News and Views

What is common between two Russians and one Saudi national – Alexander Litivinenko, Sergei Skripal and Jamal Khashoggi?

* Their respective governments wanted them dead. Two were actually killed and one narrowly escaped death, that is, Skripal. 

* Their murders were ordered at the highest levels in their governments. 

* All three were targeted on foreign soil. 

* There was no due process of law, no warrant of arrest and no application to Interpol to have them extradited. They were simply assassinated by their respective secret agencies. 

* Neither the Russian nor Saudi governments cared two hoots for the principles of international law or norms of behavior on foreign soil. 

* Attacks on them raised an international outcry of varying degrees, exposing strange levels of moral deviance among the rulers of the West, who are generally inclined towards championing human rights, rule of law and principles of natural justice.

The Delhi Queer Pride Parade is scheduled for 25 November 2018\. This year’s march is that much more significant because it comes in the months after the Supreme Court, in a landmark verdict, decriminalised homosexuality by reading down the provisions of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

But the fight for LGBTQ rights is far from over, and to understand what next, we spoke to two interfaith same-sex couples about the future they hope for and what needs to be done next. Listen in.

The Delhi Queer Pride Parade is scheduled for 25 November 2018\. This year’s march is that much more significant because it comes in the months after the Supreme Court, in a landmark verdict, decriminalised homosexuality by reading down the provisions of section 377 of the Indian Penal Code.

But the fight for LGBTQ rights is far from over, and to understand what next, we spoke to two interfaith same-sex couples about the future they hope for and what needs to be done next. Listen in.

The senior-most woman leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Union Minister for External Affairs, Sushma Swaraj has announced that she would not contest the next Lok Sabha election. This move of hers raises more questions than providing answers regarding her current stand in the party and government.

For starters, if her health is indeed a concern, what is she doing in the government? Would it not be better to stay at home and tend to her well-being? Or, does this show that being a minister in the Narendra Modi government is not taxing on one's health?

Just as surely as the settling smog is a sign of winter across North India, so also a state government’s announcement of reservations to a dominant group, a sign of impending elections in the state.

This time, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has promised the dominant Maratha community in the state, reservations as a “socially and educationally backward community” on the basis of a report said to have been submitted to it by the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission.

In December 2015, I wrote a blog titled ‘Notes from Father of the Bride’. It was a rudimentary primer for the father and mother of the bride on the dos and don’ts of organising a wedding. This was based on our experience gleaned from our daughter’s wedding.

Since then, I have been flooded with queries, especially regarding the taxation of the various facets of this delightful institution. Some have even raised questions (unfortunate souls, these) about the taxability of divorce settlements.

So here’s a list of FAQs which address the concerns.

Ahead of the launch of Amazon’s digital subsidiary Audible, Kalki Koechlin spoke to The Quint about featuring in their first production based on Hussain Zaidi’s Mafia Queens of Mumbai. She speaks about how she finds listening to audiobooks relaxing, doing plays on the side and working across mediums.

Vasundhara Raje has passed the ‘ticket distribution test’ with flying colours. Her writ runs large in the Rajasthan BJP, as Raje has clearly trumped BJP National President Amit Shah who was at loggerheads with her on the issue of distributing party tickets.

The two lists and 162 warriors the BJP has so far fielded for the electoral battle, are packed with Raje loyalists.

The election bugle has been sounded in Rajasthan, with the Bhartiya Janta Party releasing its list of 131 candidates for the assembly elections. While the names suggest an advantage to Vasundhara Raje, the same can’t be said for the BJP.

With 85 MLAs set to contest again, the much-hyped theory that BJP National President Amit Shah would be in charge of ticket distribution, has gone out of the window. Once again, Raje’s will prevails, and this sets the tone for the upcoming elections. Let’s see how this might work out and what implications it might have.

Rajinikanth’s personal political inclinations are towards the Bharatiya Janata Party. This is not a new revelation or something that needs to be deciphered from his cryptic comments over the last few days. This has been clear since 2004 when he revealed his endorsement for the BJP-AIADMK alliance in the state.

At that time, he did not campaign or seek votes for the alliance, but merely stated that he would vote for the BJP. As it turned out, in the 2004 elections, the AIADMK-BJP combine was routed in Tamil Nadu and could not win even a single parliamentary seat.