Asian Lite News Archive

Category: INDIAN NEWS

  • India’s Daughter: A Note of Dissent

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      By Rajeev Poduval The government of India recently banned the documentary film Storyville: India’s Daughter by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin breathing life into an international discussion on the supposedly growing connoisseurship of rape and violence against women in the country. Undoubtedly, the brutality the film depicts is gruesome and raw. As the film takes…

  • Our heads hang in shame: Modi

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      Prime Minister Narendra Modi on said “our heads hang in shame when we hear of instances of crime against women” and that his government has initiated several steps to help women who face violence and abuse. In a statement on the International Women’s Day, the prime minister said he “salutes the indomitable courage and…

  • Many in India share rapist’s comments: Ram Devineni

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    By Arun Kumar An Indian-American filmmaker and creator of ‘Priya’s Shakti’, a free-to-download comic book that tells the story of an Indian gang-rape victim-turned-superhero, was not surprised by a convicted rapist’s views on rape. Last September, while conducting research for his comic, he met many men in Delhi who shared convicted rapist Mukesh Singh’s opinions…

  • NRI surgeon who came to Harrison Ford’s rescue

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    Indian-American spine surgeon Sanjay Khurana was playing golf when a single-engine plane crashed on the course. The pilot was none other than famous Hollywood actor Harrison Ford. Khurana was among the first to pull out the injured star from the wreckage. When Khurana saw the plane crash on the course, next to Santa Monica Airport,…

  • Women are the stronger beings: Bachchan

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    Amid discussions on women’s safety in India, cinestar Amitabh Bachchan, who is the UN ambassador for the Girl Child, has demanded “respect of equality” for the “stronger beings”. “Women power! Women must have the respect of equality…they are the stronger beings…when they prosper, society prospers, mankind (and I use this word specifically to address the…

  • Vinod Mehta 1942-2015

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      Vinod Mehta, one of India’s best known journalists, died here of multi-organ failure, doctors said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called him “a fine journalist”. The 73-year-old Mehta, who at one time worked as factory hand in Britain, passed away at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), its spokesperson Amit Gupta said. AIIMS…

  • Modi salutes courage of women

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi greeted women on on the occasion of International Women’s Day. “On International Women’s Day, I salute the indomitable courage and stellar achievements of women,” he said in a statement. “Our heads hang in shame when we hear of instances of crime against women.” “We must walk shoulder-to-shoulder to end all forms…

  • Kejriwal responding to treatment

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      Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is responding to the naturopathy treatment he is undergoing for chronic cough and diabetes at a private hospital on the outskirts of Bengaluru, a medical officer said . “Kejriwal is responding to our treatment and feeling better than when he was admitted here on Thursday. There is improvement in…

  • Saina enters All England final

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     Saina Nehwal became the first Indian in 14 years to reach the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships by virtue of a straight games win over China’s Sun Yu here. The third seed became the first Indian woman to enter the summit clash of the prestigious $500,000 tournament by defeating the tall Chinese…

  • No arrest yet in Dimapur lynching

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    The Nagaland government is yet to make any arrest in connection with lynching of a rape accused in Dimapur, as the central government on Saturday asked the state to take strict action against those behind the incident. A Nagaland Police official in Dimapur said efforts were on to identify those involved in the killing of…

  • Asian film fest opens at Dallas

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    First South Asian film festival in US draws big crowds…writes Arun Kumar   The inaugural Dallas-Fort Worth South Asian Film Festival (DFW SAFF), featuring 14 documentaries and films, exploring unique circumstances and stories based on South Asia, attracted over 1,000 cinephiles. The three-day festival from February 27 to March 1 at the Angelika Film Centre in Plano,…

  • Dirty politics in Aam Aadmi Party ?

