Retired Supreme Court judge Markandeya Katju, known for his frank and often outrageous political statements, has forecast chaos and instability after the upcoming 2019 general elections. The elections, he said, would create conditions similar to the mid 1990s and 1977, when no single party had the critical mass to form a stable government at the […]
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 […]
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 […]
The cabinet is reported to have approved a move to seek 10% reservation in jobs and educational institutions for all those castes and communities that currently do not get such reservations. The government will create a law to raise the upper ceiling of reserved seats from 50% of the total to 60% of the total. […]
Veteran Congress leader Kamal Nath is learnt to have more or less been decided as the new chief minister of Madhya Pradesh. According to sources, both the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — which are supporting Congress’ government formation efforts in Madhya Pradesh — have clearly made their preference for a government headed […]
Early election leads indicate a slight edge for the Congress in elections to five states, with the party leading in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Please refer to the table to see the updated results. STATE SEATS BJP CONG TRS/MSF MP 230 108 111 0 RJ 199 77 98 0 CG 90 21 63 0 […]
Broking firm Phillip Capital said it saw “good execution” and “very positive feedback” on central government policies announced by Modi government over the last four years in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, and said a close fight — regardless of the outcome — would not have a significant impact on the stock markets. “We keep hearing […]
Kadakampally Surendran, the Kerala minister in charge of Devaswom affairs, called the move by Hindu groups to confine Trupti Desai to the Cochin Airport ‘barbaric’ and wondered if it was part of a conspiracy by the Sangh Parivar. He said Desai is close to both the BJP and the Congress in Maharashtra, and that it […]
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has dropped a hint that the Maratha community will get reservation in jobs and education on December 1. Speaking at a rally today, Fadnavis said that people who are preparing for demonstrations to demand reservations for the community should instead prepare for celebrations on Dec 1. “Some say we will […]
The much-awaited daily hearing of Ayodhya Ram Mandir hearing has been adjourned to at least January 2019, throwing cold water on hopes that the matter would be settled before elections in May next year. The adjournment was done by a bench headed by the chief justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi. “The honorable bench said […]
Noted right-wing ideologue and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy today climbed down from his earlier stand that the military should be used to implement Supreme Court’s decision on allowing fertile women into the Sabarimala temple. In the backdrop of unexpectedly strong protests against the move in Kerala, Swamy today blamed the Left Front government for trying […]
ND Tiwari, the veteran Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh, has passed away at age 92. He has been the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice. He was also the chief minister of Uttarakhand. Tiwari has been surrounded by scandals, especially in his later years. He is also reported to have been party to the decision […]
Going against the stand taken by central leaders like Subramanian Swamy, the state chief of Bharatiya Janata Party in Kerala has issued a call for the government to restore the ban on the entry of young women to Sabarimala temple. The move comes in the wake of days of agitations and massive rallies in the […]
Almost exactly a year after Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV invited the ire of many Malayalis for its allegedly biased coverage of the state, Goswami and online Malayalis are at it again — this time over a ‘shameful’ remark over those who accuse the BJP-led central government of blocking foreign aid destined for the flood-hit state. […]
Hardik Patel, who led the 2015 agitations by Patels seeking reservation in government jobs and higher education, has been found guilty by a trial court in a case filed by a BJP leader. He has been held guilty in the case of vandalizing the office of BJP legislator Rushikesh Patel in Visnagar three years ago. […]
The ministry of social justice and empowerment said that a committee looking into the need for sub-categorization of OBC groups is expected to submit its report by 31 July. The committee, comprising four members headed by retired Supreme Court Justice G Rohini, was formed in October last year. Minister Krishna Pal Gurjar said the committee […]
