-The Hindustan Times The Supreme Court will on Wednesday hear the government's plea in the sub-quota for minorities issue. Earlier on Monday, the apex court expressed its displeasure and pulled up the Centre for its casual handling of the "complex" and "sensitive" issue of 4.5% sub-quota for minorities within the 27% reservation for OBCs in central educational institutions like IITs. The Centre on Tuesday placed before the apex court the "relevant" material and...

-The Hindu A full week after the Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the 4.5 per cent job and education sub-quota for minorities, suspense continues on the status of those aspiring to get into the IITs under the sub-quota. Said Sahique Mustafa whose minority rank of 203 all but guaranteed him an IIT seat: “Last week my family was celebrating. Today, I have no hope.” On Thursday morning, Law and Minority Affairs Minister Salman...

-The Economic Times One of the most heartwarming films of 2011 centred on a child labourer who fitted in exceedingly well with his wealthier classmates at school. While a nasty teacher drives the child out of school in the celluloid imagining, in real life, a nasty education system threatens to drive such kids from the country's elite schools.  Among the most jarring arguments against a clause in the Right to Education (RTE)...

Why has there been such a silence from dalit leaders over the Bathani Tola judgment acquitting all those accused of killing 21 dalits? At the same time, what explains their loud protests over the Ambedkar cartoons in the textbooks? Has the elevation of Ambedkar as an icon relegated the dalit leadership to a politics of empty symbolism? Is the issue of a lack of accountability in the judicial system towards...

A close reading of the Political Science textbook shows that it is complex, moves beyond pat answers, and treats the Constitution as a living document. It was produced in the light of the National Curriculum Framework 2005, which in itself was a major attempt to democratise education, and reverse the National Curriculum Framework 2000 which was casteist and sexist. Kumkum Roy (kumkumr@yahoo.com) is with the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru...