
New Delhi: Literature, the soul of cultural exchange, is giving conventional diplomacy a run for its space in South Asia with the mushrooming literary festivals that are provoking, discussing and building new bridges across cultures. Five major literature festivals - the Jaipur Literature Festival, Mountain Echoes in Bhutan, the Kathmandu Literary Yatra, the Galle Literary Festival in Sri lanka and the Karachi Literature Festival - which have been showcasing literature...

10:45 AM, May 28, 2012

Jaipur: Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) co-owner Shah Rukh Khan on Saturday pleaded guilty for smoking in public and said that he was ready to pay fine. The Rajasthan Police had filed a complaint against Khan for smoking in public during an IPL match at the Swai Man Singh Stadium. The case has been adjourned till June 21 and Khan is not required to appear before the court for now. On...

02:25 PM, May 26, 2012

New Delhi: Actor and co-owner of Kolkata Knight Riders Shah Rukh Khan has been asked to appear before a Jaipur court on Saturday after he was served summons in a case related to smoking in public by him at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium during an IPL match. On April 27, Khan had been directed by a local court in Jaipur to appear before it on May 26, after he...

09:59 AM, May 26, 2012

Jaipur: Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Shah Rukh Khan has been served a summon by the Rajasthan police over a complaint alleging that the actor was seen smoking in public on April 8 in Jaipur during a match. This was during the IPL match between the Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders. The court has asked the actor to be present for hearing on May 26. The complainant had moved court...

01:13 PM, May 22, 2012

Jaipur: As many as 27 passengers received burn injuries after a packet of firecrackers caught fire in a moving bus in Rajasthan's Sawaimadhopur district. The private bus was on its way to Indergarh town from Sawaimadhopur city last evening when a packet containing firecrackers caught fire in the bus near Ravajana Doonger, injuring 27 people, police said on Wednesday. The injured were evacuated from the bus and rushed to a...

09:59 PM, May 16, 2012

New Delhi: A Jaipur trial court summoned Shah Rukh Khan for smoking in public. He did so during an IPL match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders on April 8 in the Sawai Madho Singh stadium. The court has fixed May 26 as the next date of hearing. However, this is not the first time Shah Rukh Khan is getting any legal notice for smoking in public. He has...

01:15 PM, Apr 27, 2012

New Delhi: The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Friday announced the induction of five new members to its advisory committee for the 2013 and 2014 editions of the $50,000 prize. In a statement, the DSC Group said noted Indian poet Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Booker Prize jury member Alastair Niven, author and South Asian literary expert Fakrul Alam, translator, editor and author Ira Pande and American author and journalist Marie...

12:00 PM, Apr 21, 2012

Jaipur: A man was arrested along with his four accomplices in Rajasthan on Friday on charges of shooting dead his daughter and her boyfriend after they were spotted in a compromising position, police said. The bodies of Sharda, 20, and Nag Kumar, 23, were found April 1 near Ucchen village of Bharatpur district, some 200 km from Jaipur. "Both had been shot in the back. We also recovered a gun...

09:37 AM, Apr 14, 2012

Jaipur: A 25-year-old woman allegedly threw her three minor daughters into a well and then committed suicide by consuming poison in Taranagar area of Rajasthan's Churu district, police said on Saturday. The woman, Indira, allegedly threw her three daughters - Manisha, 5, Aina, 3 and Babli, 1 - into a well in their field on Thursday evening and later committed suicide by consuming a toxic substance. When Indira's husband returned...

08:52 AM, Apr 08, 2012

Jaipur: Congress MLAs Mahipal Maderna and Malkhan Singh, both accused in the Bhanwari Devi abduction and murder case, will soon be shifted outside the Jodhpur jail following government orders, officials said on Tuesday. While Maderna will be sent to the Jaipur Central Jail, Malkhan will be shifted to the Ajmer Central Jail as per the orders, officials said on Tuesday. The Home Department had issued orders in this regard a...

04:37 PM, Apr 03, 2012

Hyderabad: A day after controversial author Salman Rushdie hit out at Congress and Rahul Gandhi, senior BJP leader M Venkaiah Naidu said on Sunday that the Congress was adopting a "selective approach" in this regard. "That was unfortunate... Congress and pseudo-secular parties were selective in their approach," he told reporters in Hyderabad. Venkaiah was reacting to Rushdie's comment that his presence at the Jaipur Literary Festival held in January was...

06:29 PM, Mar 18, 2012

New Delhi: In India, two months after being forced to skip Jaipur Literary Festival, controversial author Salman Rushdie on Saturday hit out at Congress, suggesting that his presence there was blocked because of "useless electoral calculations" and told Rahul Gandhi that "it did not work". The renowned author, who has been castigated by fundamentalist Muslim groups for his book 'The Satanic Verses', said blocking his presence in Jaipur "led the...

10:38 PM, Mar 17, 2012

New Delhi: Two months after he was forced to skip a literary fest in Jaipur, controversial writer Salman Rushdie on Saturday night attended a function in New Delhi amid tight security. The controversial author of 'The Satanic Verses', which was banned in India owing to protest from a section of Muslims, attended the 'India Today Conclave' at Taj Palace attended by a select group invitees. He spoke at a session...

09:07 PM, Mar 17, 2012

Jaipur: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will present the Budget on March 16. A hotelier from Jaipur Prithvi Singh from Jaipur requests the Fiance Minister to remove the tax on clubbable income provision from the Income Tax Act. It's a week short of Prithvi and Pratibha Singh's 16th wedding anniversary and Prithvi wants to gift his wife something special. She wishes for a part of heritage property to do something of...

09:57 AM, Mar 12, 2012

Jaipur: In a shocking and bizarre incident in Jaipur, the police have arrested a 21-year-old paraplegic woman over charges of abuse. The police claim the woman is involved in the kidnapping and sexual abuse of another woman. What is shocking is that the 21-year old herself is allegedly a victim of sexual abuse by three Rajasthan policemen. Her parents alleged that she was being falsely implicated in another case so...

11:15 AM, Mar 02, 2012