Tag Archives: India

[By Mari Marcel Thekaekara | New Internationalist] In Malaysia for a second family wedding, we are surprised at the different sets of migrant workers we encounter. Indonesians, Filipinas, Bangladeshis, Tamils and Punjabis. Walking around the less touristy part of Johor Bahru, popularly known as JB, my husband Stan was moved by an elderly Tamil man. Stan was carrying our 1-year-old ...

The presence of lakes and water bodies in and around urban areas is so very important to maintain a balanced ecosystem especially when these areas are being rapidly developed. But unfortunately, the few lakes that survive this ‘development’ end up facing the brunt of it – most turn into bodies of polluted water. Varthur lake in the outskirts of Bengaluru ...

According to the results of the 2011 religious census released recently, for the first time the percentage of Hindu of population in India slipped below 80 per cent. While Hindus formed 79.8% of the population, Muslims formed 14.2 percent (17.22 crore people). Everyone on Twitter seems to have something to say about the results of this religious census. Let’s take ...

[By Narendra Kaushik] New Delhi: It was sometime in early 2001. We (I and a reporter from Indian Express newspaper) were at Lodhi Colony office of Special Cell of Delhi Police to interact with Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq, a Pakistani terrorist who is accused of Red Fort shootout which claimed three lives on December 22, 2000. Ashfaq has been languishing ...

Mulayam Singh Yadav has done it again. Last April he invited wide-spread criticism when he said ‘boys will be boys’ and that boys ‘make mistakes’ while opposing capital punishment for rape. On Wednesday, the Samajwadi Party chief made some more controversial statements on rape while addressing a gathering where the state government was distributing free e-rickshaws. According to Mr Yadav, ...

[By Ajitha Menon] Ranchi (WFS) – ‘Kal Baisakhi’, or Nor’westers, originate in the Chhotanagpur Plateau, in and around areas like Ranchi and Jamshedpur in Jharkhand, in the months of April and May. These violent thunderstorms usually cause great destruction. Neetu Kumari, 15, of Jidu Pandra Toli village in Ormanjhi block of Ranchi district saw the thatched roof of her mud ...

[By Mari Marcel Thekaekara|New Internationalist] It’s Indian Independence Day on Saturday 15 August. Although this raises many questions as to what Independence means to the poor and wretched of our country, I will desist from the usual gloom and doom. Everyone needs to celebrate. And there is always a good story to gladden the heart, if you look around. I ...

On Friday, which happens to be Pakistan’s independence day, Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Abdul Basit made a very controversial statement. He said his country will continue to support the liberation of Kashmir and in no time he was trolled on by Indians on Twitter. Let’s read what they had to say Abdul Basit first you try to maintain peace ...

[By Tarannum] Siddharth Nagar (WFS) – Whereas she appears to be like any regular village girl from the vast countryside of Uttar Pradesh, quiet, unassuming and hardworking, Uma Kumari has more to her than meets the eye. This resident of Badgaon, a small hamlet in Siddharth Nagar district, located 220 kilometres from capital Lucknow, has distinguished herself as the architect ...

[By Shashi Tharoor] NEW DELHI – On July 30, Yakub Memon, a chartered accountant and the brother of a notorious gangster now living in self-imposed exile, was hanged for complicity in the planning and execution of serial bomb blasts that killed 257 people in Mumbai in 1993. The hanging, India’s first in three years, has prompted reactions ranging from dismay ...