MNS hoarding forgets non-Marathi heroes: Rediff.com India News

• Rediff.com India News

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  • Does heroism have a Marathi manoos hue for the Maharashtra [ Images ] Navnirman Sena, even if the martyrs lost their lives protecting Mumbai [ Images ]?

    A hoarding an MNS leader posted in Mahim, north-central Mumbai, to mark the first anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks, omits National Security Guard commandos Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan and Havaldar Gajendra Singh Bisht who lost their lives battling terrorists at the Taj Mahal hotel [ Images ] and Nariman House respectively.

    Both heroes, Bengaluru-based Unnikrishnan and Dehra Dun native Bisht, were honoured with the Ashok Chakra, the country's highest award for valour during peace-time, this Republic Day.

    The MNS hoarding has photographs of all the other security personnel killed during the 26/11 attacks.

  

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The Pioneer > The Shia Sunni faultline

• The Pioneer
  

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  • G Parthasarathy
  • Superimposed on the rivalries, conflicts and prejudices that have characterised Persian-Arab relations for centuries, matters have been further complicated by the roles of the US and Israel, which significantly influence developments in the region. While Jews and Persians have historically been allies, Iran’s Revolutionary Government has adopted a policy of hostility towards Israel and the US. The Israelis, in turn, have covert links with Arab countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Israel has stridently opposed Iran’s nuclear programme, claiming that Tehran has ambitions to make nuclear weapons. The Obama Administration is trying to find a solution that permits Iran to enrich uranium, while ensuring that it neither qualitatively not quantitatively possesses enough highly enriched uranium to make nuclear weapons. Israel, however, continues to warn that if Iran, which has threatened to “wipe Israel off the map”, is not stopped, it will strike militarily at Iranian nuclear facilities. Any such action could well lead to Iran seeking to cut off access to two-thirds of the world’s oil supplies coming from the Persian Gulf, sparking a global economic crisis.
    
    India has a vital stake in the stability of the region, extending from Pakistan and Afghanistan, across the Straits of Hormuz. An estimated four million Indians now live in the six Arab Gulf kingdoms — Oman, UAE, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. India gets around 75 per cent of its oil supplies from these countries. Indians living in these countries remit the bulk of the $ 55 billion that India gets as remittances. Tensions and conflicts in this region could send global oil prices skyrocketing. This will adversely affect our balance of payments and send our foreign exchange reserves spiralling downwards, as we already have an adverse balance of trade of around $ 120 billion.
  • Given the complexities of the emerging situation in its western neighbourhood, India will have to steer clear of getting involved in Persian-Arab rivalries. But, at the same time, given its close relations with Iran, Israel and the US and as a member of the Board of Governors of the IAEA, India should play a more active role in resolving the stand-off resulting from Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Samuel Huntington had prophesised a “clash of civilisations” between the Christian and the Muslim worlds. What we are witnessing in our neighbourhood is a clash between Persian and Arab cultures, superimposed on a sectarian Shia-Sunni divide.

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Arunachal minister suggests more NE topics in textbooks - dnaindia.com

• dnaindia.com

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  • Itanagar
  • The education minister of Arunachal Pradesh Bosiram Siram has urged NCERT authorities to include the history, geography and rich culture of North East, particularly of Arunachal Pradesh in their text books.
  • "Tawang Monastery, the second largest in the world, Parsuram Kund in Lohit district and Malinithan in West Siang district, important Hindu pilgrimage spots with mythological relevance, do not find mention in NCERT books," Siram told PTI today.

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India offers lessons for the world - The National Newspaper

• The National Newspaper

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  • Ms Ajay is employed with Tutorvista, a US$38 million (Dh139.5m) outsourcing firm based in Bangalore, which was launched three-and-a-half years ago.

    
    

    The company offers personalised coaching online to 20,000 students, from undergraduates to elementary school students, most of them in the US.
    
    India has in recent years emerged as a lucrative outsourcing hub, offering low costs and a large pool of educated talent.
    
    The business of remote tutoring, or hiring a qualified tutor over the internet, had an estimated worth of $250m in 2006 and is expected to be worth $2 billion by 2015, a 2007 study by the global knowledge firm Evalueserve shows.

