Special Report: How An Indian Tradition Is Destroying The Lives Of Young Girls In The Name Of Marriage?

“I was married at 12, I didn’t know much back then. A lot of my time was spent doing what my mother and father said I should, and after my marriage, what my husband expected of me. It was so scary. 

For a whole year after my marriage, I was always in pain, falling sick all the time. But that was a different time, and now you girls have seen more world than us. You will make better choices.” Little did my grandmother know that what she suffered nearly 65 years ago is the dogged fate of nearly one third of the young girls in our country even today.

Growing 'Nutrition Merchandise' In Indian Pharmacies

SPECIAL REPORT: Changing lifestyle has pushed the demand of nutritious supplements, seen stocked in the pharmacies nowadays. Here is a report on the growing nutrition merchandise in pharmacy retail, transforming the traditional business model.

There has been intense market competition and consolidation among providers of pharmaceutical products. In the retail pharmacy, the notable changes have been seen in closures of local independent pharmacies and growth in pharmacies located in supermarkets and mass merchandise stores.

Giant pharmacy chains like Guardian Pharmacy, Apollo, Religare and others similar to these are seen on the busiest street of Indian small and big towns. Not only do they fill prescriptions and sell OTC medicines, but are also offering wide variety of nutrition merchandise to the consumers.

Special Report: Worshiped Inside Temples, But Mistreated Outside: The Fate Of Captive Elephants In India

WEEKEND KA TADKA: I recently visited a popular south Indian Lord Ganesha temple, Kottarakara Sree Maha Ganapathy Temple. What struck me besides the scorching summer heat, was the horde of devotees thronging the sanctum sanctorum with fervour. Murmured chants and prayers lent an other worldly feel to the atmosphere. Having sought my share of the Lord’s blessings, I ventured outside to explore the premises of the temple.

Outside the main entrance stood an elephant tethered to a tree, flapping its ears serenely, munching palm leaves and bananas. It was a majestic creature, easily the largest I had ever encountered, with its long trunk and gleaming tusks. A small crowd of excited onlookers watched with awe and took pictures from all possible angles.

Special Report: This Little-Known 'Hyderabadi Studio' Made The 'Baahubali' A Visual Mega Spectacle

India’s most expensive motion picture, Baahubali, owes its world-class special effects to a very young company.

Makuta, established just five years ago, was the principal studio for S S Rajamouli’s blockbuster film, which consists of 90% computer-generated imagery (CGI) and graphics, with some 4,500-5,000 visual effects (VFX) shots.

Everything about the period drama set in medieval India appears larger than life—including the kingdom of Mahishmati, with its gigantic temples and courtyards, the landscapes comprising mystical waterfalls and mountains, and the epic battles.

Special Report: India’s Socio-Economic Census Threatens To Exclude Crores Of Poor From Social Schemes!

The census says 9 out of 17 crore rural households face no 'deprivation' despite living in extreme poverty. If the government follows this definition, all these people will be left out of country’s social safety net.

The findings of the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 have been long awaited by academics and politicians alike. Now that they are out, there is a fear that they could end up being used to exclude crores of people from the country’s social safety net.

Special Report: UAE Businessman To Spend 5000 Crore In Charity For Educating Underprivileged Students

By S A Mannan in Dubai

It's commendable effort by a UAE businessman to support the education for underprivileged students in gulf, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

Calling education the “cornerstone of prosperous, progressive and inclusive societies”, Al Ghurair, a UAE businessman announced the largest privately funded philanthropic education initiative.

High performing students forced to drop out of higher education due to financial constraints have been given new hope. As one of the country’s leading businessmen, Abdullah Al Ghurair, has pledged one-third of his assets to education empowerment, with many hailing the move as a “brave decision” that others should follow.Initially, 15,000 underprivi-leged Emirati and Arab students will benefit from the Abdullah Al Ghurair Education Foundation, which aims to pledge Dh4.2 bil-lion in its first 10 years.

Special Report: Has The 5-Fold Increase In 'Condom' Supply To Nashik Got A Direct 'Kumbh Mela' Connect?

By Pravin Apte in Pune

Authorities differ; AIDS body sends 5.4 lakh condoms to district against monthly demand of 1.5 lakh; more HIV testing kits too sent. In an interesting development, the Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS) has dispatched 5.40 lakh condoms to Nashik.

