In the initial months of governance by the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, attempts appear to have been made to begin subverting the positive results of the land reform programme of the Left Front. What is happening appears to be the inevitable outcome of political rivalry, the hegemonic rule of one party giving place to another, with the citadel of power changing its colour, making the “red” one “green”. But...

Muslims, SCs, STs reflect better social indices, closer to national averages Early in the morning, Mohammad Nadeem, a 25-year-old ‘pakka adati’, big wholesaler, at one of Muzaffarnagar’s fruit and vegetable mandis, briskly sets about selling carrots and oranges. As he expertly sifts through sacks of fresh produce, it’s difficult to picture him hawking peanuts by the roadside. But for five years in this bustling western Uttar Pradesh mandi, Nadeem’s store...

-IANS   Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, accused of writing an inflammatory article, can't be arrested till Jan 30, the Delhi High Court ruled Friday even as it asked him to refrain from penning such pieces.  "Seek undertaking from your client that he will not write any such article (which can spread enmity between communities) in future," Justice M.L. Mehta told senior counsel K.T.S Tulsi appearing for Swamy.  Tulsi assured the court that Swamy...

-BBC   India's election authorities have put on hold a government decision to reserve a proportion of government jobs and seats in state-run education centres for minority groups. The quota - of 4.5% of jobs and seats - has been suspended until elections are held in five states next month. Critics say the Congress party announced the quota to woo Muslim minorities in the upcoming polls. Opposition parties had complained about the move. They accused the...

-The Hindustan Times The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday directed the Centre to stop the implementation of the 4.5% quota for minorities in the five election-bound states till the poll process is over.  The government had announced its decision to carve out the 4.5% sub-quota from the 27% reservation for OBCs on December 22, two days before poll dates were out and the model code of conduct kicked in. In a retrospective decision,...