THE MERCURIAN TIMES

One of the major decisions taken in this year has been regarding the declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel by US President Donald Trump, overturning decades of the US Foreign Policy. With this declaration, Trump directed his government to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.  New Delhi’s “yes” vote comes even as the NDA government’s proximity to Israel and the US has grown.  On account of this decision by the US, a resolution was brought up by Turkey and Yemen in the United Nations as to the “Reversal of Trump’s Decision”. 128 nations voted in favour of the resolution, 9 against and 35 abstained from voting. India joined other 127 nations in favour of the resolution, standing firmly with Palestine, despite immense pressure from the allies, US and Israel. Given the increasing inclination of India towards the US and Israel, India’s vote came out as an utter surprise to all other nations that suspected that New Delhi might abstain from v...

PADMAVATI,  an Indian Epic Period Drama film,directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali is awaited by millions of people in India as well as abroad. But the  film has been delayed indefinitely because of a lot of revolving controversies.  While the various Rajput Associations,especially the Karni Sena, has claimed that the movie distorts the historical facts and shows Rani Padmini( the major lead character in the film, played by Deepika Padukone) in bad light,  Bhansali has clearly stated time and again that the film is based on a fictitious poem 'PADMAVAT' written in 1540 by a sufi poet Jayasi.  So where does the point of distortion of history comes?  Various historians have also said that there has been no mention of Rani Padmavati in any of the written  books of that period relating to the Rajputs or The Chittor invasion which took place in  1303, so it seems that the objections made by the Rajputi Associations are quite baseless. Moreover, ...

#PRIDE “i want to 377 you like a star falling off the brown­ i want to feel you till my nails turn water i want to suck you seven different skies i want to be a squatter in your head when it sleeps when it’s dark i want to break laws with you in bed and in streets and in parks” -Akhil Katyal  1970 Thousands of people march into New Yo rk's Central Park during the nation's first gay pride parade on June 28, 1970 on the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, when members of the gay community clashed with police who had raided the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan. 2017 Thousands of people gather with colourful costumes, balloons, flags, posters and placards on November 12, 2017 for the tenth annual Delhi queer pride parade.­ The crowd sang, danced and celebrated as people from all walks of life, identifying with different sexual orientations and genders got together at Delhi’s Barakhamba metro station to march till Jantar Mantar. “CLO...

Words are so impactful that they can even bring war. They own a prowess which is non-ignorant. Yet isn't it injustice to end an emotional commitment by uttering a word merely three times? A marriage is a crucial affair and certainly it cannot be assessed as a profit and loss statement, neither a woman is an asset which can be discarded by a husband on an excuse of expiry of its useful life. Triple talaq infamously known as Talaq-e-biddat, a 1400 year old practice which allowed a Muslim man to legally divorce his wife by the pronouncement of the word ‘Talaq' thrice became a controversial issue in the year.  The practice was declared “unconstitutional” by the apex court of the country on August 22nd 2017. A bench of five judges passed its verdict in a split decision of 3:2 and asked the government to ban the custom by enacting a law. The issue attracted media attention in the past two years when a Muslim organisation, Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Andolan (BMMA) launche...

Miss World 2017 and Femina Miss India 2017 born on 14 may 1997 has left everyone bewildered with her wit and charm .  Born in Rohtak, Haryana, Manushi Chillar is perusing her medical career and is a trained classical dancer . She has many more feathers in her cap.  She was a celebrity speaker at 2017 Global Entrepreneurship Summit and was announced as the brand ambassador for 'Anaemia Free Haryana .' Chillar also began a beauty with purpose campaign project 'Shakti' which received government support of 18 crores and expansion by ensuring free availability of sanitary napkins for all girls in the government schools of Haryana by Chief Minister   of the state,   Manohar Lal Khattar. Newly crowned   Miss World   , she is using her medical background to focus much-needed attention on an issue that is often regarded as a taboo in Indian society.  The campaign's goal is to spread awareness about menstrual hygiene. She visited twenty vi...

1 bitcoin=928817.94 INR, amused? Well the genesis of this cryptocurrency could be traced to 2009, with ambiguous origin alias Satoshi Nahamotu and this is how far it has travelled that too without any central banking or administration system. Not surprisingly, it is yet to be legalised in many parts of the world including India. Altcoins or better known as bitcoins were initiated as Peer-to peer electronic cash system to facilitate instant payments. Bitcoins are released into circulation through a process known as bitcoin mining which involves solving a computationally difficult puzzle and earning bitcoins in exchange or simply buying them.  And given that the current Bitcoin market is more volatile than a bag of  plutonium nitrate, multi-explosive, sound seeking projectiles , one stands a very good chance to lose a lot of money. Trading in bitcoins is done trough bitcoin wallet, even India has one such wallet.   Through worldwide Wannacry ransomware attack in...