat exporters of India three are Hindu owned. In several cases […]

As India’s most restive region stares down the abyss of what a commentator calls another “hot summer of violence”, the doom-laden headline has returned with a vengeance: Is India losing Kashmir? Last summer was one of the bloodiest in the Muslim-dominated valley in recent years. Following the killing of influential militant Burhan Wani by Indian forces last July, more than 100 civilians lost their lives in clashes during a four-month-long […]

Telangana Eliot describes April as the cruelest month in his poem Wasteland. Perhaps it is true with the sun beating down 44 degrees and accuweather predicting a dangerous heat wave. But, it is eventful and momentous as Osmania University, was founded in this month 100 years ago. Befitting the occasion, the university premises have undergone a sea change like never before. The main thoroughfare has been illuminated as also the […]

India was at fifth place on the list of the world’s highest spenders on defence in 2016 as global military expenditure rose for a second consecutive year to $1,686 billion, according to a new report. New Delhi’s military expenditure grew by 8.5% last year to $55.9 billion, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s annual report on defence spending. The United States remained at the top of the list, […]