The number is interesting on two counts: when Nashik's average monthly requirement of condoms is 1.5 lakh, the unusual five-fold increase in dispatch comes just a week before the Kumbh Mela. The Mela is scheduled to begin on July 14.

Local authorities insist that there is no connection between the Kumbh Mela and the unusually high dispatch of condoms.

Special Report: 'Our College Examination System Is Broken And One University Is Trying To Fix It!'

By Rupesh Kumar in Mysore

Mangalore University proposes penalising of examiners for not performing efficiently. Before the widespread protests against the new education system, which is set to replace the semester system across universities in India, could cool down, institutions in the country are faced with a new problem in the existing framework – a broken examination system. 

In Delhi University, protests have broken out against faulty mark-sheets because more than 400 final-year students failed in the sociology examination this year.

Nobody Knows His 'Real Name' Because His Dad Is A 'Terrorist' Finally, Tells His Story Makes You Speechless!

SPECIAL REPORT: Zak Ebrahim, a man who chose to change his name and was forced to hide his family history ever since they parted ways with his father, who was a terrorist, this is his story. The story of how a terrorist’s son escaped a violent heritage.

Zak’s father helped plan the 1993 World Trade Centre Bombing. The first time Zak’s father and his friends took him to the shooting range in Long Island, he was 7. After his terrorist father explained to him his target and put the rifle over his shoulder, Zak took the first shot of his life and that day the last bullet that he shot burnt the entire target into flames. To that, his uncle said to the other men — “Ibn Abu” (Like father like son) and laughed loudly.

Special Report: After 'Cashgate And Tapgate', A Full-Blown War Unveil 'Andhra Vs Telangana' Over 'Hyderabad'

By Likha Veer 
Group Executive Editor

Naidu has upped the ante by demanding that Hyderabad’s law and order be taken over by the Governor, pushing Telanagana back into a familiar agitational mode. And KCR is firm on his intentions to make the war for state with independent rights.

Things have not been the same for the Telugu Desam Party ever since its legislator from Telangana, Revant Reddy, was caught "red-handed", allegedly trying to give a bribe of Rs 50 lakh to Elvis Stephenson, an Anglo-Indian nominated MLA, to influence his vote in the Legislative Council elections.

Subsequently, an audio tape in which a voice, allegedly of Naidu, assured Stephenson of backing all promises made by Reddy, was aired on vernacular news channel.

Special Report: Do You Know Biryani At 51, Dosa For 6 And Chapati Costs 1 Rupee in Parliament House Canteen?

Do you know, all the Indians will get a subsidized food at Parliament house canteen in New Delhi as Shami kebab for Rs 14, chicken biryani for Rs 51, chapati for Re 1 and masala dosa for Rs 6. This is not a list out of 1970s menu card but the cost of food offered.

At a time when the government is intent on pruning wasteful subsidies, Parliament canteens in Delhi received a total subsidy of Rs 60.7 crore over the last five years making it possible to price food items at rock bottom rates even as food inflation has soared for the common man.

Special Report: How Hyderabadi Haleem Traders And Cafes Made A Muharram Dish Synonymous With Ramzan?

By M H Ahssan
Group Editor in Chief

The city was changing and the restaurateurs wanted assured business for a month. When Aurangzeb undertook the conquest of the Deccan, while his army was busy conquering the lands and subduing the Qutb Shahis, it was a customised Arab dish that travelled out from the cantonments, won the hearts of the people of Hyderabad and lived on a living legacy. It was called Harisah, Harissa or Harees.

Even today most popular anecdotes in Hyderabad credit the haleem or the harissa to the Alamgir, though history points to the Yemenis in the army of Bahadur Shah, the Sultan of Gujarat in the 16th century, for first serving it to Hyderabad Nizams. Either way, it was a pure-play soldier dish.

Special Report: MHA - A 'Ministry for Hounding Activists'?

By Kajol Singh in Delhi

The recent government crackdown on Greenpeace in particular, and the activism sector in general, reeks of arbitrariness and illegitimacy in a scathing critique, INNLIVE quotes. The question is will the people give in to the state’s tactics?

Civil society organisations are gearing up for possibly one of the most important struggles of resistance since the Emergency in the mid-1970s. 

At stake are the democratic freedoms of speech, dissent and association, all guaranteed to us in one way or the other by the Constitution of India, and all threatened by a government that wants to brook no challenge to its agenda.

Special Report: Oil & Gas Companies Disposal Of Wastewater Causes Sharp Rise In Quakes Across World

By Sheila Jones in Washington DC

Two new studies provide the strongest evidence yet that oil and gas companies have caused a rash of earthquakes in the central United States by injecting waste water into underground wells. As nearly 90 percent of temblors in the central U.S. are now caused by water injected into underground wells.

One study, in Science, finds that the extraordinary increase in quakes took place almost exclusively within 15 kilometres of such wells. The second, in Science Advances, confirms that most seismic activity in one state, Oklahoma, is linked to wells that are used to dispose of huge volumes of saltwater.

Special Focus: Could India Prove To Be A Stable And Sustainable 'Silicon Valley' For 'Emerging Markets'?

India is well positioned to become the next hub for internet development. Providers make money when cell phone users answer a call, and entrepreneurs in India have found a way of profiting when calls go unanswered as well. The story of “missed call” entrepreneurs epitomises the innovations in India’s IT market leading to mega-mergers.

Twitter made international headlines in January with the acquisition of Indian mobile marketing startup ZipDial for a reported $30 million. ZipDial is a brainchild of California-born Valerie Wagoner who moved to Bangalore after a stint with eBay.

Focus: Women Are Being Illegally Detained In Shelter Homes For Falling In Love, Yet Nobody’s Being Punished

The police routinely order ‘protective custody’ of women against their will, but action is never taken against erring officers, or magistrates.

For one month, a school teacher from Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha district was forcibly detained in a women’s shelter home, forbidden from stepping out, meeting people or going to work, all on police orders. Her crime? The woman, Kanchan Verma, wanted to live with her Muslim boyfriend, against the wishes of her parents.

Special Report: This 'Blind Cricketer' Who Won The 'World Cup' For India Cannot Find A Job Yet, Despite Promises?

It's hard to imagine a successful sportsman facing obstacles when it comes to employment: And yet, Ketan Patel, who was awarded Man-Of-The-Series in the ODI and T20 cricket series in England (held recently) has returned to his home town flushed with success, but without any job prospects in sight.

Visually-challenged Patel, who returned to Mumbai yesterday, revealed that his team's success did not alleviate his worries about finding a job in his home country in an interview with a vernacular daily. "“I was part of the World Cup team and now these two memorable series, but will these performances count for something? Despite several pleas to the Gujarat government, I have not been able to get a much-needed job,” he said.

Special Report: Why India’s 'Meteorological Department' Could 'Always' Be Wrong On 'Monsoon Forecast'?

On June 02, India’s met department had some terrible news to share with a sweltering country: The monsoon rains may be deficient—and Asia’s third largest economy could be staring at a drought year.

But the 140-year-old Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) could be wrong.
Or, at least, that’s what Skymet—India’s largest private weather forecaster—contends, just as it did with its April 22 forecast that the monsoon will be 102% of the 50-year-long period average (LPA). In other words, the monsoons, which account for about 70% total rainfall in the country, will be normal.

The 'Deep Crisis' In The 'Great Indian Education Bazaar'!

From asking students to resolve matters through ‘other means’ to convincing naive aspirants with false promises, private educational institutions have earned themselves the adage of ‘scamsters’.

Anil Sadagopal, a well-known educationist calls it the ‘Kumbhakarna-like sleep’. Even after years and years of hoarse chants from activists, policy-makers, children, youth and adults — quality education that is supposed to be a fundamental right to all, is still a dream in India. It is perhaps for this very reason that Sadagopal had demanded the Indian state to wake up from its slumber.

Special Report: India’s 'Luxury Hospitals' Offer Shopping, Cinemas, Coffee Shops, Spas, Wifi Zone And Joyrides

A new set of luxury hospitals in India is redefining the segment with cinema halls, cafes, fancy waiting rooms and grand architecture. And these aren’t just for India’s super-rich, who seek fine medical care in even finer surroundings, but also for well-heeled medical tourists from all around the world.

The opulence is almost unbecoming for a country where millions have little, or no, access to quality health care. For instance, the Dubai-based ABV group, which is opening a luxury hospital in Mumbai in the next two years, plans to bring in its patients by Rolls-Royce cars.