History

India rejects Pakistan’s claim over Jinnah House

India on Thursday strongly rejected Pakistan’s claim of ownership of the Jinnah House in Mumbai and said the property belongs to it. “Pakistan has no locus standi as far as this property is concerned. It is government of India’s property and we are in the process of renovating it,” External …

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Gandhi statue removed in Ghana

Professor says that its removal was an ‘issue of self-respect’ A statue of Mahatma Gandhi has been removed from Ghana’s most prestigious university after complaints that “he was racist against black Africans”. India’s former president Pranab Mukherjee had unveiled the statue of the global peace icon at the University of …

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Finding Rabindranath Tagore in Japan

It was mid-summer in 1916. The Indian philosopher-poet, Rabindranath Tagore, opened the window of the Shofukaku or Pavilion of Wind Swept Pines that he was lodging at, in the Sankeien gardens of the Japanese port city of Yokohama. A salty breeze wafted up the bluff that overlooked the ocean, holding …

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An exhibition to showcase 16th Century Goa churches

“Goa is a spiritual destination and I want to show to the world how unique its architecture is,” said heritage photographer Payal Kakkar, whose exhibition of photographs of 16th and 17th Century churches of Goa is set to open on Wednesday. The self-taught photographer is gearing up for her maiden …

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Einstein’s letter to God on sale

‘The word God is for me nothing but the expression of and product of human weaknesses’ If it were written now as a series of tweets, they would surely go viral. Think of it: One of the most famous people in the world is panning religion. “The word God is …

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First manned Soyuz mission to ISS since October failure

Three astronauts will spend the next six-and-a-half months on the space station A Soyuz rocket carrying Russian, American and Canadian astronauts took off from Kazakhstan and reached orbit on Monday, in the first manned mission since a failed launch in October. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, Anne McClain of NASA and …

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BSP’s prize catch in dargah town

BSP’s prize catch in dargah town

At first glance, Syed Ammad Chishti looks like an urban professional, juggling career and family. But the 26-year-old is the second member of the Khadim community here to contest an Assembly election.The community of nearly 800 families occupies a prominent position in the hierarchy of the famed 13th century dargah …

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Special tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

To coincide with the celebrations of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, IFFI 2018 will pay tribute to the Father of the Nation. The National Film Archives (NFAI) of India, in collaboration with the Bureau of Outreach and Communication, will hold a multi-media digital exhibition as a tribute to …

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Cat, beetle mummies unearthed

Egyptian archaeologists also found painted wooden cobra and crocodile sarcophagi Archaeologists in Egypt said they had discovered a rare collection of mummified scarab beetles, as well as an apparently pristine Fifth Dynasty tomb that they plan to open in the coming weeks. The mummified beetles were among artefacts found in …

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Indonesia’s Toraja tribe live among the dead

Ethnic group has few qualms living in vicinity of corpses Martha Kande’s family lived with her greying, shrivelled corpse at their home in Indonesia for seven months, as they prepared an elaborate funeral that is central to the Toraja people’s centuries-old death rituals. “We keep the body in a coffin …

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Towering statue of Patel dedicated to the nation

PM Modi unveils 182-metre-tall likeness of Sardar Patel on Narmada Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday inaugurated a 182-metre statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel overlooking the Narmada river in Gujarat as a tribute to the country’s ‘Iron Man’. Dedicating the ‘Statue of Unity’ to the nation on Sardar Patel’s birth …

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Iconic Delhi Durbar painting gets back its glory

The 1903 artwork, measuring 17×11 feet, restored after a 2-year effort; will soon be put on display at the Victoria Memorial Hall in Kolkata One of the biggest and most iconic oil paintings in the collection of Victoria Memorial Hall (VMH) depicting the Delhi Durbar of 1903, has been restored …

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Da Vinci’s genius may be due to eye disorder: study

Da Vinci

Italian polymath Leonardo da Vinci may have had an eye condition that gave him the unusual ability to recreate three-dimensional shapes in his sculptures and paintings, a study has found. A person with the condition strabismus have eyes that appear to be pointing in different directions, with only one eye …

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India up to any challenge: PM

India up to any challenge

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that India would retaliate with double the force if anyone tried to harm its sovereignty. He was speaking at the Red Fort, where, in a first, a Prime Minister unfurled the tricolour to commemorate Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army. “Our military …

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Red Fort to witness another flag hoisting

Red Fort to witness another flag hoisting

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join a flag-hoisting ceremony at the Red Fort on Sunday to mark the 75th anniversary of the ‘Azad Hind government’ headed by Subhas Chandra Bose. Interacting with BJP workers via video-conference on Wednesday, Mr. Modi announced his plans to attend the ceremony. Traditionally, the Prime …

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Bengal’s archives trace colonial footprints

Bengal’s archives trace colonial footprints

In 1833, Purandhar Singh, an aspirant to the throne of the Ahom (Assam) was placed in charge of upper Assam even as lower Assam continued to be under the direct control of the British. In 1836, he sought permission from the colonial government to mint coins in his own name …

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Bulgaria urged to save giant monument

Perched like a vast flying saucer on a central Bulgarian mountainside, Buzludzha is a brutalist concrete monument that was built to glorify communism nearly 40 years ago. The striking circular building has been left to fall victim to vandalism and decay, as Bulgaria has been eager to forget its communist …

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Going live, a Rembrandt restoration

The overhaul ofThe Night Watchwill be done under the public eye and will be streamed online Art lovers will be soon be able to watch one of the world’s most famous paintings being restored live and online. Rembrandt’s masterpiece The Night Watch will undergo a multi-million-euro overhaul at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum …

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