Top Stories

The All India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB) today said the Supreme Court verdict in connection with granting of maintenance allowance to Muslim women even after divorce has come as a respite to those who are unable to sustain themselves.

“The Supreme Court verdict has come as a respite to women not able to sustain themselves and are forced to live in poverty after divorce,” AISPLB President Maulana Mirza Mohammad Athar told newspersons here.

A man in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Makkah has been arrested for allegedly molesting women at a mosque while being dressed as a female.

The man, in his 30s and yet to be identified, was arrested by authorities following a complaint that a woman sometimes used to enter the bathroom of Jaarana Mosque and behave oddly.

It was alleged that the ‘woman’ sexually harassed other women during the ablutions preceding the prayers, the Gulf News reported.

Bargaining with the ruling party has already started. It is likely that Government may reward the local political party by appointing two of its leaders to nominated posts.

Pitching for a country-wide ban on cow and buffalo slaughter, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi on Monday night said that it would be wrong to give a religious colour to such a move.

“I think cow slaughter and buffalo slaughter should be banned… The reason for this is that 90 per cent of this is illegal. The law says that you can kill them after a certain age (14 or 16). But all that which are being killed now are either pregnant or milking cows,” Gandhi told English news channel NDTV in an interview here tonight.

With Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief and 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks mastermind Hafiz Mohammad Saeed reportedly terming India as ‘enemy number one’, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen ( AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday said that the former was unaware about the teachings of Islam.

Over 80 per cent of the offenders caught by the roving ‘SHE Teams’ operating under the Cyberabad Police Commissionerate limits (which keep a watch on eve-teasers at public places) do not think it is wrong to harass the women.

These men think that such a behaviour is “acceptable” in our society, according to a release issued by the Cyberabad Commissionerate here.

Since the SHE Teams of police started operating three months ago, over 250 persons have been apprehended and given counselling. In the last week, 27 cases were registered against 36 persons of various ages.

A Mumbai court will announce on Tuesday the date of the verdict in the Salman Khan accident case of 2002 after the prosecution and defence completed their final arguments here on Monday.

On the concluding day of his final arguments, defence counsel Shrikant Shivade argued that the evidence of the actor’s former police bodyguard, Ravindra Patil, should not be accepted because he died and is not available for cross-examination.

However, the prosecution said enough opportunity had been given to the defence to cross-examine Patil.

Muslim scholars criticised political parties which had recently advocated disenfranchisement of their community saying its “honesty” and “loyalty” cannot be questioned.

Without naming the Shiv Sena, which had recently advocated taking away the rights of Muslims to vote, well known Islamic scholar Maulana Sharafat Ali Nadvi yesterday said not to “test” Muslim community’s “honesty” and “loyalty”.

Describing B R Ambedkar as a victim of “political untouchability”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today credited the key architect of the Constitution for his own growth from a humble background.

He also said it would be a disrespect for Ambedkar if he is only viewed as a “messiah” of the oppressed and the downtrodden and added that the first Law Minister of the country had worked for the welfare of the entire humanity.

“Personally, I think had Ambedkar not been there, where would have been Narendra Modi?” the Prime Minister said.

China today said its role in ties between India and Pakistan is to “promote peace talks” between them that will benefit all parties in the region, as Chinese President Xi Jinping flew into Islamabad on his maiden visit to boost their “all-weather” strategic ties.

China also said it will step up coordination with Pakistan on regional hotspot issues and deepen pragmatic cooperation.

“We will deepen defence cooperation with Pakistan and step up cooperation and coordination on regional hotspot issues with Pakistan,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said here.

The rules of wedding etiquette are constantly changing. And there’s no rule that says that only guest offers gifts to brides and groom atleast for this Prince.

In a lavish ceremony the grandson of the Emir of Kuwait, Sheikh Fahd Bin Nasser Bin Sabah Al Ahmad offered diamond rings as wedding gifts to their guests

Sheikh Fahd Bin Nasser Bin Sabah Al Ahmad has wed the daughter of wealthy local businessman Al-Kharafi in a lavish ceremony.

Justifying its controversial ban on slaughter of cows, bulls and bullocks and consumption of their meat, Maharashtra government today told the Bombay High Court there is a need to protect and preserve these animals as the state’s economy is still predominantly agricultural.

The government, in an affidavit, said the ban introduced under Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, which has received Presidential assent, was not violative of the fundamental rights of citizens to have food of their own choice.

Complaints of frequent ‘call dropping’, excess billing and non-transparency by some private telecom operators was today made by a group of BJP MPs to Union Communication and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who promised to look into the issue.

