A look into the state of Dalit entrepreneurship in the country.
The Lok Sabha was adjourned twice in the post-lunch period on Thursday as a war of words broke out between the treasury and opposition benches, triggered by Congress MP Charanjit Singh Channi's spat with the Bharatiya Janata Party's Ravneet Singh Bittu.
Police have arrested 22 people in connection with the attack on Dalits returning to Bhavnagar after attending a protest rally in Una town in which cops were also targeted.
Here are 5 BJP MPs who have taken up cudgels against their party leadership for its handling of Dalit issues.
The collegium system has shut the doors of judgeship in the higher judiciary on Dalits, OBCs and even the poor among the upper castes
Taking the matter seriously, the Bharatiya Janata Party government on Wednesday night transferred collector S Vishwnathan, SP Nayak and IG Rajababu Singh.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav will contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kannauj, the party announced on Wednesday, two days after it had declared another candidate for the Uttar Pradesh seat.
Modi said that Congress' tally in the Lok Sabha polls will be an "all-time low"
'The brazen politics, in this series of bullying of AMU by functionaries of the Union and provincial governments, utterly disregarding the fact that the matter is sub judice, is quite obvious.' 'One needs to see through the desperate politics of the BJP which governs both Uttar Pradesh and the Centre, especially its woes over its Dalit support base,' says AMU Professor Mohammad Sajjad.
"The nakli Shiv Sena wants to bury me alive. They abuse me in such a way that it will be liked by their favourite vote bank," Modi said.
Ahead of the 2019 elections, the race for consolidating the Dalit vote-bank has intensified among all the political parties, more so in Uttar Pradesh, where the community comprises almost 21 per cent of the population.
Four people have already been arrested in connection with the crime.
Using the Mahabharat reference as a leitmotif, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday claimed that an atmosphere of fear prevails all around with a group of six trapping the entire country in a 'chakravyuh' he promised would be broken by the INDIA bloc.
"Desh ke chowikdar ki pehredari mein, sansadhono ki chori karai ja rahi hai (the country's resources are being looted under the watch of the country's gateman)," she said in a derisive reference to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The BSP leader won the Bijnor Lok Sabha seat in 1989, her first electoral triumph.
'They have not mentioned the word minorities. They say scholarships will be given to marginalised communities'
The brutal incident came to light after a video of the assault went viral. In the video, a group of men is seen thrashing two persons with rubber belts. They later torture one of the victims by pouring petrol on his private parts with a piece of cloth wrapped on a screwdriver.
Series of controversies related to Dalit issues have come at a time when the BJP has launched a massive campaign to win back Uttar Pradesh.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Udit Raj on Thursday said that former Indian cricketer Vinod Kambli had disclosed to him that he faced discrimination many times but now he shies away as his Dalit status might oust him from the Page 3 circuit.
Even as the two parties appeared confident that they have reached out to every voter and publicised their new symbols, experts suggested varying impact of the split and the symbols on the vote bank.
'Unless she joins one of the coalitions, she has a bleak future.' 'The NDA option is suicidal, but INDIA could help her.'
In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said when the elections are over, people will only remember him as the PM who indulged in 'divisive and communal speeches filled with lies' to avoid an inevitable defeat.
The BJP took into consideration caste and regional aspirations while picking ministers in a bid to further consolidate its hold over the politically crucial state which sends the maximum of 80 members to Lok Sabha.
Nearly half a century later, Shyam Benegal's Manthan will be showcased in restored print at this year's Cannes Film Festival. It still serves as a much-needed reminder of setting aside differences in the favour of combined progress and profit, notes Sukanya Verma.
Modi said that those who call themselves the biggest sympathisers of the backward communities are in reality their biggest enemies.
'Today, Dalits can become IAS officers, doctors, IPS, MLAs, MPs and even the President due to the Constitution of India.' 'And if you destroy India's Constitution, then poverty will never disappear.' 'If the BJP is pro-Dalit, they must implement policies which are pro-Dalit.' 'It cannot work if they only talk.'
Those convicted included the brother-in-law of Kevin.
Congress wants to change the Constitution and rob Dalits, OBCs of quota benefits for religion-based reservation, Modi said.
A district collector leads Dalits into a temple in Tamil Nadu, which is then sealed. A Ganesh Nadar finds out why.
The protesters blocked roads in several areas of Mumbai, forced shops to shut down.
Asking Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to adopt a humanitarian approach, the Supreme Court on Monday directed the premier engineering institute to allocate within 48 hours a seat to a young Dalit boy, who missed out, as he could not deposit his fees due to the non-functioning of his credit card.
The alleged attack has come to light amid furore over the assault on Dalits in Gujarat's Una for allegedly skinning a cow.
Congress leader K C Venugopal and Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu walked out of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's office, refusing to endorse NDA candidate Birla without being offered the Deputy Speaker's position.
Hours ahead of Janata Dal-Secular MP Prajwal Revanna's scheduled return from abroad to face the law over sexual abuse allegations, the Karnataka government on Thursday said the next course of action, such as cancellation of his passport, will follow if he fails to show up as promised.
Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Tuesday deplored violence against dalits in the name of cow protection
Moderate to high turnout was recorded in 13 assembly constituencies across seven states where bypolls were held on Wednesday amid sporadic incidents of violence in Uttarakhand, Bihar and West Bengal.
'Arithmetic could decide the Haryana election given the presence of multi-cornered contests.'
The prasad included laddoos, a copy of the Ramcharitmanas and tulsi mala, Chief Minister's Media Advisor Shalabh Mani Tripathi told PTI. He said the first prasad was sent to the Mahaveer's family in Ayodhya.
Facing protests from a section of the Rajput community over Union Minister Parshottam Rupala's remarks, the Bharatiya Janata Party in Rajasthan's Chittorgarh -- a Rajput-dominated seat -- is hoping that the 'Modi factor' and the development work undertaken by his government will help it retain the Lok Sabha constituency.
'The 16th and 17th Lok Sabha and the 2017 assembly election show that Dalits and OBCs are moving towards the BJP.'
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