'Silent War' Of Words Between Sonia, Manmohan Singh?

By Rajinder Puri | Delhi

According to usually well informed sections of the political grapevine Congress President Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is deeply worried over the decline in her party’s popularity on the eve of a general election. Drastic measures are being contemplated to reverse the trend. The favorite option that currently tops the agenda is to replace Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the assembly poll results are out. The projected date of change is early January. That would give a clear four months for the party to recoup its losses before the 2014 polls.

Focus: The Tibetan Special Forces – 'Unsung Heroes of 1971'

By Aneeta Chakrabarty (Guest Writer)

Nobody knew about them. Nobody. Not even many generals of the Indian Army. Their voices were muted and their bodies were like swift-moving shadows. On November 14, 1971 as sullen winds moaned on the encroaching night, the silent shadows sprang to life moving with a lightning speed to surround, overwhelm, and destroy the Pakistani posts one by one. All along the hills and valleys of the Chittagong district they immobilized the Pakistani army and allowed a wide zone for Indian troops to march into East Bengal with little or no resistance.

They are the Tibetan Special Forces (TSF). They fought for a cause that was not their cause and for a war that was not their war. When the war ended, in addition to 190 wounded, they had lost 56 of their men including one of the toughest, CIA-trained Tibetan guerilla leaders Dhondup Gyatotsang. Yet their towering courage went unrewarded, and their heroic saga is forgotten and lost in the mists and sands of Time.

11 Inmates Escaped From 'Mental Hospital' In Hyderabad

By Arhaan Faraaz | Hyderabad

DEVELOPING STORY In a scene apparently taken from a Bollywood potboiler, 11 patients including two undertrials escaped today from Hyderabad's Erragadda mental hospital. They used oxygen cylinder blast to break the wall in a filmy style, police said. “7 of the escaped patients were arrested and 4 including the ‘mastermind’ are still at large”, they said. Police teams are formed to nab them.

The four patients still at large are identified as Quraishi, Hussain, Tirumalesh and Jeevan. Qureshi the alleged mastermind of the escape and Hussain hails from Hyderabad and the later two are said to be from Tirupati and Warangal respectively. The alleged mastermind is stated to be an undertrial. It is alleged that the security lapses led to this incident.

Focus: Will Pakistan Accept Narendra Modi As India’s PM?

By Likha Veer | INN Live

With less than six months for the Lok Sabha elections, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi has found support from where he would least expect it — Pakistan.

Considered an extremist Hindu hardliner, Modi has in the past ridiculed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his failure to take a tough stance against Pakistan. During Singh’s September meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif, Modi questioned whether the PM would be able to do justice to the soldiers who lost their lives along the LoC. “… It is also doubtful whether our prime minister will discuss the issue of our soldiers being killed on the borders. 

'Cyber-Hindus' - India's New Breed Of Political Activists

By Rajesh Katyar | Delhi

Four men chatting in a Delhi bar are not, by their own admission, natural drinking buddies. The young professionals in their 20s and 30s come from vastly different regions of India and varied backgrounds. They first "met" on Twitter, spotting each other on the micro-blogging site where they voiced a common desire - to see Hindu nationalist leader Narendra Modi become the next prime minister.

After online introductions, they met face-to-face on their own initiative, and, finding they had plenty in common, gather monthly in the nation's capital to talk about life, work, and, most importantly, how to make a difference in India's upcoming election. The men insisted they paid for their own expenses, and only one of them was associated with Modi's party.

Human Sacrifice: Indian Cult Kills Children For Goddess

By Pradeep Sarkar | INN Live

A painted image of the Hindu goddess Kali is propped up against a stone in the dirt, her long red tongue goading terrified worshippers into submission. From one of her eight flailing arms a severed head dangles, her neck is adorned by a necklace of bleached human skulls.

There are bloodstains on the cracked wall behind the terrible postcard-size image and, around the dark room, splattered gore on the heavy wooden furniture. These dark marks bear witness to a child sacrificed in the name of the abominable goddess.

Dear Indian Men, Breathe, You’re Not ‘Under A Siege’

By Kajol Singh | INN Live

Gentle and not-so-gentle men of India, I am writing to you in your hour of crisis. You, sirs, are under siege. Chances are you didn’t realise this because you get paid more than women on an average, enjoy greater freedom than women in your demographic, face no gender prejudice, are applauded for your progressive liberalism when you do revolutionary things like treat a woman as your equal, and generally benefit from living in a patriarchal society. 

Modi And Article 370: Does It Highlight BJP’s Confusion?

By M H Ahssan | INN Live

Vociferous voices from all ranks of the Bharatiya Janata Party have reached a crescendo as they unitedly struggle to convince the people that what BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi uttered at a political rally in Jammu on the contentious issue of Article 370 was not a departure from the party’s original stand on the law. 

At his first ever rally in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, Modi demanded a debate on Article 370 of the Constitution, (granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir) blaming it for preventing gender equality and progress in the state. The Gujarat chief minister even went to the extent of attacking Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on it.