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    Surprise will be felt because it was believed that the party had learnt the right lessons from the suicidal tendencies which it displayed after its electoral success last year. The need for piping down was evident from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s call for eschewing arrogance during his speech after being sworn-in…writes Amulya Ganguli  For the Aam…

  • Archer flays docu ban

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    British author Jeffrey Archer said the ban on airing of the BBC documentary on the December 16, 2012 gang-rape was not good in a democratic country like India. “It is not a good thing in a democracy (to ban) and things have changed so much…,” Archer told IANS here in response to a question on…

  • Creators of own destiny

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    The trouble was her family was in continuous denial of what was happening to her and would often suggest not to confuse “marital discord” with “domestic violence”. And her husband believed he had successfully caged his wife in his prison forever…writes Shilpa Raina   For six years, Anna Marie Lope lived in constant fear and depression. Exhausted…

  • Women entrepreneurs of India

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    Balancing personal, professional worlds with pride…writes Nivedita From managing their family and children, fulfilling their ‘duties’ as a daughter, wife, daughter-in-law and more, to also setting up and running their own business – women across India are fighting stereotypes and challenging themselves to create their own individuality in a patriarchal society. Whether it’s via a fashion…

  • Saeed Naqvi on Modi’s Kashmir policy

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    Kashmir challenge: Modi could write history or blot it…writes Saeed Naqvi   A principal reason for Narendra Modi being swept to power in May was disgust with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh – indecisive, short on ideas, bereft of charisma and supervising a government of scams. In a house of 543, the Congress had 209…

  • Has civilisation really passed India by?

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    In my experience it is mainly the women in our society who condition their daughters to be controlled firstly in their fathers household and then in their husbands household. We are married and the subservience continues…writes Narender Kaur After the harrowing reports of the rapes recently in India the question of the backward mind set…

  • YouTube blocks BBC documentary

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     YouTube began blocking access to the controversial BBC documentary on the December 16, 2012 gang rape, citing court orders, while the government served legal notice to the top news channel after it ignored a court’s restraining order and aired the documentary carrying an interview with one of the rape convicts. The documentary “India’s Daughter”, by…

  • BBC DOCU – Don’t shoot the messenger!

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    Without even watching the documentary “India’s Daughter” about the Dec 16, 2012, rape of the woman who has come to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’ or ‘Braveheart’ in a bus in New Delhi, critics have accused BBC of “voyeurism” and worse for interviewing one of the convicted rapists…writes Arun Kumar  India’s ban on a BBC documentary on…

  • Dissent in AAP, Yadav and Bhushan sacked

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     AAP leaders Yogendra Yadav and Prashant Bhushan were ready to quit from the party’s top decision-making body but got sacked by loyalists of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior AAP leader Mayank Gandhi has said. Gandhi, one of the 19 who attended a party leadership meeting Wednesday where the two were dropped from the Political…

  • Indian help to remove Turkish jet

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    By Anil Giri   An Indian Air Force C-130J Super Hercules transport plane carrying an aircraft removal kit landed in Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) on Thursday to help remove a Turkish Airlines Airbus A-330 that skidded off the runway . Nepal request to India to send the special aircraft to remove the Turkish plane from…

  • Varanasi to Kathmandu by bus

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    By Anil Giri  A direct bus service between Nepal’s capital Kathmandu and India’s Varanasi city was flagged off here at a function attended by senior government officials from both sides. The service has been started under the Motor Vehicle Agreement between Nepal and India signed during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to…

  • India look to make it four from four

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      Defending Champions India are on a roll, having won all three of their cricket World Cup matches, and are favourites to make it four out of four when they take on two-times former champions West Indies in a Pool B contest on the fast, bouncy WACA wicket here. For the West Indies, who have…

  • Paramhansa: India’s first yoga guru in the US

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    By M.R. Narayan Swamy If India’s idea of an International Yoga Day has found easy acceptance in the UN, much of the credit must go to Paramhansa Yogananda, India’s first yoga guru in the US whose 62nd death anniversary. Unlike Swami Vivekananda, Yogananda is not that widely appreciated although he played a huge role in…

  • Kargil war tripped Pakistan: Daily times

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      The Pakistani military’s decision to launch a covert war against India in Kargil in 1999 has made Islamabad “progressively irrelevant” internationally, a columnist said. “In the context of Pakistan-India relations, 1999 can be called one of the most significant years of the post-Cold War phase,” wrote columnist Qaisar Rashid in the Daily Times. He…