  • Remote tutoring has opened up a world of opportunities for India’s well qualified teachers, especially for those in rural and remote towns, where job opportunities are scarce. Twenty per cent of its tutors are PhD holders and 60 per cent hold master’s degrees. Many of them are retired civil servants and housewives looking to earn some extra cash.
  • The teachers, who earn between 8,000 rupees (Dh629) and 20,000 rupees a month based on assignment and qualifications, are only expected to know English, have knowledge about their subject and own a computer.

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The Pioneer > Liberties Liberhan took

• The Pioneer
  

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  • Chandan Mitra
  • Interestingly, I never got any summons from the Commission although it questioned 1,500 witnesses and virtually every journalist who was present in the Ram Mandir/Babri Masjid complex that day. In its report, the Commission narrates at length the alleged manhandling of Ruchira Gupta who was reporting for Business India those days. It reproduces without verification her (patently false) claim that she was manhandled by kar sewaks and her clothes torn. Had the Commission summoned me I would have testified under oath that nothing of the kind happened. She accompanied me, despite my pleas to the contrary, when I decided to visit the structure under destruction. In fact, she was saved by an assistant to Pramod Mahajan who pushed her out of the way because some kar sewaks got agitated by her remarks and demanded to know who she was, doubting her claim to be a kar sewak despite the saffron bandana she wore to pretend being a member of the demolition squad.
    
    I was not remotely associated with the BJP those days and my reports in HT were factual and non-commentative, unlike those of my Leftist compatriots. Those two reports are still widely referred to by Western researchers into the demolition and its aftermath. Yet, the Commission never thought it fit to call me for evidence. But then, I am in august company. Justice Liberhan who liberally savages Atal Bihari Vajpayee in his report, never called him to testify either. After the leak of the document, Liberhan even denied on camera that Vajpayee had been pilloried. I can excuse the retired judge. If anybody takes 17 years to compile a litany of half-truths and untruths, memory can well play truant. Unless, of course, the report’s authorship itself is in some doubt!

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पाकिस्तानी करते हैं हिंदू डॉक्टरों पर विश्वास

• पाकिस्तानी करते हैं हिंदू डॉक्टरों पर विश्वास

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  • पाकिस्तानी नागरिक हिंदू डॉक्टरों को ज्यादा पसंद करते हैं, क्योंकि उन्हें लगता है कि हिंदू डॉक्टर ज्यादा काबिल और पेशे के प्रति ईमानदार हैं। यह बात पाकिस्तान की यात्रा से लौटे जीवन प्रबंधन गुरु पं. विजयशंकर मेहता ने शनिवार को मीडिया से कही।
    
    उन्होंने बताया 11 दिनी यात्रा में उन्होंने हनुमान चालीसा, सुंदरकांड, महाभारत और जीवन प्रबंधन पर 13 व्याख्यान दिए। संत शदारामजी की 301वीं जन्मतिथि पर शदाणी दरबार के नौवें पीठाधीश्वर युधिष्ठिरलालजी के नेतृत्व में यह यात्रा आयोजित की गई थी।
  

जहाँ दलितों को दफ़नाया जाता है - Oneindia Hindi

• Oneindia Hindi

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  • मुकुल श्रीवास्तव
  

  • उत्तर प्रदेश के जौनपुर ज़िले के एक गाँव कुल्हनामऊ में ग़रीबी के कारण दलितों का अंतिम संस्कार हिन्दू रीति रिवाज़ों के अनुसार न कर उन्हें ज़मीन में दफ़नाया जाता है.

    मृतकों को दफ़नाने के लिए गाँव में ही बाकायदा एक क़ब्रिस्तान बना हुआ है .

    गाँव के 80 वर्षीय बुज़ुर्ग मुरली बताते हैं कि अंग्रेजों के ज़माने से यहाँ मृतकों को दफ़नाया जाता रहा है. पहले यहाँ सिर्फ साधुओं को ही दफ़नाया जाता था लेकिन बाद में गाँव के ग़रीब लोग अपने संबंधियों को यहाँ दफ़नाने लग गए .

    अंतिम संस्कार के लिए शवों को दफ़ना देना एक सस्ता विकल्प है. मुरली के परिवार के सभी रिश्तेदार गाँव के इसी क़ब्रिस्तान में दफ़न हैं.

