'Certain of its final victory, ISIS declares in the document, "Accept the fact that this caliphate will survive and prosper until it takes over the entire world and beheads every last person that rebels against Allah. ... This is the bitter truth, swallow it."'
' Partition of India: My memoriesIn 1947, when India split from Pakistan, millions of people were forced to leave their homes because of inter-religious violence.Muslims trekked to Pakistan and Hindus travelled to India.'
'A refitted former Soviet aircraft carrier has reached the Indian coast after leaving Russia’s northern shipyard in mid-November, media report said on Wednesday.Remind me how many aircraft carriers the UK has... And yet we continue to send aid to India. If India can afford aircraft carriers they can afford to try and alleviate poverty in that country.
The Vikramaditya, a refurbished Russian carrier formerly known as the Admiral Gorshkov, arrived at a naval base in Kanwar in the western state of Karnataka on Tuesday, Indian IBN television reported citing sources in the Navy.
The aircraft carrier was handed over to the Indian navy on November 16 at the Semvash shipbuilder and departed from Russia on November 26.
A team of Russian specialists arrived onboard the ship and will stay in India for a year to fix any possible glitches if needed.
The Vikramaditya is to become India’s second aircraft carrier. The process of the ship’s official commissioning will take between three and four months.
The refurbishments of the vessel lurched from one crisis to another since the $947 million deal was signed with Russia in 2004 for its purchase and refit.
The delays pushed up the cost of its refurbishing to $2.3 billion, sparking acrimony between Russia and India over the contract.'
' ..Islam has not changed its decrees regarding the life of women. Muslim women should not work in a place where only a woman and a man are present. They should work only in a place where there are enough number of women and trustworthy men. Ninety per cent of jobs do not require men and women to mingle. These rules cannot be changed," he said.'
'A Kerala college lecturer whose hand was chopped off allegedly by radicals over his comments on the Prophet Mohammed in a question paper, has been acquitted by a court of charges of hurting religious sentiments, reports PTI.The Chief Judicial Magistrate at Thodupuzha on Wednesday let off TJ Joseph, accepting his plea that he had prepared questions for the graduate course "without any mala fide intention."Mr Joseph, a former lecturer of Malayalam literature at the Newman College, was attacked on his way to church in July, 2010, by religious activists who chopped off his right hand.The attackers allegedly told him he was being punished for his "sacrilegious" reference to the Prophet in the question paper he had set for second-year students.Despite the shock and condemnation that followed the attack, Mr Joseph was sacked by his college. (read) His plea challenging the dismissal is pending before the University Appellate Tribunal.Mr Joseph was quoted by PTI has saying that he is writing a book about his experience, which will be published only after the case is over.'
'Delhi has also blamed Pakistan-based militants for the deadly attacks in Mumbai in 2008, urging Islamabad to punish the perpetrators.'Two points, first Delhi has not blamed Pakistan-based militants, they have blamed Pakistan-based terrorists for the Mumbai attacks. Second the BBC's report makes it sound as though there was doubt as to whether the terrorists were from Pakistan, is that the case, I thought it had been determined beyond doubt that Lashkar-e-Taibar was responsible, indeed the only terrorist captured alive admitted this.
'Last Sunday, September 22, in Peshawar, Pakistan, Islamic suicide bombers entered the All Saints Church compound right after Sunday mass and blew themselves up in the midst of some 550 congregants, killing, according to the latest count, nearly 90 worshippers, including many Sunday school children, women, and choir members, and injuring at least another 120.What Islamists are doing to the tiny Christian population in Pakistan is disgusting. But what's worse is the way that politicians and the media in the West is minimising coverage of the story. It is truly vile that the BBC obsess over the way Israel treats Palestinians and over a supposed rape problem in India whilst giving Pakistan a pretty easy ride.
The now destroyed Protestant church was built in Peshawar some 130 years ago. The Taliban claimed the attacks.
According to Margrette, a parishioner who survived (though her sister's status was unknown), "I heard two explosions. People started to run. Human remains were strewn all over the church."
Armed attacks on churches are hardly uncommon in Pakistan, even though Christians are less than 2 percent of the population, while Muslims are 97 percent. In 2001, Islamic gunmen stormed St. Dominic's Protestant Church, opening fire on the congregants and killing at least 16 worshippers; most women and children. Last Christmas, "when Christian worshipers were coming out of different Churches after performing Christmas prayers, more than one hundred Muslim extremists equipped with automatic rifles, pistols and sticks attacked the Christian women, children and men."
The attack came in response to fatwas condemning Christmas celebrations.
As for Muslim mob violence (as opposed to preplanned terrorist strikes) this is a common fixture that regularly flares up against Pakistan's Christians and other minorities, most often in the context of "blasphemy," that is, offending Islam or its prophet. A few months ago, in March, because one Christian was accused of blasphemy, some 3,000 Muslims attacked the Christian Joseph Colony of Lahore, burning two churches and 160 Christian homes.
According to one Christian eyewitness, "The police was doing what it does best -- nothing! Their bias towards Christians is quite evident, because when the Muslims were raiding our church and property, they just watched, but when we confronted them, they started hitting us with batons and used live ammunition to deter us." '
'Two teenage sisters and their mother were murdered in a Pakistan honour killing after a video emerged of them dancing in the rain.
