Azaan is an integral part of the faith, not the gadget, says veteran writer-lyricist Javed Akhtar, asking that the Islamic call to prayer on loudspeakers should be stopped as it causes "discomfort" to others. In a tweet on Saturday, Akhtar wondered why the practice was 'halaal' (allowed) when it was, for nearly half a century in the country, considered 'haraam' or forbidden. "In India for almost 50 years Azaan on the loud speak was Haraam. Then it became Halaal and so halaal that there is no end to it, but there should be an end to it. Azaan is fine but loud speaker does cause of discomfort for others. I hope that atleast this time they will do it themselves (sic)," Akhtar tweeted. When a user asked his opinion on loudspeakers being used in temples, the 75-year-old writer said everyday use of speakers is a cause of concern. "Whether it's a temple or a mosque, if you're using loudspeakers during a festival, it's fine. But it shouldn't be used everyday in either temples or mosques. "For

Drug major Dr Reddy's Laboratories is recalling 1,752 bottles of generic heartburn medicine in the US after the American health regulator found quality issues with the product. As per the latest Enforcement Report by the the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), the Hyderabad-based drug firm is voluntarily recalling 1,752 bottles (1,000 count) of 40 mg Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed release capsules in the US. The ongoing Class III recall is on account of "Discolouration" and because the product contains brown pellets, USFDA said. As per the US health regulator, a class III recall is initiated in a situation "in which use of or exposure to a violative product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences". The recalled product lot has been manufactured at Dr Reddy's Bachupally manufacturing facility in Telangana and is being recalled by the company's US-based arm. Esomeprazole Magnesium delayed release capsules are indicated to reduce the amount of acid in the stomach and ...

: The Chennai Koyambedu connection had a clear reflection on the number of fresh coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh on Sunday as the border districts of Chittoor and SPS Nellore reported 16 and five in the last 24 hours as the states overall tally shot up by 50 to 1,980. The official bulletin showed one fresh Covid-19 death in Kurnool district and put the overall count at 45, as the one fatality reported in Vizianagaram on Saturday was not added to the table. Over 160 people with contacts to people who returned from the Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai were traced in Chittoor district and tests so far revealed 27 COVID-19 positive cases in the last two days, official sources here said. With the fresh additions, the number of active cases in Chittoor rose to 38. SPS Nellores tally also crossed the century mark to 101 but the number of active cases here was 36. Nellore too had the Koyambedu connection and officials were busy tracing the contacts of the Chennai ...

The central government's own figures indicate that many as two-thirds of those eligible for secondary education remain outside the school system today. A Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) committee estimates that 88,562 additional classrooms will be required in 2007-08 and over 1.3 lakh additional teachers. Deepa A reports.

Is a nationwide employment guarantee for the rural poor really unaffordable? No. But neither our ideologies nor our governments rank such an entitlement very highly. The Centre has instead proposed a watered down guarantee, without actually providing it. The India Together editorial.

In the workplaces of the times - the call centres of global corporations - Indian expertise is rewarding, but also has significant downsides, says Geeta Seshu.
Part II : Stress in the sunshine sector

A former member of the National Commission for Women, Syeda Hameed records the powerlessness of the institution in her new book, They hang: Twelve women in my portrait gallery. Deepti Priya Mehrotra notes the chilling refusal of the system to defend women against atrocities.

The idea of interlinking rivers is appealing because it is so grand. But this is also the reason it is nothing more than a distraction from the business at hand, writes Sunita Narain.

Women in India have continually faced restrictions on how they dress, whether it is on wearing jeans to college or sports gear on the fields. Shoma Chatterji looks at this persistent trend of sartorial repression and urges women to reject such diktats.

The displaced people of the Narmada valley have long argued that the states and the Centre have shortchanged them - ignoring the claims of many, offering uncultivable land in exchange, and going ahead with dam construction even before they are resettled. A recent Supreme Court verdict proves they were right all along, says Medha Patkar.

The Draft Capital Master Plan of Andhra Pradesh, which proposes development of the new capital for the state of Andhra, is of a deep concern. Debadityo Sinha analyses the plan to show what it lacks and why the plan doesn't augur well for the state.

The primary role of the navy is the protection of the seaboards. Having been shown up by the recent failure, the security establishment now has to get the strategy right, says Pavan Nair.