  • लेकिन मुरली यह कहना नहीं भूलते, "अगर अच्छा खाना मिले तो कोई ख़राब खाना नहीं खाएगा. अगर मेरा अंतिम संस्कार हिन्दू रीति रिवाज़ों के अनुसार हो तो मैं अपने आपको धन्य मानूँगा."
  • वे चाहते हैं कि सरकार इस ओर ध्यान दे. वे कहते हैं, " जीवन तो जैसे तैसे कट ही जाएगा लेकिन हम अपना परलोक नहीं बिगाड़ना चाहते हैं."

बीमार गायों को पहुंचाया गौशाला

• बीमार गायों को पहुंचाया गौशाला

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  • एक रुपया एक रोटी मिशन संस्था के सदस्यों ने शनिवार को अग्रवाल कॉलोनी, लोहा मंडी व पीएलए से बेसहारा गायों को गौशाला पहुंचाया तथा बीमार गायों का हिंदवान आश्रम में ले जाकर उपचार कराया। मिशन के प्रवक्ता ज्योति कौशिक ने बताया कि ‘एक रुपया एक रोटी’ मिशन के सदस्यों ने 2 गायों तथा एक सांड को श्री हरियाणा कुरूक्षेत्र गौशाला पहुंचाया।
  • हिसार.

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पाक में सिक्ख वकील के केश कत्ल

• पाक में सिक्ख वकील के केश कत्ल

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  • पाकिस्तान में हिंदू सिक्खों पर तालिबानी कहर जारी है। पहले तो ये कबायली इलाकों तक ही सीमित था, मगर अब इस्लामाबाद जैसे विकसित शहरों की तरफ बढ़ने लगा है। 21 नवंबर को ऐसी ही खौफनाक वारदात सिविल कोर्ट के वकील अनूप सिंह के साथ हुई।

    
    
    

    उन्हें बुरी तरह से पीटा गया और इस्लाम अपनाने का दबाव बनाया गया। इस दौरान उनके केस भी कत्ल कर दिए गए और तो और मामला भी उनके खिलाफ ही दर्ज करा दिया गया।

  
  • गुरमीत सिंह का दावा है कि अनूप सिंह मुस्लिम महिला सफीना कंवल पत्नी मोहम्मद आमीन का केस लड़ रहे हैं।
  • हमलावर आमीन के लोग थे। हमले के समय अनूप सिंह के कपड़े भी उतार दिए गए और सफीना के साथ उनके अश्लील फोटो खींचे गए। वारदात की रिपोर्ट जब पुलिस में की गई तो उन्हें सफीना के साथ बलात्कार के आरोप में दोषी बना डाला गया।
  • अनूप सिंह के भाई ने खौफजदा होकर अनूप व अपने परिवार के साथ पंजा साहिब में आश्रय लिया है। उन्हें धमकाया जा रहा है कि पाक छोड़ कर चले जाएं। नहीं तो मार डाला जाएगा। गुरमीत सिंह ने भारत सरकार व सिक्ख कम्युनिटी से पाकिस्तान में सिक्खों पर हो रहे जुल्म के खिलाफ आवाज बुलंद करने की अपील की है।

Deshbandhu : लिब्रहान के साथ जनता की रिपोर्ट भी देखें

• Deshbandhu
  

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  • दरअसल यह एक ऐसा अपराध था जिसे इस देश के लाखों करोड़ों ने दूरदर्शन के माध्यम से देखा था और उससे पूर्व की परिस्थितियों को भी वे देख चुके थे। राम मंदिर के शिला पूजन पर प्रतिबंध लगाने में और अयोध्या की वर्षों से चली आ रही पंचकोशी परिक्रमा को रोक देने से आम जनता में आक्रोश फैलना स्वाभाविक था। इसलिए  सिर्फ यह कहना कि भाजपा नेताओें ने भड़काऊ बयान दिया इसीलिए उत्तेजित कारसेवकों ने बाबरी मस्जिद को ढहा दिया, ठीक नहीं होगा। यदि भड़काऊ बयान ही दोषी होता है तो सन् 1984 के दिसम्बर में जब श्रीमती इंदिरा गांधी को उनके सिख अंग रक्षकों ने गोली मार दी थी तो मीडिया को यह बात जनता से छिपानी चाहिए थी।
  • अब श्री अमर सिंह कहते हैं कि सदन में भाजपाईयों की नारे बाजी करने के कारण भावावेश में आ गया था, इसलिए हमला कर दिया। मेरा इरादा हमला करने का नहीं था। सवाल है कि जब मामूली नारेबाजी से श्री अमर सिंह भावावेश में आ गये तो पंचकोशी परिक्रमा रोके जाने से जिन लोगों में आक्रोश पैदा हुआ होगा, उन्होंने यदि पुराने ढांचे को ध्वस्त कर दिया तो इसमें किसी की साजिश क्यों तलाशी जा रही है। सबसे बड़ी बात यह कि जो ढांचा गिर गया वह दुबारा नहीं बन सकता, इसलिए विवाद को खत्म कर देना चाहिए था।