  • BJP hits back at Akhilesh

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    Hitting back at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav’s potshot on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over Wi-Fi services at the Varanasi ghats, the BJP on Thursday said his anti-technology mindset will not take him far in politics. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took on Yadav for his barb on Wednesday that Wi-Fi services at ghats…

  • Obama names NRI as IMF director

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    President Barack Obama has nominated Sunil Sabharwal, an independent Indian American investor in the payments sector, as US Alternate Executive Director at International Monetary Fund for a term of two years. The White House sent Sabharwal’s nomination to the Senate. At over two dozen, Obama administration boasts of having the highest number of Indian Americans…

  • BBC airs gang-rape documentary

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    Brushing aside Indian protests, the BBC has telecast a documentary on a brutal gang-rape in Delhi that has been banned in India, “given the intense level of interest” in it. The hour-long documentary was then uploaded on YouTube by an individual, effectively making it available to a global audience. Shown on BBC Four, “India’s Daughter”…

  • NEWS IN PICS – Latest pics from world events

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    LATEST PICTURES FROM THE WORLD EVENTS

  • Archer Rocks Bengaluru

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    Author Lord Jeffery Archer interacts with audience during the launch of his new book `Mightier than the Sword` in Bengaluru, the Garden City of India. Mightier than the Sword opens with an IRA bomb exploding during the MVBuckingham‘s maiden voyage across the Atlantic – but how many passengers lose their lives? When Harry Clifton visits his…

  • Lok Sabha pass insurance bill

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    The Lok Sabha on  passed the insurance sector amendment bill, which seeks to hike the foreign equity cap on domestic companies from 26 percent to 49 percent, despite opposition protests. Formally called the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, it seeks to replace an ordinance that was promulgated earlier. The bill now faces a crucial test in…

  • Delhi rapist interview telecast stopped

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      Home Minister Rajnath Singh  said the government had taken necessary steps to stop the telecast of a documentary based on an interview with a convict in the December 16 Delhi gang-rape case. In statements in both the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, the home minister said the government condemns the December 16, 2012, incident…

  • Hazare gets death threat from Canadian NRI

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    Veteran social crusader Anna Hazare has received a death threat from a Canada-based Indian resident, an aide said here . Hazare’s office has lodged a complaint with Thane Police and also written to the Maharashtra director general of police about the death threats posted on Facebook on February 24-25. According to the complaint with the…

  • Sajad Lone refuses to join J&K cabinet

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      Upset over the portfolio allocated to him, Sajad Gani Lone of the Peoples Conference (PC) refused to join the council of ministers in the PDP-BJP government headed by Mufti Muhammad Sayeed. Lone was miffed over allocation of the animal husbandry department portfolio to him by Sayeed Tuesday. He did not attend his office in…

  • Kejriwal offers to quit as AAP convenor

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    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has offered to resign as the convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), a party source said. There were conflicting versions to Kejriwal’s offer to quit. In one, Kejriwal apparently wrote a letter on February 27 to party secretary Pankaj Gupta saying that he wants to quit as the AAP…

  • RBI cuts keys rates

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    In a surprise development that sent stock markets soaring, India’s central bank cut its key lending rates by 25 basis points, expecting inflation to soften in the coming fiscal even as it expressed concern over the postponement of fiscal consolidation by a year. Getting some positive cues from the national budget tabled last week, and…

  • Modi disapproves Sayeed’s remarks

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    Prime Minister Narendra Modi on  disapproved Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s controversial remarks crediting Pakistan and militants for peaceful elections in the state and said such comments cannot be supported. Modi said the PDP-BJP alliance government in Jammu and Kashmir will run on the common minimum programme (CMP). Replying to the debate…

  • Maharashtra goes beefless

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    Beef, the popular red meat, was on banned in Maharashtra with presidential assent being accorded to the relevant legislation — two decades after the assembly had passed it during the former Shiv Sena-BJP government in the state. Presidential assent was accorded to the Maharashtra Animal Prevention (Amendment Bill), 1995, which bans even the slaughter of…