The famed textile industry of Surat is one of the pillars of Gujarat's industrial success story. What is less known about it is the unfortunate reality of rampant child employment and exploitation that prevails there. Shirish Khare reports.

Although relations between the United States and India have largely been cold or chilly since our independence, briefly in the early 1960s, there was a phase when Washington sensed the possibility of an entente. Ramachandra Guha recalls love and hate between the two nations before the age of George Bush.

Goa is, by Indian standards, a prosperous and progressive state. In terms of human development, access to education and healthcare, for example, it ranks almost as high as Kerala. But, as a small and beautiful state, it feels itself peculiarly vulnerable, writes Ramachandra Guha.

Hope Dies Last in War is a saga of individual and collective struggle, spanning three generations, to get back the men who remained as prisoners of war after the Indo-Pak conflict of 1971. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film.

Court narrates a compelling story and evolves into a hard-hitting realistic portrayal of the Indian legal system. Shoma Chatterji reviews the film with a deep exploration of all that sets it apart from a regular courtroom drama.

Young women and girls in red light areas face extreme levels of desperation, stemming partly from poverty, but also because of sheer physical exploitation, even by husbands and fathers. Ruchi Choudhary reports.

The death of 14 women in Chhattisgarh following botched sterilisation procedures has rightfully led to furore across the country. But a detailed, historical analysis of family planning as it has evolved, by Shoma A Chatterji, exposes an inherent and sustained gender bias in policy as well as practice.

Amidst this anomalous global pandemic, as the whole world wars against a sinuously strong, mutating virus what has metamorphosed is the human spirit. Whether it is a housewife who files her first writ petition to...

Mother is prowling around the house like an overzealous detective looking for clues of my ineptitude as a homemaker. This is an old habit. In the past, when I once asked her to babysit while...

India’s lockdown has been eased by dividing the country into red, orange and green zones, with high, medium and minimal infections so far, and correspondingly tough curbs on economic activity. This can at best be...

Former Australia captain Ian Chappell has proposed radical changes in the LBW laws, stating that a batsman should be given out leg before as long as the ball is hitting the stumps irrespective of the spot of its landing and impact.

(This story originally appeared in PuneMirror on May 10, 2020)

Desi jugad: How to pluck mangoes without letting them fall

If you really think about it, it all boils down to money. Twenty- seven-year-old Sheena Jog, a product designer based in New Delhi, says at least two of the last three fights she had with her husband were over their "hard-earned" money.

Photographs get morphed; contact numbers from stolen mobiles are used to stalk; confidential emails and text messages become grounds for bullying.

All over the country, bookshops are closing down. And all over the country, litfests are springing up. So there is a paradox for you.

Videocon Mobiles has launched its latest 4G smartphone, Cube 3 (V50JL) in India. Priced at Rs 8,490, the smartphone will available across all retail stores.

Although a significant increase, Android Marshmallow still lies below Android Lollipop, and Kitkat on the list. As per the latest distribution numbers, Android Lollipop 5.0 and v5.1 together run on 35% Android devices, followed by Android Kitkat 4.4 with a 27.7% share.

A public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court (HC) challenges the change in WhatsApp's privacy policy.

The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 30,395 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain.

Before we head on to answer your queries on your investments in mutual fund schemes, here we clarify that last evening after the amc company Franklin Templeton was left with no option on barely any new subscription and other liquidity issues,

Like life insurance policies which can be paid in monthly, quarterly, bi-yearly modes, soon you will be able to pay health insurance premiums similarly. This has come amid Covid 19 outbreak after IRDAI's call on the issue, when people have been

Maharashtra's Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced that all citizens of the state will be given a free health insurance scheme and will also become the first state in India to provide free cashless insurance to all its citizens. The announcement was

Recently, amid falling interest rates, SBI as an incentive to attract senior citizens launched a special retail deposit scheme called ‘SBI Wecare Deposit' with a marginally higher premium of 30 bps. Usually senior citizen investor community on FDs is provided a

Spectra is competing with the likes of Reliance JioFiber, Airtel Xstream broadband and ACT Fibernet, to name a few. And the company has some rather unique plans, in terms of what is bundled, depending on the duration you choose to pay for in one go.

The State Transport (ST) bus service will be made available on the condition of fulfilling certain conditions to ensure that coronavirus does not spread to other parts of the state

Sixteen migrant workers, walking home to Madhya Pradesh, were mowed down by a passing train in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district early on Friday.