दुल्हन ने मांगे दो लाख और प्लाट

• दुल्हन ने मांगे दो लाख और प्लाट

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  • एक युवक को शादी करना महंगा पड़ गया। चार दिन बनी दुल्हन ने अपने पति के सामने भारी शर्त रख दी। पति की आर्थिक स्थिति कमजोर होने के कारण वो मांगे पूरी करने में नाकाम रहा तो दुल्हन घर जाने के बहाने फुर्र हो गई। साथ में हजारों रुपए के गहने भी ले गई।
  • सांपला.
  

  • बीमार रहती थी मां...

    
    
    

    दीपक का कहना है कि उसकी मां बीमार रहती थी। घर पर खाना बनाने वाला कोई नहीं था इसलिए उसने शादी की थी, लेकिन मानसी उसे धोखे में रख कर शगुन के लिए पहनाए गए मंगलसूत्र, कानों के बाले, कोका, चांदी की पायजेब आदि आभूषण लेकर फरार हो गई। शादी के लिए उसने 50 हजार रुपए कर्ज लिया था।

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हिन्दू संतों को बदनाम करने की साजिश : अशोक सिंघल

• Loktej | Latest Hindi News from India and around the World

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  • अहमदाबाद
  • विश्र्व हिन्दू परिषद (विहिप) के नेता अशोक सिंघल ने आशाराम आश्रम में की गई पुलिस कार्यवाही पर दुःख व्यक्त करते हुए इसे हिन्दू संतों को बदनाम करने की साजिश बताया।
  • अशोक सिंघल आशाराम आश्रम से निकलकर सीधे गांधीनगर स्थित मुख्यमंत्री आवास पहुंचे। जहां मुख्यमंत्री नरेन्द्र मोदी से मुलाकात की। दोनों के नेताओं के बीच करीबन एक घण्टे चली बैठक में किस मुद्दे पर चर्चा हुई इसका पता नहीं चल पाया है। माना जा रहा है कि मोदी और सिंघल के बीच आशाराम आश्रम को लेकर चर्चा हुई है।

'BJP should merge with Congress'

• 'BJP should merge with Congress'

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  • No one can repair the BJP, former party ideologue K N Govindacharya tells Sreelatha Menon
  

  • But why did the Congress open the locks?
    They were playing the anti-Sikh, pro-Hindu card. In 1999, Rajiv Gandhi launched his election campaign from Ayodhya. The sants began to unite the akharas for the stone-laying ceremony.

    How did you become accused number 19 in the Liberhan report on the masjid demolition?
    I came to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) in 1988. At that time, the BJP was keen on postponing the shilanyas as it wanted to tie up with VP Singh. But the VHP wanted the shilanyas with or without the alliance. My effort as general secretary was that both should happen. In 1990, the kar seva started.

  • How much money was raised for the temple?
    We raised Rs 9 crore. Stones were brought and carved. They are still there at Karsevakpuram in Ayodhya. Kar seva was planned for December 6, 1991. Close to 125,000 people came from across the country. They were to take sand and stones to the shilanyas site.

    Where was this?
    It was near the structure. But people were not ready for just a symbolic kar seva. They were frustrated and their leaders could not fathom this. Only 30 per cent of them were from the Sangh. Others were just kar saveks and had no concern for the organisation. My apprehension is that some people from Andhra Pradesh, Telengana and Maharashtra were bent on defying the Sangh Parivar. Once they started attacking, others joined. It was a natural resentment.

