Al Qaeda’s virulent offshoot, Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS; Arabic, Dawlat al-Islamiyah f’al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham, Daesh), currently under stress owing to combined operations by Russia and the Syrian Arab Army of President Bashar al-Assad, poses a threat to the world as its foreign cadres flee back home. … Read More
The Allahabad High Court’s comments, declaring triple talaq unconstitutional and violative of the rights of Muslim women, has confounded the confusion over divorce among Indian Muslims as divorce for Muslim men and women are governed by two different archaic laws of the colonial era. Incredible as this sounds, Muslim men … Read More
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayaram Jayalalithaa, interred on December 6 after a State funeral attended by both the President and Prime Minister of India, was a complex personality who has left behind a mixed legacy. Surprisingly for one mired in controversy during her roller-coaster life, her final departure was accomplished … Read More
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Dr Jayaram Jayalalithaa (born 24 February 1948) breathed her last at Apollo Hospital, Chennai on Monday night at 11.30 p.m., after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest on the evening of December 4, 2016, the climax of a prolonged illness. She leaves behind a difficult-to-fill vacuum in … Read More
The demonetisation of high denomination currency notes is by far the most revolutionary feat of any Government in independent India, from which its opponents and victims are reeling even three weeks after the momentous announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the evening of November 8. The move must be … Read More
The torching of a Government primary school at Rigipora, Kupwara, on Friday, November 18, 2016, probably reflects frustration among Kashmiri militants whose offensives against the Indian State have been sharply curtailed since the demonetisation of currency notes of Rs 1000 and Rs 500 denomination on November 8. Overall, there are … Read More
Is India losing the battle against female foeticide? It would seem so, given the fact that the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PC&PNDT) Act, 1994 has still not been implemented in 17 States and 6 Union Territories even though a whopping 1.3 million girls are missing every year. Though covered … Read More
Although some strides have been made in cleaning the Ganga due to personal scrutiny by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Yamuna, lifeline of Delhi, Haryana and parts of Uttar Pradesh, remains stagnant and wholly dependent upon the monsoons for annual cleansing. This year’s phenomenal rainfall diluted some of the cumulative … Read More
An ambitious agreement to phase out planet-warning hydroflurocarbons (HFCs), adopted during the ministerial level negotiations on the Montreal Protocol at Kigali, Rwanda (October 8-14, 2016), has given a major boost to international efforts to reduce mankind’s carbon footprint. HFC gasses are extensively used in the air-conditioning and refrigerant industries, and … Read More
Nikah halala, the demeaning practice of forcing a woman to sleep with another man in a brief marriage before she can return to the husband who regrets divorcing her, is an abomination that must be abolished along with the freedom of instant divorce (triple talaq) granted to Muslim men in … Read More