The parliamentarians demanded action against the private telecom operators after proper investigation into the charges and alleged that the companies were not hearing complaints of the customers.

Sachin Tendulkar today condoled the demise of young batsman Ankit Keshri, who passed away after a freak on-field collision during a Cricket Association of Bengal’s senior one-day knock-out match on April 17.

“Saddened by the demise of Ankit Keshri. A promising career aborted by an unfortunate incident on field. May God give strength to his family and friends to cope with this loss,” Tendulkar wrote on his Facebook page.

India’s religious diversity and tolerance are acting as a buffer against the ISIS, whose appeal is “much less among the Indian population” compared to other countries, US expert on terrorism Gary Lafree said today.

“Being a visitor to this country, its religious diversity and expression is really fascinating. So many religious groups living in harmony is actually a buffer, as ISIS is trying to create a wedge between Islam and other religions,” Lafree, the director of the National Centre for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) said.

‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ Salman Khan is presently shooting in the mesmerizing Kashmir valley and his ardent fans are leaving no stone unturned to catch a glimpse of the Bollywood superstar.

As scores of fans keep thronging at the sets, Salman’s security has been beefed up to avoid unpleasant incidents, reports Deccan Chronicle.

As per reports, around ten bodyguards have been appointed to ensure the security of ‘Dabangg’ Khan in the valley.
In this exclusive video uploaded by FOCUS news, you can watch Salman Khan going for the shoot:

Asaduddin Owaisi, whose party is trying to aggressively build its following among the sizeable Muslim community of UP, has been denied permission to hold rally on April 26 in Allahabad.

Good news for Haj aspirants especially for women as the state govt has decided to give Maharam quota. Women can now accompany their male ‘Mahram’ (close kin) who are already selected for the pilgrimage this year. The Haj Committee of India has allotted 200 such seats for the entire country.

Women who couldn’t apply for Haj in time can now undertake pilgrimage if their close relatives are proceeding on Haj. The last date for applying for the Maharam quota is May 20. In case the number of applicants exceed, the selection would be made on the basis of ‘qurrah’ (draw of lots).

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday claimed to have crossed the 10-crore membership mark continuing to be the “largest” party in the world.

“At the concluding session, party president Amit Shah was there and the BJP Parliamentary Party gave him a standing ovation on the completion of his 10 crore membership target. We have become the largest political party in the world among the democratic countries,” Union Minister Venakaih Naidu told reporters after the workshop.

Communal tension flared in the Nagla-Singhi hamlet of Aligarh’s Mainath village after Bajrang Dal members alleged that groups of over half-a-dozen Muslim “preachers” were trying to “convert” the villagers.

Bajrang Dal members and other right-wing leaders alleged the group reportedly moving around the village trying to “convert” the villagers.

According to police allegations of conversion were prima facie false. The village, incidentally, has no Muslim population.

Suraj Pal, 75-year-old villager, who belongs to Kanjar community at whose house the group had stopped said:

In yet another significant decision for transgenders, the Allahabad High Court has ruled that they are entitled to the status of head of a household which will allow them to avail food security benefit through ration card.

Noting that the transgenders face discrimination in every sphere of life, the court said the “law needs to travel beyond non-discrimination, by recognising an affirmative obligation of the state to provide access to social security. Food security lies at the foundation of it. Transgenders must have both”.

The campaign of A.P. Government to acquire land in Amravati for the building the new capital has triggered the deterioration of moral values. In one such incident the dead body of a person who committed suicide was cremated by her relatives four days after her death as her sons were busy fighting over their shares in property.

The woman committed suicide when her husband A. Gopala Rao asked her to demand an acre of land from her father Marri Shankar who had given an acre of land and gold ornaments at the time of his daughter’s marriage 9 years back.

In the latest attack on Hindu houses of worship in the US, a temple has been vandalised in Texas “horrifying” both Hindus and non-Hindus, who have offered to help the temple clean the damage, media reported.

In the attack at the North Texas Hindu Mandir in Lake Highlands suburb of Dallas, vandals painted symbols of devil worship on the temple’s door, media reports said on Saturday.

The attackers left behind on a shed at the temple the mark of Mara Salvatrucha, an international gang originating among immigrants from the predominantly Catholic nation of El Salvador and active in the US.

The Congress on Sunday maintained that the ‘ Kisan Rally’, which took place in the national capital earlier in the day, was the grand old party fighting for the rights of the farmers with respect to the controversial Land Acquisition Bill, adding that the event was not linked to the elections.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray today said it was the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) that had “back-stabbed” party supremo Bal Thackeray even as he accused Sharad Pawar of “pitting” people against each other for deriving political mileage.