According to reports the two girls, aged just 15 and 16, were shot dead last Sunday alongside their mother after the girls' step-brother and accomplices carried out the attack to "restore the family's honour".
The alleged killer, named as Khutore, reportedly carried out the attack after local men had seen the grainy video footage of the girls, named as Noor Basra and Noor Sheza, dancing during a downpour outside their home in Chilas, in the northern region of Gilgit.'
'Asghar Khan - former Chief of the Pakistan Air Force, Chairman of the Tehrik-e-Istaqlaal political party, and a man renowned for his integrity and clarity - argues against the official anti-India ideology of Pakistan.
He explains how: (a) India does not constitute a national threat and has no interest in swallowing Pakistan; (b) all wars between the two countries were started by Pakistan; (c) the Maharaja of Kashmir may not have acceded to India had Pakistan negotiated with him seriously; (d) the 1971 war was sheer lunacy in military terms on account of the long lines of communication; (e) unlike India, Pakistan does not need nuclear weapons; (f) nuclear program represents a grave danger to the national security of Pakistan; and (g) the country is paying a heavy economic price for its atomic program. This interview was recorded in 2009 by Dawn.'
'Sarah wasn’t available for an interview, but she also has quite an amazing story. Born into a Hindu family in Mumbai, India, her father was a friend of Rabbi Gavriel and his wife Rivka, who were both murdered when terrorists attacked the Chabad House (Jewish community centre) in Mumbai in November 2008. Out of solidarity with the Jewish people, Sarah’s entire family converted to Judaism and migrated to Israel in 2009. Sarah took up Muay Thai while studying in a religious school.'
'Kapil Komireddi sends the amazing story of the day Margaret Thatcher, not yet prime minister, met one of India's leading "God men," as the Indians amusingly call them. The story comes from the memoirs of K. Natwar Singh, a high-ranking Indian diplomat.More here http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/04/09/the-time-margaret-thatcher-met-one-of-india-s-god-men.html
Chandraswamy did not disappoint Mrs Thatcher. He prophesied that she would be Prime Minister for nine, eleven or thirteen years. Mrs Thatcher, no doubt believed that she would be Prime Minister one day. Nine, eleven, thirteen years was a bit much. Mrs Thatcher put one final question. When would she become a Prime Minister? Chandraswamy announced — in three or four years. He was proved right. She was PM for eleven years.'
'It's tough to imagine Holi with no water, but that is exactly what Mumbai is aspiring to do this year. An extreme water crisis in the state has prompted various institutions in the city to try and do their bit during this festival. As Maharashtra faces one of its worst droughts in four decades, the city promises to do its bit.'More at IBN
'Our attitude to truffles is changing. Now, they are all around us – in upmarket grocery shops, at weddings, parties, restaurants. But they’ll always be a luxury. One measure of how quickly India is changing – in food and wine terms, at least – is our attitude to truffles. When I first
wrote about truffles, most readers of Rude Food knew very little about them. They associated the term ‘truffle’ with those round chocolates and were not sure how it was pronounced. Was it ‘troofle’ or ‘truffle’? (It is, of course, the latter.)
Now, just five or six years later, truffles are all around us. Upmarket grocery shops in our metropolitan cities sell bottled truffles and truffle sauces. Chefs reach for their bottles of truffle oil at the slightest provocation. Truffles are served at top weddings and parties. And restaurants import white truffles every autumn when the season begins in Italy.
I’ve always been something of a truffle devotee. So, five years ago, I would go to Italian restaurants carrying my own truffles (and usually, a truffle slicer) so that I could grate them over eggs, pasta or risotto.
Strictly speaking, the chefs would have been within their rights to refuse to let me eat my own truffles. But, in reality, most were so thrilled to see fresh white truffles, that nobody ever refused. (If I had asked to be able to use my own Kraft cheese, on the other hand, I’m sure they would have thrown me out.)
But these days, you don’t need to take your own truffles. Let’s take the example of Travertino, the swish Italian restaurant at the Delhi Oberoi.
Many years ago, when I first took a white truffle to the restaurant, the Italian chef was so delighted that he tried to devise a special truffle menu while the Indian chefs all lined up to smell and feel the truffle because they’d only read about fresh white truffles but had never actually seen them.
Two weeks ago, the same Travertino was serving an elaborate truffle feast, supervised by a Michelin-starred chef from Italy, and the hotel’s own Soumya Goswami. The Oberoi chefs were shaving fresh white truffles on to thin, crispy pizzas at Threesixty, the all-day dining restaurant located next door to Travertino. Nobody thought of truffles as being such a big deal any longer.
In fact, I think I’ve probably eaten more truffles in Delhi this season than I’ve ever eaten in my life. The Princess’s two parties for her husband’s birthday turned into truffle fests as guests ate alarming quantities of the finest Piedmont truffles with pizza bianca, risotto, tagliolini or simply grated over fried eggs.
The Princess was being extraordinarily generous. But even those of us who did not benefit from her largesse had many opportunities to eat truffles elsewhere.
At Sevilla, the Mediterranean restaurant at Delhi’s Claridges (now back on the gastronomic map), I had a truffle dinner with the hotel’s general manager, Oliver Martin: baked eggs with white truffle, pasta with truffle and then finally, truffles freshly grated on Japanese wagyu. Nor was this a special treat for me: the truffles were on the Sevilla menu.'
