A day after Newsline highlighted that the AIIMS administration had not implemented most recommendations of the Sukhadeo Thorat Committee that probed allegations of caste discrimination on the campus, the institute re-appointed Thorat, a former chairman of the UGC, to evaluate the status of implementation of his suggestions. Sources said that the decision was taken hours after an “informal communication” from the Union Health Ministry to end the agitation by MBBS students. There...

There is good news for IIT aspirants from the minority community. The IIT-JEE Admission Committee has decided to implement 4.5 per cent reservation for them within the 27 per cent seats meant for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from this year. Those minority candidates who had submitted the application forms online and have not mentioned their status can do so on the IIT-JEE website — http://jee.iitd.ac.in/obcminority.php — by giving an undertaking...

The move to set aside 4.5% share for minorities, including Muslims, within an existing affirmative-action system for other backward classes (OBCs) is legally sound, Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson K Rahman Khan has said. Rahman Khan, whose “reservation” model for Muslims in Karnataka served as a model reference point for the government’s decision, however said declaring the entire community backward based on Sachar's findings alone, as demanded by many Muslims, was not...

The anti-corruption movement has enabled the Indian middle class to feel smug about itself. Its members have gone through a vast range of emotions during the last two decades, from self-hatred to self-righteousness. Liberalisation of the economy has created for this class an excitement of many kinds. It has meant the freedom to pursue the quest for wealth without guilt and, at the same time, it has meant feeling set...

Muslims in general may be opposed to the creation of a separate Telangana state but analysis of region-wise employment figures for Andhra Pradesh shows that in the 10 districts of Telangana region, Muslims and OBCs have suffered the highest loss of Rs 41.50 in rural per capita income between 1993-94 and 2004-05.  On the higher education front, the community remains the most backward in urban areas, with the absolute change being...