A prominent social worker whose father was an air chief marshal has been slapped a notice of externment from Barwani district of Madhya Pradesh for alleged obstruction of development work and spreading “fear” among officials. Madhuri Krishnaswamy, who frequently clashed with bureaucrats and the political leadership in the 15 years she has worked among tribals, has been barred from entering Barwani and five adjoining districts under the notice, usually issued against...

Former Karnataka chief ministers H D Kumaraswamy and Dharam Singh could be next to face corruption charges, threatening to complete the political triangle over graft in the state with BJP's B S Yeddyurappa already facing a probe for illegality in grant of mining leases and land scams. The Lok Sabha secretariat has turned down a request from a private individual seeking sanction for prosecution against former PM H D Deve Gowda's...

The Right to Education Act mandates that 25% seats in private schools be reserved for students from the weaker section of society. Within this 25% quota, the state will have another quota to allot seats as per the existing reservation module. Each state has a right to notify such categories and conditions. President of the Satyashodhak OBC Parishad, Hanumant Upre accused the government of being anti-OBC. "The very thought of reservations in...

Looking closer at the Ambedkar cartoon and the power play in it We have examined a lot of politics and history around the Ambedkar cartoon but left the most important part unexamined — the very cartoon that created such a furore in Parliament. By assuming that the meaning of the cartoon is wholly dependent on one context, we have denied the work of art whatever autonomy of meaning it could have....

Books, cartoons and judgments are being discussed thoroughly from highest bodies of liberal democracy like Parliament to constituents of public sphere i.e. print to media artefacts. Primarily, there are two standpoints regarding inclusion/exclusion of cartoons in NCERT Books (political science). Inclusionary argument is based on idea of deliverance of great service to B.R.Ambedkar while emphasising his teachings, ideas and place in the book. Exclusionary argument is based on cartoon itself...