Murli Manohar Joshi flays Deepika’s video

Murli Manohar Joshi flays Deepika’s video

Veteran BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi on Wednesday flayed Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone’s video on women empowerment as “height of lack of consciousness”. “We don’t realise how much we have changed. It has been an Indian tradition of addressing woman as ‘mother’, but now there are objections at being called a mother,” Joshi said here […]

Minister’s remark on Sonia Gandhi triggers row

Minister’s remark on Sonia Gandhi triggers row

Causing yet another embarrassment to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), union minister Giriraj Singh raked up a controversy with his “white skin” remark on Congress president Sonia Gandhi but “regretted” it a day later on Wednesday. The statement, however, prompted the Congress party to seek an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demand the […]

Lucknow girl in quest for national game sees hope in PMO

Lucknow girl in quest for national game sees hope in PMO

Will India soon have a national game? The answer might be yes. Based on a request from Aishwarya Parashar, a class IX student from here, the prime minister’s office (PMO) has forwarded her letter to the ministry of youth affairs and sports for consideration and appropriate action. Aishwarya’s RTI had revealed last year that India […]

The World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement with India

The World Bank signed a $500 million loan agreement with India

The World Bank said on Tuesday it has signed a $500 million loan agreement with India to improve financial access for the country’s small-scale business enterprises in the manufacturing and services domain. “Lack of adequate finance is one of the biggest challenges facing the MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) sector. Financial institutions have limited […]

Mumbai’s Cafe Samovar shuts after five decades

Mumbai’s Cafe Samovar shuts after five decades

Cafe Samovar, a favourite haunt of intellectuals and celebs including Amitabh Bachchan, M.F. Husain and V.S. Naipaul, students and commoners, finally downed shutters on Tuesday after over five decades as loyal clients, some in tears, thronged it for one last time. Located inside the Jehangir Art Gallery, surrounded by heritage buildings like Chhatrapati Shivaji Museum, […]

Reviving craftsmanship, empowering women in South Asia

Reviving craftsmanship, empowering women in South Asia

Women are generally not allowed to venture too far from their homes in Pakistan’s Khyber Pukhtunkhwa province, leave alone even distantly thinking of employment. But Khalida Bibi’s quest for empowerment has made her an exception and a shining example for other women in her village in Haripur district. It wasn’t easy for the 52-year-old to […]