Zakir Naik Speeches Pro-Terror, IRF Paid Money To Lure Youth For Conversion: Mumbai Police

By NEWS KING | INNLIVE

No member of the IRF or any other NGO run by Naik was questioned.

In a 71-page report on controversial televangelist Dr Zakir Naik, the Mumbai Police have said his Islamic Research Foundation (IRF) paid anything between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000 to lure a youth to convert to Islam.

Spotlight: More Than 10,000 Indian Companies Have Defaulted On 'Provident Fund' Payments

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The numbers of defaulting companies and institutions is growing.

It should have taken 30 days for Sanjaya Kumar, 27, from Odisha to withdraw his father’s provident fund of Rs 40,000, the post-employment rainy-day or retirement stash that companies must compulsorily deduct from salaries.

Zakir Naik's IRF's Alleged ISIS Connection Makes A Strong Case For Action Against Preacher

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Radical religious preachers who do sermons never begin their discourse saying thus. "Here I'm going to start my indoctrination session to prove that my religion is better than yours. In the next few hours, I'll do my best to convince you of my idea and ultimately convert you to my religion."

Instead, they typically play mind games with the enchanted listeners, often selectively quoting (rather twisting) the lines from sacred scriptures, to impose the ultimate idea of religious supremacy in the audience's psyche and ultimately establish why one should embrace that particular religion. This is arguably the trade technique of televangelists such as Zakir Naik.

India's Model Villages: Why Modi's Pet Rural Development Scheme Is Not Working Properly?

By REX KUMAR | INNLIVE

Only 53 of 278 BJP MPs in the Lok Sabha have selected new villages in phase two of the scheme.

Close to two years after its launch, there seem to be few takers among parliamentarians for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's flagship rural development scheme, the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, which aimed to develop at least three “model villages” in each parliamentary constituency by 2019. 

Soon after the launch of the scheme in October 2014, 701 of total 795 ruling and opposition MPs had adopted a village each to be developed over two years.

Exclusive Interview-'Ready To Return Whenever Govt Wants Me': Dr.Zakir Naik

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Controversial preacher Zakir Naik has said he is wil ling to return to India “whenever the government or the agencies want me“. Last week, Naik had cited “travel plans“ and said he would come to India only next year. In an interview to INNLIVE from Jeddah, Naik said he was ready to face action if he had broken any law and challenged anyone to show he had attempted to disrupt harmony in India. 

Special Story: As More 'Radicalised' Muslim Youth Are Arrested, An Old Case From Maharashtra Remains In Limbo

By AREFA JOHARI | INNLIVE

Ten months after three Muslim men were arrested on terror charges in Yavatmal district, even their bail hearings have been repeatedly delayed.

Throughout July, reports on the arrests of Muslims with suspected links to terror organisations, particularly the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, have been hitting the headlines with alarming regularity.

In the first week of the month, the National Investigation Agency arrested 25-year-old Mohammed Masiuddin from West Bengal’s Burdwan railway station, on the suspicion that he had links with militant organisations Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh and ISIS.

In Kerala, Parents Struggle To Shake Children From The Influence Of Ultra-Conservative Islam

By ISMAIL KUTTY | INNLIVE

They say the growth of Salafism in the state has pulled their children away from mainstream life.

The news that 21 Muslims from Kerala have gone missing and were believed to have left the country to join the Islamic State has jolted several Muslim parents in the state who have seen signs of an increasing conservatism among their wards but are struggling to address the trend.

Zakir Naik's Biggest Critics Aren't Hindus, But His Muslim Neighbours

By NEWS KING | INNLIVE

The venue for radical Islamic preacher Zakir Naik's Thursday presser in Mumbai has been denied. That's the fifth time in last two days.

This time, Naik's own neighbourhood denied him audience.

The management of Mehfil Hall in Agripada, hardly a kilometer and half away from his Dongri home, had offered him a place to hold a press conference via Skype, after three Mumbai hotels and the World Trade Centre in Cuff Parade allegedly denied space to the televangelist.

'RSS Shakha' Numbers On The Rise: Is This Reflective Of Its Growing Acceptance?

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

Is the sudden spurt in the number of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)shakhas due to its improving ideological acceptance among the masses or due to the fact that BJP is in power at the Centre?

The RSS, BJP's ideological mentor, has witnessed a phenomenal expansion in the number of its shakhas (units) across the country in the last six years - from 45,000 in 2010 to over 57,000 as of today.

'Burqa Revolution' In Kerala: An Early Sign Of Islam Radicalisation

By ISMAIL KUTTY | INNLIVE

Till some 20 years ago, the burqa was not a Muslim woman's default costume in Kerala. Muslim women worekachathuni (a mundu or dhoti), pennu kuppayam (a full-sleeved loose blouse) and thattom (long scarf). This outfit differed only slightly from what the Christian and Hindu women wore. Or like the others, some Muslim women wore sari and blouse or modern attires, Indian or western.

