-PTI In their first joint appearance on a public platform in the past one year, Anna Hazare and yoga guru Ramdev will sit on a day-long fast here tomorrow in a bid to intensify their anti-UPA protests. Tomorrow's protest at Jantar Mantar is also likely to see Ramdev announcing his strategy with regard to the 2014 General Elections. The one-day fast to demand bringing back blackmoney stashed away abroad and against corruption and...

Andhra HC judgment redefines the complex relationship between religion, caste and reservations The recent judgment of the Andhra Pradesh high court that sets aside a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for “socially and educationally backward classes of citizens belonging to minorities” within the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs reminds us of the contested notion of backwardness in the Indian context. Highlighting serious concerns regarding the ways in which social backwardness...

Now that the SC has upheld the 25 per cent clause, Centre and states must work on implementation Now that the Supreme Court has upheld the constitutional validity of reservation of 25 per cent of admissions at the entry-level in private unaided schools for disadvantaged sections, focus should shift to the implementation of this provision. The Right to Education Act stipulates that private unaided schools “shall be reimbursed expenditure so incurred...

With the Central government unsure of getting the Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010, through the Rajya Sabha, the Human Resource Development Ministry is now trying to allow “backdoor” entry to foreign institutions. The Ministry has asked the University Grants Commission (UGC) to identify possibilities within the existing laws of regulating and allowing the foreign educational institutions. The two possible ways of going about it are allowing these...

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA)'s plan to introduce a Minimum Support Price (MSP) mechanism for 13 items of minor forest produce (MFP) has been approved by the Planning Commission. Sources in the Ministry told The Hindu that a detailed financial proposal would be sent to the Expenditure Finance Committee of the Finance Ministry by June 7 after which it would go to the Cabinet. Union Minister Kishore Chandra Deo, who...