What is the effect of the report of a commission of inquiry that has been rejected or not accepted by the government, and whether the empirical data which formed the basis of the report can be looked at while determining a constitutional issue, the Supreme Court wondered on Wednesday while considering the question of quotas for Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians.
'I cannot imagine that any NSA before Ajit Doval would have given us this kind of time and this kind of engagement. They would have offered slogans, or nothing at all. That, too, tells you something.'
Four-time Odisha MP Pinaki Misra's wedding to firebrand TMC MP Mahua Moitra in a quiet, intimate ceremony that chose privacy and tradition over fanfare, was a reflection of his personal style.
Whether the Ranganath Misra/Sachar kind of recommendations (some of them are similar) will help improve the lot of Muslims is open to question, given how social transformation is a very difficult and time-consuming process, accepting them will be a boon for the BJP. Whether the Congress party wants to score another self goal after Telangana is the question.
The reports of Sachar and Ranganath Misra committees on minority welfare on Thursday generated heat in the Lok Sabha, with RJD chief Lalu Prasad and his SP counterpart Mulayam Singh Yadav charging the government with being anti-Muslim and leading walkout by their party members.
Samajwadi Party disrupted the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha for the second day on Tuesday demanding implementation of Ranganath Misra Commission report, leading to adjournment of the House till noon.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday said the report of Ranganath Misra Committee, which went into the issue of reservation for minorities, will be placed in the Parliament during this session.
A new book on the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi claims that the Ranganath Misra Commission which probed the carnage presented a "diluted" version of events and also blames the police for the mass killings.
The bench was informed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO Centre for Public Interest Litigation and others, that the Centre has filed an affidavit saying it wants to appoint another commission to examine the issue.
One of the public interest litigations filed in the apex court has sought reservation for converted Dalits on the same footing as is extended to the Scheduled Castes following Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.
'The BJP lacks a credible mass leader who matches Mamata Banerjee's popularity.' 'Given the division of votes among Opposition parties, the West Bengal government's dole-giving strategy, and the consolidation of the poor, significant sections of scheduled caste groups and Muslim minorities behind the ruling party, it will be difficult to dislodge the Trinamool from power.'
The Ram Mandir-Babri Masjid title dispute case, the Sebi-Sahara payment row, the Aadhaar privacy issue and the Cauvery water dispute are only some of the legal puzzles he will have to deal with.
He will be the first former Chief Justice of India to be nominated to Rajya Sabha. Former Chief Justice Ranganath Misra was also a Rajya Sabha member but he was elected on a Congress party ticket.
A delegation of Muslim leaders led by Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi during which she asked them to ensure that secular votes did not split in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
'The consolation is that in recent years, the focus at the time of the anniversary has been increasingly shifting from Indira Gandhi's assassination to the plight of the thousands of innocent Sikhs who had been killed in retaliation,' Manoj Mitta, co-author of When a Tree Shook Delhi: The 1984 Carnage and its Aftermath, tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.
Many of the stories, the pictures going out of India worldwide lately with these provocative processions, taunting of Muslims, bulldozers targeting mostly their properties, the sweeping 'othering' of a community of 200 million are painting the front pages and TV screens in the democratic world. That is where most of the friends we covet lie. Soon enough, these will also make our vital friends among the Muslim nations, from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, uneasy. The best time for course correction is now, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
It is important to clarify that availing of an exemption is neither evasion nor tax planning.
'The BJP has the opportunity to undo a lot of the damage that we have suffered as a society which looks away from mass violence.'
The Delhi Police had closed this case in 1994 for want of evidence.
'If the BJP thinks it is going to overnight transform Bengal into Madhya Pradesh, sorry, that's not going to happen because I have faith in our ethos and culture.'
