A major sticking point between the Centre and All India Muslim Personal Law Board seemed set for a resolution with Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi leaning towards keeping madrassas out of the Right to Education following a meeting with the board president,Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadvi, here on Sunday. Maulana Nadvi is also the rector of Nadwatul Ulema, a leading Islamic seminary. This is Congress's second major outreach to Muslims in recent...

-PTI   The government is considering giving reservation to backward Muslims within the 27 per cent Quota fixed for Other Backward Classes and a decision in this regard will be taken soon, law minister Salman Khurshid said on Thursday.  "Of the 27% OBC Quota in jobs, the government is examining to fix a Quota for backward Muslims," Salman Khurshid told reporters outside Parliament.  Khurshid said the decision on fixing a Quota for backward Muslims...

-The Hindu   In a bid to break the impasse over foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail, the government made a vain attempt on Wednesday night to persuade the Opposition to tone down the wording of its motion. But it was told in categorical terms that the demand for a rollback of the decision was non-negotiable. The Opposition stance was conveyed by the Working President of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and...

The government's decision to set aside a 20 per cent Quota for SC/ST vendors in its purchases, if accepted by every sector on a wider scale, has the potential to makegrowth pro-poor and inclusive. The Central government has finally announced a policy reserving 20 per cent of its purchases for micro and small enterprises run by entrepreneurs belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. The new procurement policy will...

Reservation for Muslims in jobs and education — feverishly anticipated over the past two years and expected to be announced ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections — might turn out to be a headache the Congress unthinkingly bought itself. As Muslim groups have been arguing, the route under the United Progressive Alliance government's consideration — a 6 per cent Muslim sub-Quota within the 27 per cent OBC Quota — would...