Political parties across the spectrum get into a tangle over an innocuous cartoon in a school textbook THE textbooks of the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) are in the news again. This time, it is not history but political science textbooks that managed to get almost all Members of Parliament on their feet on an emotive issue and for reasons that defied logic. One day before the 60th...

-The Times of India In a concerted strategy to hit at PM Manmohan Singh, just days after it leveled charges of corruption against top Cabinet ministers, Team Anna member Prashant Bhushan said the PM was like 'Shikhandi' and was being used by Congress as a shield. Bhushan on Monday slammed Singh for defending the UPA government on corruption charges. "The Congress is using the PM as a shield like 'Shikhandi'. They say...

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...

As the dust begins to settle on the Ambedkar cartoon controversy, it may be useful to reflect on what it was all about. Contrary to some rhetorical grandstanding, it was not really about freedom of expression. Nor was it about how (not) to produce livelier school textbooks. Nor indeed about our sense of humour or lack thereof, or the special privileges of comic exaggeration or caricature that cartoonists have enjoyed...

Punitive measures against girls forced into child marriages should not find a place in government policies, programmes and practices Child brides are not criminals. They cannot be compared to children accused of committing crimes. Anyone who hears a story of a girl forced into marriage before she turned 18 will tell you that she had little choice in the matter. In fact, under Indian law, children convicted as juveniles cannot be...