Bridging past and future: Nalanda University comes alive after 8 centuries

After 821 years Nalanda, an ancient seat of learning and cultural exchange located in India’s eastern state Bihar, has once again come alive, linking the past and the present and building a bridge to the future. India’s External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj inaugurated the academic session at the Nalanda University’s reincarnation into a modern global knowledge hub on September 19.
“Today is a historic day for Nalanda University. It is a day when a vision has become a reality. It is a day when all roads are leading to Nalanda. For us, Nalanda University is the link between the past and the present and the bridge to our future,” the minister said while planting a ‘peepal’ sapling which will blossom into a sturdy tree of knowledge in days to come.

Read More

Al Qaeda delusional, Indian Muslims will live & die for India: Modi

In an unambiguous response to extremist Islamic organisations seeking recruits from India, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed his belief that Indian Muslims will live and die for India, and stressed that Al Qaeda is “delusional” if it thinks they will join its barbaric campaign for global jihad.

“My understanding is that they are doing injustice to the Muslims of our country. If anyone thinks Indian Muslims will dance to their tune, they are delusional. Indian Muslims will live for India, they will die for India — they will not want anything bad for India,” said Modi in an interview to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria.

Read More

Scotland says ‘No’ to independence from UK

After a long and sometime bitter campaign, voters in Scotland overwhelmingly chose to preserve its 307-year union with England, Northern Ireland and Wales. The final results showed that the unionist “No” side received 55.30 percent of the votes, while the separatist “Yes” side received a little less than 45 percent. “There can be no disputes, no reruns – we have heard the settled will of the Scottish people,” said Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron on September 19. “They have kept our country of four nations together. As I said during the campaign it would have broken my heart to see our United Kingdom come to an end,” said a distinctly relieved Mr Cameron

Read More