  • British Sikhs Hail Regiment Plan

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    The bravery of the Sikhs is recorded in the annals of history. The Battle of Saraghiri is one of the most famous where 21 Sikh soldiers kept 10,000 Afghan tribesmen at bay and fought until their last breath in defence of the British realm, rather than desert their posts. The Afghan tribesmen had expected to…

  • Crucial spectrum telecom auction to begin

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    The finance ministry is expected to closely watch the e-auction of radio frequency spectrum, our airwaves, for telecom operators that commences, seen as crucial for the government to be able to meet its fiscal deficit target of 4.1 percent of GDP. A mock auction was conducted Tuesday. “It went off smoothly. We are all set…

  • Drive launched against female foeticide

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    By Mohit Dubey  Khaps, the body of village elders in northern India often associated with regressive social diktats, may be turning a new leaf after widespread criticism of their practices. At least a start has been made in a western Uttar Pradesh village where a sarv (larger) khap panchayat decided to launch a campaign against…

  • Shiv Sena tells Muslims, no special treatment

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      “If the Muslim community in India want any special treatment as Muslims, they should go to Pakistan,” the Shiv Sena warned here. “If they (Muslims) want anything from this country, they must first accept India as their motherland and proclaim ‘Vande Mataram’. They cannot demand freedom and yet continue to cling to their religion,”…

  • Jaishankar meets his Pakistani counterpart

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    Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar met his Pakistani counterpart Aizaz Ahmed Chaudhary here on the third leg of his four-nation SAARC yatra. Accompanied by a delegation of diplomats, Jaishankar was welcomed by officials from the foreign ministry as well as those from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, Dawn reported. The primary agenda for the…

  • Internal tussle hurts Kejriwal

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    Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on  said he was “deeply hurt and pained” by the ongoing tussle in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). “I am deeply hurt and pained by what is going on in the party. This is betrayal of trust that (the people of) Delhi reposed in us,” Kejriwal tweeted, adding that he…

  • Colors unveils new family drama – Swaragini

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     The new emotional drama to showcase conflicts between Swara and Ragini’s feuding families. Swaragini to go on-air starting 2nd March, 2015 every Monday to Friday at 9:30 PM Some relationships bring joy; some bring sadness and some bring anger just by the virtue of being broken beyond repair. This March, COLORS joins hands with Rashmi Sharma Telefilms to present…

  • Modi has lunch in parliament canteen

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      In a rare move, Prime Minister Narendra Modi  had lunch at the parliament canteen, surprising the staff and many people present there. Modi had some fruit salad and a vegetarian thali at a total cost of Rs.29. The prime minister went to the canteen at room no.70 of Parliament House around 1 p.m. when…

  • UKIBC pins hopes on budget

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    Richard Heald, Chief Executive of the UK-India Business Council, comments on India’s budget I never really understand the hoopla which accompanies the Union Budget 2015. Of course, this Budget is the first chance for Minister Jaitley and the NDA Coalition to articulate their vison of the direction of travel for India. But even that does…

  • Dalmiya elected BCCI president

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    After a gap of over 10 years, veteran cricket administrator Jagmohan Dalmiya was made an uncontested comeback as full-time president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) during its annual general meeting (AGM) here. The former International Cricket Council (ICC) president, whose previous tenure as BCCI chief ended in 2004, was a…

  • Mood mixed at Moody’s

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      Global credit rating agency Moody’s Investors Service on  said India’s budget for 2015-16 is credit positive for corporates and a mixed bag for the banks. The increase in service tax, however, is credit negative as it would increase the production cost for Indian corporates, the agency said. “Measures designed to reduce and rationalise taxes,…

  • Mufti’s comments rocks Rajya Sabha

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      Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed’s controversial comments giving credit to Pakistan for the peaceful assembly election in the state created a furore in Rajya Sabha Monday, with the opposition terming it anti-national. “The chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir was sworn in yesterday in the presence of prime minister (Narendra Modi),…