-The Indian Express Chandigarh: Slamming the Punjab government for sponsoring "xenophobia", the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday set aside its "discriminatory" rules, wherein it had allowed additional weightage to rural students for government jobs. A Full Bench comprising Justices Hemant Gupta, Ajay Tewari and R N Raina held the rules framed by Punjab as "illegal, unconstitutional" and beyond its "legislative competence". "State sponsored xenophobia is constitutional anathema and the principle...

-The Hindu Those opposing Justice Katju’s suggestion of minimum qualifications for journalists are out of touch with reality Some years ago, the journalism entrance test at a career development institute in Mumbai had this objective-type question: Kofi Annan is (a) a Nigerian footballer (b) lead singer of a Sierra Leone pop group (c) a Sri Lankan delicacy (d) Secretary-General of the United Nations. The 100-odd candidates who appeared for the test were...

-The Hindu In a small town in Karnataka, government-school students are working to ensure that their schools meet the infrastructure norms of the RTE Act. Can this model be replicated elsewhere in the country? Kishore Mahadevaiah, a Std VII student, is describing his ideal school. “The school should be very clean and neat. In every class, there should be teaching and learning materials and sports materials and qualified teachers. And there should...

-The Hindu In a move that could significantly alter the nature of professional journalism in the country, Press Council of India (PCI) chairman Justice Markandey Katju has set up a committee to determine the minimum qualification for a journalist. The move has drawn sharp reactions from media practitioners and experts. In a press note issued on Tuesday, Justice Katju stated that in contrast with other professions such as medicine, law and teaching,...

-The Hindustan Times Indore: After Jal Satyagraha (insistence on truth with water) and hunger strike, scores of striking adhyapaks (teachers having non-permanent jobs) in Shajapur district climbed on trees and raised slogans against the Madhya Pradesh government for not fulfilling its promises. Earlier, on Saturday over 25 teachers sat on a Jal Satyagraha to press their demands for ‘equal work, equal pay’ as well as all the benefits that their regular counterparts...