Kancha Ilaiah is an activist, writer and also the Chairman of the Political Science department at Osmania University. Recently the Deccan Chronicle published an article written by Kancha Ilaiah titled “Islam and the Concept of Equality in India”. In this article the author makes several claims about the “social role of Islam in the subcontinent” [...]
The Earth is part of the solar system which in turn is part of the Milky Way galaxy. There are billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy (Sun is one of the stars). In addition, there are billions of such galaxies in our Universe alone (the visible universe is about 28 billion light years [...]
A few days ago I saw a documentary on Public Television (PBS) called “The Buddha”. This documentary was narrated by actor Richard Gere and also included comments and thoughts by well known Buddhists including the Dalai Lama and Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.S. Merwin. The program was very well done and very informative particularly for [...]
The Vellore District (Tamil Nadu) pachayat counselor, G.R. Krishnamurthy has decided to build a temple to honor the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M. Karunanidhi. Both the counselor and the Chief Minister belong to the DMK party that is currently ruling the state. Karunanidhi is a legendary figure in Tamil Nadu. He is just not [...]
The world famous Lord Venkateswara Temple is located in Tirumala which is very close to the town of Tirupati (Andhra Pradesh). The Thirumala temple is one of the most visited places on earth. It is estimated that somewhere between 50,000 to 75,000 pilgrims and tourists visit this temple every day. Today the presiding deity of [...]
For the first time in over 70 years the Indian government is very likely to include the question of a person’s caste in the Census. This should not come as a surprise to many Indians. The Congress Party led UPA government has done its best to slice and dice the Indian population in whichever way [...]
We I was young my family used to travel a lot. One of the trips that I remember clearly was the one we took to Shravanabelgola. Shravanabelgola is a relatively small town in the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is known all over India as one of the most important pilgrimage centers for members [...]
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat addressed the state assembly of the Kerala RSS in Kollam today. In his speech (which was delivered in Hindi) he said that “Intolerance also creates problems. The votaries of intolerance resort to even mass killings to make others toe their line. Only Hindutva tolerates everything in the world. [...]
There is a tradition particularly among Catholics that a person should confess to his/her priest if they commit sins. The person will begin by saying “Forgive me father for I have sinned”. The priest will then listen to the sins and once it is concluded the priest will give the person penance (prayers). Confession gives [...]
George William Curtis was an American writer and an individual involved in the founding of the Republican Party. He is often credited with saying that “A man’s country is not a certain area of land, of mountains, rivers, and woods, but it is a principle; and patriotism is loyalty to that principle”. This is a [...]
A Dutch company (AZS Media Group) has announced that it will launch search engine for Muslims. The search engine will be called ImHalal. According to news reports the search engine will have filters and will block sites that have “non-halal” list of words. The companies founder (Reza Sardeha) is also in talks with Imams to [...]
Onam is the most important festival in the Hindu calendar in the Indian state of Kerala. The ten day festival begins in the month of August or September. There are many reasons for celebrating Onam. First and foremost it is a celebration of the end of the harvesting season. It is also the time of [...]
