Tokhan Sahu, a first-time member of Parliament and a surprise addition to Narendra Modi's new cabinet, has been active in politics for the past three decades, though he has maintained a low profile throughout his career.
After threatening to consume poison if the Women's Reservation Bill is passed by the Parliament in its current form, Janata Dal - United chief Sharad Yadav on Saturday demanded separate quota for those belonging to the backward castes. "I am not asking for a reservation of 33 per cent (for women), it could be even 50 per cent. But ground realities should not be overlooked. Weaker sections among women face more difficulty," he said.
'Yogi Adityanath is working for one caste only and suppressing the others,' Bihar Minister and NDA ally Mukesh Sahni tells M I Khan.
'Modi is not assuring the nation that if he gets back to power in 2024 and remains in power till 2029, he will not change the Constitution.'
'He only promotes those leaders who will never show any resistance to him in future.'
A principal in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district worked out his own "caste arithmetic", segregating students of Class IX on the basis of their caste and appointing class teachers on a similar basis, prompting authorities to remove him.
'Today, let us reaffirm our commitment to strive to realise Gandhiji's dreams. His watchwords, truth and nonviolence, will continue to remain relevant for the whole world. He also taught us that rights and duties are but the two sides of the coin - indeed, the true source of rights is duty. Today we recall his lessons in compassion too - compassion not only for our human neighbours but also for our other neighbours, namely, flora and fauna, rivers and mountains.'
Amid a fresh wave of protests in Maharashtra over the Maratha quota demand, authorities in Dharashiv district of the state on Wednesday started distributing Kunbi caste certificates to the eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for their inclusion in the OBC category.
The ministers deliberated on ways to cushion the effect of implementing the quota.
The BJP is banking on development. The opposition is raking up caste identities and the dangers of hyper nationalism.
Faced with a challenge to his traditional Other Backward Class-Muslim vote base from the ruling National Democratic Alliance in poll-bound Bihar, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad appears to be making inclusion of caste in census and opposition to women's reservation bill his major planks to woo the electorate.Strongly pitching for incorporating caste in census, he said opposing it could spark a 'mass agitation'.
He claimed that out of 90 secretaries of the government of India, only three are from the Other Backward Classes and control only five per cent of the Budget, which he said was an "insult" to the backward classes.
Amazon Prime Video has announced a huge number of assorted Web series and movies, and the slate sure looks interesting.
State-run bus services have been completely suspended in five Marathwada districts while curfew and Internet shut-down have been imposed in parts of Beed where the houses of political leaders were targeted by protesters.
The BJP on Tuesday ruled out any scope for her to appeal against the disciplinary action.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday promised free education in government schools and colleges in Chhattisgarh and Rs 4,000 a year for 'tendu' leaves collectors if his party retains power in the state.
'If Lalu puts the agenda of his son's career ahead of the coalition's interest, this coalition will fare very badly.' 'Lalu will ultimately want that his son becomes deputy chief minister but if he's prepared to wait for some time, nothing bad will happen for the coalition,' Professor Prabhat Ghosh, Director, Asian Development Research Institute, tells Archana Masih/Rediff.com
The report said the grand plan for technology deployment on campuses was aimed at preparing and providing them essentially digital infrastructure ready to be used by a "plugged in, digital savvy-generation".
It also recommended the setting up of three new Indian Institutes of Management.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump is relying on support from billionaires and big corporations, while hers is a people powered campaign, Vice President Kamala Harris said on Tuesday addressing her first election rally, a day after she became the presumptive presidential nominee of the Democratic Party.
'Education played the most significant role in entrenchment of Hindutva ideology in coastal Karnataka.' 'Teachers of most of the schools, junior colleges, degree colleges and universities are active agents of Hindutva propaganda.'
Merely because there is a portrait of Jesus Christ in a house it would not mean that a person has converted to Christianity, the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has said.
The government is seriously considering introducing the bill in Parliament next week, the last week of the current monsoon session, in view of promises that it would be tabled in this session.
Always interesting, DMK politics is going to get even more absorbing in the days to come, predicts Aditi Phadnis.
The decision is expected to provide a push for their development in healthcare, cultural identity, education, financial matters, skill development and women empowerment among others, the Chief Minister's Office said in a statement.
Upset about being snubbed by INDIA, Nitish Kumar is weighing his political options. BJP would like him back knowing that it would jolt the Opposition alliance, perhaps irreversibly.
Some say quotas are needed in the private sector to help the backward castes prosper. Others say quotas will badly hit the private sector's efficiency. What do you think? Tell us.
Later in the afternoon, he also said that he was planning to hold a rally of the Maratha community at the protest site on October 12. "It will be attended by all the Marathas. It will show our plight and disappointment.... I will continue my protest here and will not even see the faces of my children till then," he said.
Bhujbal, who has strongly opposed the demand to include the Marathas in the other backward classes category for quota benefits, said a new social system is taking shape in Maharashtra which is different from the order envisaged by prominent social reformers.
Shinde also said directives will be issued to give the Kunbi caste certificates to blood relatives of a person who already possesses similar documents.
On seeing them, Gandhi got off his vehicle, walked up to them and shook hands with several people in the crowd.
The Indian Institute of Management Calcutta has planned to raise its intake for its post-graduate programme course to 400 seats for the 2008-10 batch, regardless of whether the proposed 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Castes is implemented or not.
Rohith Vemula's suicide exposes all of us as a nation, argues Syed Firdaus Ashraf.
Action will be taken against such MLAs, he said.
The bill seeks to reserve one-third of all seats for women in the Lok Sabha and the state legislative assemblies.
Modi also alleged the opposition grouping will end the reservation given to SC, ST, OBC and give all of it to Muslims.
Narsinghanand has several cases against him, including for allegedly making a hate speech at a conclave in Haridwar in December 2021, and was out on bail.
The government told the Supreme Court that there was no progress on 27 per cent reservation for OBCs.
