BHOPAL: Sectarian violence erupted in the city with over 60 houses of a minority community torched by a mob on Thursday. Aman Colony in Karond resembled a war-torn site with thick smoke billowing from gutted houses, women screaming and injured being rushed to hospital. At least 75 people, including

Indian activists of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) pose while raising slogans during a rally to mark the 22nd anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid Mosque in Ayodhya, in Amritsar, in this Dec. 6, 2014 photo. Hindu hardliners demolished the Babri Mosque on December 6, 1992. (AFP) DELH

AGRA: A day after a group of around 200 Muslims in Madhunagar slum-cluster here claimed they had "reconverted" to Hinduism, many of them on Tuesday said they were still Muslims, with some admitting that they had joined the RSS and Bajrang Dal-organized 'ghar vapsi' ceremony after being promised rati

AGRA: Members of at least 57 Muslim families were converted to Hinduism at a ceremony called 'Purkhon ki ghar vapsi', a mass conversion jointly organized by Dharma Jagran Samanvay Vibhag, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and Bajrang Dal in Agra on Monday. RSS regional head Ra

Washington: The Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC - www.iamc.com), an advocacy group dedicated to safeguarding India's pluralist and tolerant ethos, has condemned the burning of St. Sebastian Catholic Church in Delhi on December 1, 2015 as an attack on India's religious minorities. Early foren

Mumbai:  As India continues its pursuit of black money allegedly stashed abroad, Switzerland has said it would not entertain any 'fishing expedition' and authorities cannot ask for names of all Indian account holders in Swiss banks without doing their own independent investigations. Switzerland's

BENGALURU:  After its launch was deferred twice due to bad weather, India's latest communication satellite GSAT-16 was placed in orbit by Ariane 5 rocket in the early hours today from the space port of Kourou in French Guiana. The European launcher blasted off at 2.10 AM (IST) and hurled the GSAT

While increased social exclusion and religious polarisation are pushing Muslims to urban areas, poverty amongst urban Muslims is 13-16% higher than the national average. In the western and northern states in particular, communalised state machineries and politics act as barriers to the economic and

AMRITSAR: At least 60 persons have lost their eyesight after an operation at an eye camp organised by an NGO in Gurdaspur district, civil and medical authorities said on Thursday. While 16 persons belonged to villages of Amritsar the rest were from Gurdaspur district. All of them were admitted in

The Modi government contradicted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah’s statement that the Saradha scam money was routed to Bangladesh terror groups.  Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for Personnel, in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday said: "The investigation has so far

Former Chief Minister of Maharashtra and a veteran Congressman, Abdul Rahman Antulay, widely known as A. R. Antulay, passed away on Tuesday morning. He was 85. He also served as the Union Minister for Minority Affairs in the UPA-I government. The funeral will take place at his native Ambet villag

MUMBAI:  At least 300 people fell ill in Ulhasnagar near Mumbai on Saturday after a tankers dumped hazardous discharge into a drain. The trouble began at 09:00 am when residents who live alongside the drain started complaining of nausea and irritation. Most of these people live in the hutments

Indian citizens planning to travel to France for tourism and business purpose can now get their visa in just 48 hours from December 1, with the French government easing the norms in view of a significant rise in the number of tourists travelling to the country from India.  The French government h

SRINAGAR/RANCHI:  Voting has begun for the first of the five-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand today. The BJP, which swept the Lok Sabha elections in May and recently added Maharashtra and Haryana to its kitty, is hoping to win big in both states, where regional parties are

Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday kicked up a controversy by dubbing the practice of "purdah" (veil) as an "evil tradition", saying it should be scrapped as it hindered progress of women. "This system did not exist in the distant past. Did Sita or Draupadi ever don a veil? Som

PANAJI: Private carrier Jet Airways has started a new daily direct flight linking Goa with Abu Dhabi. The guests travelling from Goa will now be able to seamlessly connect toAbu Dhabi and to multiple international destinations in Europe, North America, Africa, Middle-East and the Gulf, the company s

NEW DELHI/DUBAI/RIYADH: India is pressing rich countries in the Gulf to raise the wages of millions of Indians working there, in a drive that could secure it billions of dollars in fresh income but risks pricing some of its citizens out of the market. Over 5 million nationals are believed to be e

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today unequivocally said that repatriation of black money kept abroad is a "priority" for his government, as he sought close global coordination to achieve this objective. Raising the black money issue at an informal meeting of leaders of the five-nation BRICS bloc, M