  • You could have built a small shrine near the structure without whipping up hysteria.
    The mandir would not have been possible without moblisation. But it was possible without demolition. So, Advani said after this that we lost an important issue and that it was his saddest day. I said it should not be condemned or condoned.

    Why saddest day? Didn’t it help BJP?
    No, the BJP lost all five state elections after that. After 1992, it became an untouchable party.

  • Why did you quit the party?
    I was general secretary till 2000 and was wondering what I could do to create space for ideology. But the BJP remained power-centric. Atalji and Advaniji were liberal democrats and believed an ideological party could not come to power. On the one side, there was domination of foreign ecomomic forces, and on the other, the government and the party were not alive to these. Checks and balances were missing. So, first I took study leave and delved into the impact of globalisation. Now, I am building on my conclusions. The foundation is ready in the form of the Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan, which is a political organisation, and Rashtriya Morcha, which is agitational. We will fight elections in 2014.

    What do you thinkthe BJP should do now?
    The Congress and the BJP are both pro-foreign and pro-rich. They should merge. They are not allowing space to pro-poor voices. If you do this, you are leading people to anarchist forces.

    If you were to go to the BJP, what would you do to repair it?
    There are too many conflicts and contradictions. No one can repair it. From Shahnawaj to Varun Gandhi, it’s a 180-degree-wide spectrum. You have Murli Manohar Joshi and Murlidar Rao on the one end on economic policies and Advani on the other. You have Modi welcoming SEZs and malls to wreck the party. He cares two hoots about the Sangh Parivar. You also have Shivraj Chauhan, who can’t live without the Sangh Parivar. All relationships are need-based

No votes for temple, we needed roti with Ram: man who cast the first Ayodhya stone

• No votes for temple, we needed roti with Ram

  
  
  • Kameshwar Chaupal, who laid the foundation stone for a proposed Ram Mandir at the shilanyas site at Ayodhya in 1989, has said that the Ayodhya movement has lost its electoral appeal. And the BJP, which has to blame itself for it, should have included “roti (livelihood) with Ram.”

     

    Chaupal, a Dalit (Paswan, by caste), has been a much-feted swayamsevak in the BJP/RSS, and the Sangh Parivar has always maintained that “his shilanyas act showed that the RSS-BJP’s Hindutva was an inclusive, all-encompassing idea.

  • The symbol of Ram then should not have been reduced to the BJP when leaders from even the Congress, like Dau Dayal Khanna and Karan Singh, were also involved in it,” Chaupal told The Sunday Express today.
  • The BJP MLC also said that the BJP ideally should have included roti(livelihood) along with Ram in its political campaign. Asked why Chaupal agreed to remain in the BJP, and contest Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, before being nominated as an MLC (he is serving his second term as MLC), he said: “If all of us in the BJP had a common opinion (on the Ram Temple issue, and other issues), its fate would have been somewhat different.”

India's richest shrine set for a golden makeover: India Today

• India Today
  

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  • Lord Venkateswara's sanctuary atop Tirumala hills is set to glitter more than ever.

    Three hundred kg of gold will turn the richest shrine in India into a literal golden temple.

    The Rs 1,000-crore project - the entire exterior and interior of the main temple will be plated with gold - began on Wednesday.

    The work, christened Ananda Nilayam-Ananta Swarnamayam, is expected to be completed by the middle of next year.

  • There are enough incentives for the generous devotees.

    Those offering one kg gold or more will be offered the privilege of a free VIP darshan every year, besides free laddu prasadam and accommodation in the temple guest houses.

    The TTD could also have pulled off the gold plating all by itself, considering its phenomenal wealth. It receives an annual donation of 350 kg only in gold, has a yearly outlay of roughly Rs 2,000 crore and has received Rs 50,000 crore in offerings over the last 1,100 years.

    The shrine attracts, on an average, 50,000 pilgrims every day.

  • The VHP had opposed the plan of gold plating the temple, saying it was "an interference in the religious nature" of the structure.
  • In a letter to Adhikesavulu, VHP international working president S. Vedantam had said covering temple walls with gold would damage the inscriptions. "There are invaluable treasures of our tradition and history in these inscriptions."