-Press release by Common Cause dated 19th April, 2021 New Delhi: There are silences and gaps in the law that the questionable elements in the police take advantage of and undermine the rule of law, said Justice Madan B Lokur, former Justice of the Supreme Court of India. Delivering the Keynote Address on ‘Is the Rule of Law Backsliding in India?’ at the launch of the Status of Policing in India Report...

-The Hindu Glaring gaps in faculty reservations at central educational institutions More than half of the faculty positions reserved for OBCs in central institutions of higher education are vacant, while about 40% of those reserved for Scheduled Castes and Tribes also remain unfilled, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank told Lok Sabha on Monday in a written response to a question from three Congress MPs. The situation is particularly acute in the elite Indian...

-The Hindu Tamil, Malayalam study material includes claims that cow dung protects from nuclear radiation, slaughter causes quakes The University Grants Commission has written to all Vice-Chancellors asking them to encourage students in their universities and affiliated colleges to write the Central government's "indigenous cow science" examination later this month. The study material for the examination includes claims that cow dung is used as protection against radiation in nuclear centres in India and...

-The Hindu Permission required from MEA to hold them, and also for issues ‘related to India’s internal matters’ A new notification by the Ministry of Education that requires public funded institutions to seek permission from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) before organising virtual academic seminars is “unenforceable”, leading academics have said. An official of the Ministry of Education defended the order as a “simplified permission system” but there is little clarity...

-Newsclick.in The document is exclusionary, reactionary and promotes conformism aimed at serving the interests of capitalism In a document like the New Education Policy, one must distinguish platitudes from new provisions, including the dropping of old platitudes. Thus, phrases like “education is a public good”, “6 per cent of GDP should be earmarked for education” are just platitudes, unless some concrete suggestions are advanced to realise these. In short, repeating old platitudes is...