Private school admissions may soon see a sweeping change if the government has its way after notifying rules under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act. While the government plans to ensure 25% reservation for underprivileged children by assigNINg officials to closely monitor the admission process in all schools, including unaided private institutions, a proposal to impose a firstcome-first-served rule may do away with preferential admissions...

-The Hindu   Justice Markandey Katju, Chairman, Press Council of India, has issued the following clarification on his critical observations of the Indian media.   I have expressed my views relating to the media in several T.V. interviews I gave as well as in my articles in some newspapers. However, many people, including many media people, wanted clarification and amplification of some of the issues I had raised. Many media people (including several T.V. channels)...

-ANI Right To Information (RTI) crusader and veteran social activist Anna Hazare's key aide Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday said the media needed to refocus on the Lokpal Bill rather than on allegations and mudslinging incidents. Kejriwal said it was imperative that everyone, including the media, worked towards the common goal of bringing a strong Lokpal Bill. "Its important that the media gets back on track and works towards the target. These allegations and...

-The Pioneer   The imprisonment of top CPI(M) leader MV Jayarajan for six months by the Kerala High Court the other day for calling two judges NINcompoops has led to reopeNINg of debates in the State on the limits of the Judiciary’s authority to use the sword of contempt of court provisions against those who criticize it and its verdicts. A large section of lawyers in Kerala now wants the judges to stop...

-The Indian Express   Almost a decade after the Gujarat riots of 2002, the first verdict in the NINe post-Godhra cases monitored by the Supreme Court has been pronounced, and 31 people have been sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court for the deaths of 33 Muslims at Sardarpura village in Mehsana district. Among the victims were 17 women and 11 children. When the court lifted the stay on the trials...