Editors Pick : Top Stories

The Operation Enduring Freedom is as good as over. As the foreign combat troops prepare to go back home at the end of this month, the responsibility for peacemaking and ensuring the safety and security of the people of Afghanistan will squarely lie with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) hampered by a shortage of arms and ammunition.

The Bahá’ís are being treated as second rate citizens in their country, Iran. They are not allowed to gain college admission or hold government positions. They are routinely harassed, discriminated, and their properties get confiscated.

Teachers have suddenly become an endangered species in India. Teaching today is no longer a passion but just another profession to make money -- but then why should you expect the low paid teachers to make all the sacrifices while others have a good time. The result is that experienced teachers are either migrating abroad or switching over to a better job.

For a person who simply leads the prayers in a mosque, the Imam is a controversial figure in Islam, an honorary post that the left the Muslims divided into Shia and Sunni camps. Elected or inherited -- it does not bestow any special powers. In Islam, all mosques have an Imam. All Muslims are equal before God. It also goes without saying that all Imams are equal irrespective whether they represent a -- big or small mosque.

Hereditary imamat is un-Islamic. Shahi Imam means Imam of the emperor. It is not relevant today. All an imam does is to lead the prayer. Imamhood is not a license for power plays or monopoly of one family. It should be possible to remove Imams who bring a bad name to the community.

Petitioners’ village in Beijing is a den of injustice and inhumanity where petitioners or their relatives are imprisoned, arbitrarily detained or beaten by official and their hired thugs just to buy their silence. In several cases, police have simply arrested people for applying for a protest permit. Many end up in China’s notorious reeducation through labor (laodong jiaoyang or laojiao) system.

There is a world of difference between what India, the world's largest whisky drinking nation, cheers with and what connoisseurs call the American 'whiskey' spelt with an extra 'e', for starters.

A unique post office near the famed Hindu temple at the Sabarimala hills allows you to post letters to God. It is used by people to post invitation cards for weddings and shop openings, seeking divine blessings from Lord Ayyappa

According to a bra fitting specialist, bra sizes were developed from blouse sizes based on military uniforms in World War I. These bra sizes from World War I male military uniforms may no longer be suitable for today's women.

It's a game of love at first site. Today, only brands that people love can survive. Every brand has three seconds to make the customer fall in love. The big question therefore is - how to make the customer love your brand more than the competitor’s product

Till lately, the outer space was a no man’s land, now sky is the limit. Billionaire Robert Bigelow the founder of Bigelow Aerospace is already talking in terms of hotels, offices and holiday resorts in space. This is just tip of the ice berg; the real discovery to space has just begun....

Why is Lord Krishna the naughtiest characters in Indian mythology, one of the most happening Gods in Hindu religion? Why, given a chance every mother in India would like to be Devki or Yashoda and nurse a child like Krishna? What makes him relevant even today?