The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Constitution amendment bill to restore the power of states to make their own OBC lists after a thaw in the logjam as Opposition parties backed the legislation but demanded the removal of the 50 per cent cap on reservation, with many of them also calling for a caste-based census.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated a memorial in London dedicated to Dr B R Ambedkar over two months after India acquired the bungalow where the Dalit icon and architect of India's Constitution lived as a student in the 1920s.
Here's the full text of President's Ram Nath Kovind's address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first of Budget Session 2022.
Khan, who is believed to have the backing of the powerful military, has vowed to make a 'Naya Pakistan' which would be an Islamic welfare state.
'Aurangzeb, who had destroyed the Hindu temples of Mathura and Kashi and many others in the north, was a very different ruler when he came to Maharashtra.' 'He did not touch a single temple in Maharashtra.' 'It was possibly the greatest triumph of Shivaji's statesmanship,' notes Colonel Anil A Athale (retd), the well known military historian.
Opposition parties ask the government to listen to the concern of the intellectuals returning awards.
In his address to the nation on the eve of 73rd Republic Day, President Kovind noted that democracy, justice, liberty, equality and fraternity form the bedrock of India and stressed that the observance of Fundamental Duties mentioned in the Constitution creates the proper environment for the enjoyment of Fundamental Rights.
The Delhi high court on Wednesday delivered a split verdict on the issue of criminalisation of marital rape and granted leave to the parties to file an appeal before the Supreme Court.
The unfortunate thing is that the film will leave a poor impression of the IAF's and indeed of the armed forces's ability to handle sensitive social matters within their professional space, observes Lieutenant General Syed Ata Hasnain (retd).
'It was a moment when I felt what power can get. Such a reception was beyond my expectation.'
'Our Nari Shakti has excelled in every field. Together, we have to build a nation where the focus is on women empowerment, where there is emphasis on equality and opportunity,' the PM said.
Campaigning came to an end on Saturday for the single-day election in Uttarakhand and Goa, two states known for political volatility where the Bharatiya Janata Party is attempting to retain power, and for the second phase of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh on February 14.
In democratic India, a citizen can be a patriot and at the same time be critical of the government, unlike China which promulgated a national security law in Hong Kong prescribing patriotism to contest elections, observes Rup Narayan Das.
He pointed out that such a restriction is not prevalent in many Islamic countries.
A genuine attempt was made to reset relations in a positive way, signalling a stepping back from the brink of conflict, much to the relief of the world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'The default by the State or its agents in terms of deprivation, exclusion and discrimination (including failure to provide security) is to be corrected by the State; this needs to be done at the earliest and appropriate instruments developed for it.'
'A dangerous and false binary is now surfacing in Indian political discourse, which must be firmly rejected.' 'It is that we have to choose between freedom and development.' 'For us freedom is neither merely an instrument for development nor to be subordinated to development.' 'It is, as our founding fathers proclaimed early in our freedom struggle, 'our birthright' on which we shall never compromise.' 'Growth, wealth and development are fruits of democracy, not substitutes.' Dr Manmohan Singh's thoughts on democracy: A Must Read!
Secretary general of CBCI Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas on what he doesn't like about the new education policy.
'The common belief in political circles is that if you provide reservation to somebody, s/he will automatically come up.' 'This is a very faulty understanding.'
'So why didn't the police make it very clear that this is the line of investigation, this is what we are doing.' 'Nobody knows what kind of report was done.' 'Was she checked for (sexual assault)?'
Aseel Al-Hamad declared the start of a new era for Saudi women in motorsport on Sunday as she prepared to drive a Formula One car around the French Grand Prix circuit in front of thousands of fans.
It looks as if competing political parties in Tamil Nadu have not grasped the full impact and import of a sizable section of voters possibly staying away from voting -- voters, supposedly with a predictable polling pattern -- owing to the Covid second wave and more so, how it could affect the outcome in individual constituencies and even booths, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field.
Here's the full text of address to the nation by President Ram Nath Kovind on the eve of the Republic Day 2022.
Pragmatism and flexibility is a virtue. An untethered and short-term approach to policymaking is a flaw, argues Mihir S Sharma.
The Competition Appellate Tribunal (Compat) had on December 7 last year ordered fair trade watchdog CCI to probe afresh the alleged abuse of dominance by the popular tax-hailing app operator.
India has halved incidence of poverty from 1990s
'Having dedicated my life towards improving breast healthcare in my motherland. I shall continue to work with rock-solid determination following this "chosen" path.'
Pravasis have created a great impression among Americans about their maternal country, India, says Dr Joy Cherian, the first Asian American to be appointed to a sub-cabinet level position in the US government.
'No country or society ever prospered or remained secure by marginalising more than one-sixth of its own,' warns Shekhar Gupta.
In his monthly 'Mann ki Baat' broadcast, Modi said all classes of people have suffered during the pandemic but it is the poor who have suffered the worst.
'Not everybody gets the opportunity of having a working desk inside a helicopter from where you can control torpedoes and weapons.'
'The last four years was not Dravidian rule, it was BJP rule by proxy.'
How Modi retrieves the situation and how he enlists new allies in the next two years will show if the BJP is fighting fit, report Sunil Gatade and Venkatesh Kesari.
'A narrative is needed that captures the reality in Pakistan objectively and more fully'
Unlike the regimes of Jayalalitha, Palaniswami and Karunanidhi, ministers are actually getting to make decisions on their own, with the unmentioned rider that they would be held responsible and accountable, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
The court held that the states were not required to 'collect quantifiable data' reflecting the backwardness among these communities.
The top law officer said that even if some people of the community have come up, the stigma of caste and backwardness is still attached to them.
'Having a voice at the table means the other side has to show up to listen. It became clear that wouldn't happen,' says actor Maulik Pancholy, one of the 10 members who resigned from the US president's advisory commission on Asian Americans.
'Male colleagues are stalking them on social media or sending friend requests, commenting on their pictures when they are not even friends.'
