A court in Kerala has agreed to hear a case filed by Praveen Togadia-led Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and others for facilitating the entry of what the organization called non-believers into the Sabarimala temple two weeks ago. The case, filed by AHP National Secretary Pratheesh Vishvanath — the man behind the […]
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has denied a news report published by a major daily in India, claiming that the Authority has issued an order giving 100 free or pay channels for Rs 153. An official pointed out that the Authority has issued no such new rule, and that it is not possible to provide […]
The curious case of TRAI’s implementation of the its 2017 Tariff Order, which threatens to add yet another negative factor for NDA in upcoming polls, can be an excellent case study of what ails India’s legal and regulatory system. The saga started almost two years ago with four companies — Star India, Discovery Communications, Tata […]
Justice UU Lalit, who was part of a constitutional bench that was set up to hear the controversial Ram Temple Babri Masjid matter today, today recused himself from the bench hearing the matter. The judge withdrew himself after one of the advocates RK Dhawan pointed out that Justice Lalit had represented one of the implicated […]
Finance minister and legal expert Arun Jaitley today allayed fears that the latest move to give reservations to forward communities will also be struck down by the courts like previous attempts. Replying to such concerns raised by Congress MP KV Thomas that drew parallels with a similar, but abortive attempt by PV Narasimha Rao, Jaitley […]
A five-judge bench headed by the chief justice Ranjan Gogoi will start hearing the Ayodhya Ram Temple dispute from day after tomorrow. The constitutional bench will also comprise judges NV Ramana and DY Chandrachud. It is not clear yet whether the hearing will done on a day-to-day basis. The Ayodhya debate centres around the land […]
Narendra Modi government’s new 10% economic reservation quota will not be open to economically weaker members of scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes. The 124th constitutional amendment bill introduced by Thawar Chand Gehlot in Parliament today makes a specific exclusion for the above categories from being admitted under ‘economic reservation’. The poor within […]
The government will present a new bill to amend the constitution and introduce a new 10% quota for ‘forward communities’ at 2 PM today. The bill will be presented by minister of social justice and empowerment Thawar Chand Gehlot. The bill will add a new criteria for providing reservation — economic backwardness — to the […]
Shiv Sena MP Anil Desai today asked the government if it had taken steps against TV channels who were “creating hatred among various sections of Hindu community” by identifying victims of certain attacks as dalits. The government responded that it had already sent directives to channels and newspapers against using the world dalit. In a […]
After waiting patiently for a breakthrough, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prayers in Kerala seem to have been finally answered in the form of a crucial development in the Sabarimala temple standoff with two women entering the temple at night under police protection. The BJP has already kicked off a massive campaign to exploit the emotional […]
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has dismissed the “fabrications and concoctions” being circulated on social media about the new tariff rules that will come into effect on December 29. In a statement, the regulator countered two broad concerns on the upcoming tariff scheme — that consumers will have to pay far more to watch their […]
The Kerala unit of the BJP has decided to suspend its ongoing protests and demonstrations at Sabarimala temple, even as these seem to have resulted in an unusual decline in the number of pilgrims who undertook the annual pilgrimage this year. As part of the decision, Yuva Morcha, the youth front of the BJP, canceled […]
Bhumata Brigade head and women’s rights activist Trupti Desai has been blocked by protesters at the Cochin International Airport by protesters. The activist reached Cochin at around 4:40 AM, and quickly drew protesters. The number of protesters outside the airport has been increasing as news about Desai’s entry spread and currently number in the hundreds. […]
Supreme Court of India of India has agreed to hear the Sabarimala age-restriction matter once again, prompting the Kerala law minister to say that the state government will maintain status quo at the site. It will take up the matter on January 22, after the current pilgrimage season, for detailed hearing. It is not yet […]
Libi CS, a self-proclaimed atheist, was taken away by police today on her way to the holy site of Sabarimala. The woman, a native of Cherthala in Kerala, had announced on Facebook yesterday that she, along with three of her friends, will visit Sabarimala today. “When Rahul Easwar (leader of the agitation) is camping at […]
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear the petition filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy against continued control and oversight of temples by the state government of Kerala. Unlike in other places, the control of temples in Kerala — which used to rest with the kings before independence — was directly transferred to the newly […]
Chetan Bhagat, India’s most popular pulp fiction writer, today sought to put his foot down on allegations that he sexually harassed people on WhatsApp. His response comes in the wake of yet a new allegation, four days after a woman leaked a conversation with him in which he confessed to ‘trying to woo’ her. In […]
Rahul Easwar, one of the most prominent spokespersons of the Hindu right wing in Kerala, has blamed a section within the Hindu right wing for the controversies surrounding South Indian traditions likes Jallikettu and Sabarimala. Easwar, who can be found on TV on most days expounding the Hindu right wing perspective on Kerala-related issues, said […]
Delhi High Court has set apart a lower court decision that imposed a stay on the publication of a video by website Cobrapost that allegedly showed political bias among employees of Dainik Bhaskar group. DB Corp, the publisher of Dainik Bhaskar daily, won the injunction after arguing that the video was malafide and based on […]
The sexual choices that a person makes is part of that person’s expression, and the constitution does not allow anyone to “shackle the sexual freedom” of another just because he or she entered into a marriage, Justice Dhananjay Chandrachud said today in his 77-judgment in the ‘Section 497’ case. The order also linked a person’s […]
