-The Telegraph New Delhi: Budget cuts in several schemes for minority, Dalit and tribal students have prompted academics and activists to question the government's commitment to the education of marginalised communities. A section of the budget papers presented on Monday, titled "Expenditure Budget, Statement 22", shows a fall in allocations to many schemes compared with last year's budget. For example, allocations for pre-matric scholarships for minorities and Dalits have fallen by over 10...

-The Telegraph Arun Jaitley today drew loud cheers from the fiscal conservatives as he displayed "prudence" and stuck to the fiscal deficit - which captures the government's borrowing requirements - target of 3.9 per cent of the GDP for 2015-16 and pegged it at 3.5 per cent of the GDP for 2016-17. As the achievement came despite all the problems that the Indian economy faced - the Economic Survey presented details of...

-The Indian Express According to the Census, the total percentage of minorities in the country is over 20 per cent, including Muslims (14.2 per cent), Christians (2.78 per cent), Sikhs (2.08), Buddhists (0.84) and Jains (0.45). minorities constituted 8.71 per cent of central government recruitment in 2014-15 with 13,571 of them obtaining jobs from a total of 1.56 lakh, according to information obtained by The Indian Express under the RTI Act. The government...

-The Hindu Muslims, who form 27.01 per cent of West Bengal’s population, “constitute a very large proportion of the poor” in the State, Professor Amartya Sen said. He was releasing a voluminous report on the condition of Muslims in West Bengal titled ‘Living Reality of Muslims in West Bengal.’ “The fact that Muslims in West Bengal are disproportionately poorer and more deprived in terms of living conditions is an empirical recognition that gives...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: The Modi government is planning to convene a meeting of all Muslim stakeholders, including the personal law board, to discuss the plight of women in matters of marriage, divorce and alimony. The move is certain to stir a controversy as the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has already alleged that the Centre is trying to impose a uniform civil code in the country. Such a code will...