Analysis: Cabinet Reshuffle Is Aimed At UP Polls, But What If It Backfires?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

Recent Union Cabinet reshuffle - or 'expansion' as Prime Minister Narendra Modi likes to call it - threw up many clues for the poll-bound Uttar Pradesh.

Election analysts and poll pundits have already called the latest change in Modi's Council of Ministers an act of balancing caste and regional equations. Tuesday's expansion of the Union Cabinet is being touted as Modi's biggest political moves since he acquired the top office since May 2014.

India Unzipped: How Did Polyamory Become Synonymous With Sexual Liberation?

By RUMAISA KHAN | INNLIVE

Film celebrity and ace director Karan Johar recently established how getting enough of, or chasing, sex may not be a marker of success, happiness or liberalism.

Two recent high-profile missives have brought the question of sexual liberation to the forefront again. The petition by five openly gay persons, with illustrious careers, to decriminalise homosexuality, and filmmaker Karan Johar’s admission that he’s okay without sex, are powerful assertions of individual sexuality.

As Eid Draws Closer, The Big Question Looms: When Will The Moon Be Sighted?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The tussle is yet to resolved between those who believe the moon must be seen in order to declare Eid, and those who depend on scientific calculations.

As the month of Ramzan nears conclusion, and the Muslim world gears up to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the month of fasting and introspection, Muslims in India are confronted with a familiar dilemma: “Chand kab hai?" When will the moon be sighted?

This question is important because it is the sliver of a new moon that heralds the end of Ramzan and the festival of Eid.

India Is Slowly Cleaving Into Two Countries – A Richer, Older South And A Poorer, Younger North

By NEWSCOP | INNLIVE

Support to the elderly is fraying in India. But no one appears prepared for this – not families, not companies, not the government.

At traffic intersections, drivers in Delhi tune out the brown-haired, snot-nosed waifs who tap and scratch insistently at their car windows. Sometimes, the children are joined by equally ragged parents, mostly in their 20s, trying to sell cheap Chinese-made junk – from plastic flowers to cellphone and steering-wheel covers. The defining feature of destitution in North India appears to be youth.

Indian Jews: This Little Known Minority Community With A Rich Heritage - 1

By LIKHAVEER | INNLIVE

(Editor's note: This is the first in a two-part series on the Jewish community in India)

Last week the Maharashtra state government bestowed minority status on a minuscule and ancient community - the Indian Jews. This official recognition by Maharashtra, the second state to do so after West Bengal, is imperative to the very survival of its Jewish community. Maharashtra (part of erstwhile Bombay State) has always been home to a majority of Indian Jews, it today has 2466 Jews out of the all-India total of 4,650 Jews.

Why Indian Muslims Using The Arabic Word ‘Ramadan’ instead Of 'Ramzan'?

By RUMAISA KHAN | INNLIVE

Increasingly, Indian Muslims are looking to a globalised Saudi brand of Islam for inspiration.

It’s that time of the year again. As the annual month of dawn-to-dusk fasting begins, people everywhere are girding their social media loins to fight the inevitable lexical war that’s about to break out: Ramzan or Ramadan?

The Draft Wetlands Rules a Aim To Protect India's Wetlands, Is This The Best Way?

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

The "fishing cat" is a lesser-known, small wild cat. As its name suggests, it feeds on fish - primarily found in water bodies like wetlands, swamps, rivers etc. Already classified as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, the fishing cat - and several other species - could be severely imperiled if the proposed Draft Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2016, replacing the previous Wetlands (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2010, is implemented by the Ministry of Environment , Forests and Climate Change.

Is The Local Kirana Store Under Threat From The ECommerce Industry?

By NIKHIL SHARMA | INNLIVE

Looking back at the evolution process, e-commerce was introduced in India through shopping sites like Rediff, Indiatimes, Sify and HomeShop18 in the early 2000s. However, they failed to gain widespread recognition amongst the Indian masses due to their limited range of products and payment options. With advancement in technology and growing manpower, e-shopping has gained significant success and popularity in the last couple of years. But there is a major policy gap, which needs to be addressed.

Politics Of Language: Centre Promoting Hindi In South, Northeast India Smacks Of Parochialism

By M H AHSSAN | INNLIVE

With a plethora of mass-media advertisements and profusion of national programmes on a variety of issues ranging from health and education to cleanliness, that should essentially be the responsibility of state and local administrations, the Narendra Modi government seems to veer more and more towards the Indira Gandhi era centralism.

Simple Living Is The Life Mantra Of Supreme Court Judges

By SUHEIL KHAN | INNLIVE

At a time when politicians arrive in Parliament in flashy cars and have declared assets worth crores that include palatial mansions, automobiles and land, Supreme Court judges believe in high thinking and simple living.

A study of the assets declared by 21 judges reveals that only five of them own a car. Chief Justice of India T S Thakur has a Premier 118 NE in his name.