The Supreme Court on Tuesday termed khap panchayats as kangaroo courts and declared them illegal. The Supreme Court ruling said that khap panchayats are wholly illegal and have to be ruthlessly stamped out. A bench of justices Markandeya Katju and Gyan Sudha Mishra said in a judgement that the new trends of kangaroo courts, honour killings, "khap" panchayaths in northern India and "katta" panchayats in Tamil Nadu were barbaric and illegal,...

Casteism is one of the main causes holding up the country's progress Calling a person by caste name, if used with intent to insult, is an offence under SC/ST Act Society regarding a section of its own countrymen as inferior is simply unacceptable While deprecating the caste system in the country, the Supreme Court has declared illegal ‘khap panchayats' which often decree or encourage honour killings or other institutionalised atrocities against boys and...

Many Congress leaders feel that it was improper for Anna Hazare and his group to act as the sole conscience keepers of the civil society. The leaders are wondering if Anna Hazare’s letter to Sonia Gandhi, asking her to rein in Kapil Sibal and Digvijay Singh, was prompted by a perception that the Congress duo were expressing views on subjects the activists had monopolised on. Sibal had apparently said in an informal...

The Samajwadi Party, Balangir unit, on Friday demanded a CBI inquiry into the irregularities in MGNREGS and PDS in khaprakhol block of Balangir district. The party citing how thousands of people from this region migrate due to irregularities in wage payments and bungling in PDS, submitted a memorandum to Governor M C Bhandare. Led by the party's district president Arun Mishra, thousands of people gathered at the block office and demanded a...

Two correspondents of The Times of India have been recognized for highlighting gender inequities. The Laadli Award, instituted by NGO Population First, for promoting gender sensitivity, has gone to special correspondent Himanshi Dhawan and principal correspondent Sukhbir Siwach. Dhawan received the award for her report highlighting single women being left out from government's flagship scheme, NREGS. Siwach received a special award for consistently reporting on khaps and their gender bias, while factoring in...