PATNA, Bihar:People living in Patliputra Colony, did you know that the 2011 census has a section exclusively devoted to you? Since I live in the Patliputra area, it was really interesting to read what the census says about Patliputra colony! So here goes: Patliputra Colony belongs to ward no.1 , Patna rural subdivision in Patna […]
AGARTALA (Tripura): While divisive forces in certain parts of India attempt to cause rifts between Hindus and Muslims, in Tripura one saw several places where the Durga puja in Tripura were organised by the Muslim community. And this is not new, but very ordinary. The big budget puja of the ‘Blood Drop’ club in the […]
While India keeps patting its own back claiming we are a ‘tolerant’ nation, small sister Nepal is the trail-blazer when it comes to protection of ‘minuscule minorities.’ It has firmly rooted for the legal rights of LGBTI people in South Asia. In 2007, Nepal was the first (and so far only) country in South Asia to decriminalise […]
ITANAGAR, Arunachal Pradesh – The centre appears to be gung ho about imposing huge hydel projects on the hilly regions, and exploiting the people of Arunachal Pradesh to the fullest. If the UPA government tried to do this slowly, quietly marking fertile lands and villages to drown, the NDA or rather BJP government has no […]
On Saturday, there was a curious kind of ‘protest’ held for about three hours at the JP roundabout opposite Patna’s Maurya Hotel. A dozen or so people sat fairly quietly under a capony, ‘gently’ raising their voices against the growing intolerance and polarisation in India. The banner they huddled under was, “Bihar Intellectual Forum.” This […]
For a decade, Orthodox priest Artyom Vechelkovsky taught at a religious seminary in the city of Samara. He says that his colleagues knew that he was gay, but accepted him and valued his work. But in the current climate of rising antigay sentiment in Russia, church officials suddenly decided to dismiss him, according to a […]
Fifty four African countries will participate in the third India-Africa Forum Summit to be held in New Delhi later this month. The IAFS is expected to result in a deeper engagement between India and Africa. Today, India and Africa need each other more than ever before. Out of 189 countries, only 63 are expected to […]
Agartala: For some time now, there have been rumbles in the tribal pockets of Tripura for a new state called ‘Twipraland’. Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar cautioned against the call for a separate Twipraland state. He said regional parties have been spearheading the agitation in the interior areas, keeping in view the election to the […]
At six thirty on Saturday morning, the quiet of the Church Road in New Patliputra Colony was broken by a chorus that went, “Gai hamari maata hai, yeh hamari dharma ka mamla hai”. (The cow is our mother, this is our religious issue: note the stress on ‘hamari’) A motely group of a dozen men […]
BANGALORE: A cab-driver and his friend who abducted and raped a man here were arrested on Tuesday and booked under Section 377.The duo had kidnapped two call centre employees and their driver ferrying them to the graveyard shift. DCP (south-east) Rohini Katoch-Sepat said the two have confessed to the crime. The incident took place on […]
NAGPUR: Some street cops here are having a gala time indulging in blatant illegal extortion of young men, while the top brass hide behind the smoke-screen of ‘complaints are not registered’. All the cops need to do is to find two men together in quiet places, pounce on them, accuse them of being ‘gay’ and […]
It’s interesting how the journalists colour stories and how local media houses cater to sensationalism. First some ‘students’ of Patna Women’s College start a WhatsApp vilification campaign against a male teacher and the college principal. Then came the hounding of Patna Women’s College faculty member Sanjay Dutta (he has since resigned), by politically affiliated student groups and the local […]
