Khap panchayats of Haryana, which have already warned Bollywood actor Aamir Khan against portraying them in 'poor light' and demanded his show Satyamev Jayte be taken off air, have now summoned a meeting of all village khaps of the state.  The Sarv Khap panchayat has been called to decide the course of action to be taken against the film star and respond to his attempts of maligning the Khaps and intruding...

If the environment ministry's draft proposal for 'inviolate forest areas' is accepted, large swathes of healthy forests, including national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, tiger reserves and wildlife corridors, would be out of bounds for all mining activities, and not just coal excavation. The ministry's draft lists criteria for identifying forest patches where mining should be banned following the GoM on coal's decision to junk the no-go policy of the environment ministry. The...

A top dalit panel has asked the Centre to extend reservation in promotions to OBCs, adding a twist to the controversy over 'promotion quota' simmering since the Supreme Court quashed the Uttar Pradesh law last month.  In a letter, the National Commission for SCs (NCSC) said, "The Commission feels the benefit of reservation in promotion should also be extended to OBCs as per Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution."  It said...

-The Telegraph IIT faculty today invoked Jawaharlal Nehru to protect the schools’ autonomy, accusing the Union HRD ministry of “political interference” by proposing a single engineering entrance exam. The IIT faculty federation issued a statement saying its fight was “to protect the academic excellence and autonomy of the institutions envisioned by pandit Jawaharlal Nehru from any political interference”. The statement, issued by faculty federation secretary Atul Mittal, came a day after HRD minister...

The ASCI report says there is ample evidence of “market dominance” in specific media markets, but the government has ignored the report for three years. A ministry official tells PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA that it is unlikely to be implemented. A report prepared by an independent institution recommending imposition of cross-media ownership restrictions recently entered the public domain nearly three years after it was submitted,  following a rebuke to the government by...