Hot Kashmir, National - Latest news updates, Current Situation in India

THOSE who believe on either side of the India-Pakistan equation that Kashmir is a Muslim entity are sadly missing out on the contribution of Kashmiri Pandits to the limitless enrichment of the subcontinent’s secular culture, chiefly of the Urdu language and the aadaab-i-majaalis, social etiquette, that came with it.

Some photographs are to be admired, some are to be celebrated, but this one has the potential to give you goose bumps. Bedi says it was photographed when he was working on a new feature in Bishnoi in Rajasthan. The Bishnois worship nature in all its manifestations, and are a conservative community.

Indian media's credibility is at an all time low. The recently released audio tapes involving a major corporate house publicist and reputed journalists and the subsequent black out of the news by almost the entire Indian mainstream media puts a huge question mark over integrity and credibility of the Indian mainstream media. 

It is finally official. Those long serpentine queues of saree and salwar-clad figures outside polling booths in Bihar were not simply a great photo-op. Women in the state have indeed voted in bigger numbers than ever before and they have outdone the men for the first time ever. Data released by the Election Commission shows 54.85% of women have voted in the five phases of the election so far. This is a ten per cent rise over the 44.49% of women votes cast in 2005 assembly polls, and 12% higher than even the 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

The terrorist attacks on the mazars of Data Ganjbaksh and Abdullah Shah Ghazi and now on the mazar of Baba Farid Ganjshakar has shocked the Muslims not only in the subcontinent but of the whole world. Six people were killed and several were injured including women in these attacks. What target do the terrorists want to achieve by attacking the mazars of the Sufis? The Islam which is seen in the subcontinent is the gift of the Sufis and the attackers targeting their mazars do not deserve even to be called human beings let alone Muslims. The followers of these Sufis form a clear majority in the subcontinent but Al Qaida, Tehreek Taliban Pakistan and other terrorist organisations of Pakistan are critically opposed to this concept of Islam and consider it as a big obstacle in the spread of their jihadi ideology.

On discovering that his parents cleaned latrines for a living, Bezwada Wilson began a campaign to end this degrading profession. Andrew Buncombe hears his story Friday, 15 October

Mumbai property, named Antilia after a mythical island, is worth £630m and comes complete with three helipads. Mukesh Ambani is having a few friends round to celebrate moving into his new Mumbai pad. But as the home has 27 storeys, soars to 173 metres and is worth an estimated £630m, it will be a housewarming like no other.