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Essential HuffPost
Outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari's hard-hitting remarks about contemporary politics has triggered a fresh wave of hostility. Somak Ghoshal recalls how Ansari survived the hatred unleashed by trolls in the ten years that he held office.
TTV Dinakaran and his discredited aunt VK Sasikala are still holding on to the two top posts in the ruling faction of the AIADMK led by chief minister E Palanisamy. G. Pramod Kumar explains why removing them is as difficult as genetic surgery.
In a week when both the Centre and the Supreme Court have decided against relitigating the criminality of marital rape, it is worth noting that nearly all the sexual violence that Indian women experience is within the marriage. Rukmini S crunches the data.
Main News
On his last day in office, the BJP attacked outgoing Vice President Hamid Ansari for saying that there is a feeling of unease and insecurity among Muslims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said,"You now have the joy of being liberated, and the opportunity to work, think and speak according to your core beliefs."
One day before the Supreme Court starts hearing the Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid matter, the Sunni Central Waqf Board in Uttar Pradesh said that it was open to an "amicable negotiated settlement" with the central government.
Almost twelve years after a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the police task force office in Hyderabad, a local court acquitted ten men with alleged links to Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, who were accused of conspiracy. A home guard had died due to the explosion on 12 October, 2005.
Off The Front Page
A temple founded by Swami Vivekananda in West Bengal denied entry to a girl because she was in a wheelchair. In a Facebook post, her father wrote, "Tears in my daughter's eyes knew no bounds and I had nothing to console her. This was the biggest embarrassment life so far for her."
The Central Information Commission has received an RTI query as to whether the Taj Mahal is a mausoleum built by Shahjahan or a Shiva temple gifted to the Mughal emperor by a Rajput king. The CIC has asked the Union culture ministry to clarify its stand.
The Maharashtra government has moved the Supreme Court to revive Section 5D of the Maharashtra Animal Preservation (Amendment) Act, 1995, which allows the police to stop and search a person suspected of possessing the meat of cow, bull or bullocks. Last year, the Bombay High Court struck down Section 5D, which also allows the police to enter homes to conduct raids.
Opinion
Marijuna is probably used recreationally by five percent of India, but for the rest it has medical purposes. In a comment piece published by The Hindu, Tathagata Satpathy argues that it is time to legalize marijuna, underlining its utility in several fields including semiconductors.
Writing in The Indian Express, Sujatha Rao criticizes the Niti Aayog's proposal to privatize district hospitals in tier 2 and 3 cities including Pune, Baroda, Visakhapatnam and Madurai. She argues that the risk is unequally spread, "with the government bearing all the risk and the private partner running away with all the profits."
In The Times of India, Nalin Mehta argues that Congress' Rajya Sabha victory in Gujarat is a reprieve, but it won't have an impact on the upcoming state assembly elections.
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