-The Indian Express Questioning the government on giving 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities on the basis of religion, the Supreme Court today refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order quashing the decision. "We are not inclined to grant stay," a Bench comprising Justices K S Radhakrishnan and J S Khehar said while issuing notices to the petitioner on whose PIL the high court had quashed the 4.5 per cent...

-The Hindu The killing of the Ranvir Sena chief and the violence it triggered expose the fragile foundations of Nitish Kumar's ‘new Bihar'   The assassination of Brahmeshwar Singh alias Mukhiya, founder of Ranvir Sena, the dreaded private army of upper caste Bhumihars, raises fears of the revival of “Barbaric Bihar”. From the first major massacre of Dalits in Belchi in 1977 to the killings in Mianpur in 2000 by socially dominant castes...

-DNA Though Right to Education (RTE) act caters to the educational needs of children aged between 6 and 14 years, Karnataka has decided to also bring in pre-school students under its ambit. Unaided educational institutions that have pre-school facility, must implement the act from pre-school (LKG) level. Moreover, even at this level the state government has also decided to reimburse a part of the fee to the schools. The education department has issued...

-The Hindu With emphasis in the 12th Plan on the social services sectors for achieving more inclusive growth, the Delhi Budget has allocated Rs.9,796 crore or 65 per cent of the total Plan outlay of Rs.15,000 for 2012-13 on this sector. The money, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, will be used for various social welfare schemes. These include the Dilli Annashree Scheme, under which two lakh vulnerable households would be provided food...

Dalits, OBCs in India’s colleges are using beef as a symbol of a resurgent identity     “Non-Brahmins have evidently undergone a revolution. From being beef-eaters to have become non-beef-eaters was indeed a revolution. But if non-Brahmins underwent one revolution, Brahmins had undergone two. They gave up beef-eating, which was one revolution. To have given up meat-eating altogether and become vegetarians was another revolution.”     —B.R. Ambedkar *** The Beef Menu     Available In Kerala,...