-DNA   The ministry of home affairs has ordered an inquiry into the repulsive video showcasing Anadaman aborogines - Jarawa tribe - forced to dance nude for food before foreign tourists. “The video, we have inquired, was on the internet for the last 4-5 years. But we have ceased off the matter and taking congnisance, have ordered an inquiry into it by the Anadaman and Nicobar administration and UT (union territory) division. “Besides, we...

-IANS   Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, accused of writing an inflammatory article, can't be arrested till Jan 30, the Delhi High Court ruled Friday even as it asked him to refrain from penning such pieces.  "Seek undertaking from your client that he will not write any such article (which can spread enmity between communities) in future," Justice M.L. Mehta told senior counsel K.T.S Tulsi appearing for Swamy.  Tulsi assured the court that Swamy...

-The Hindustan Times   The Union government has asked the Andaman and Nicobar authorities to file a report on the incident of Jarawa women dancing for food.  A video of Jarawa women— a tribal group inhabiting the islands—allegedly dancing for food was released by The Observer, a London-based newspaper, along with a report. The video enraged both Rights activists and the authorities.  Even though the authorities say the video, which is doing rounds...

Without equality, democracy and social justice, which are three interrelated factors, secularism cannot exist as a positive value in society. I HAVE known Prof. Romila Thapar for about 45 years, most of it as a colleague at the Centre for Historical Studies of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Romila, as she is called by almost everybody – from her eight-year-old grandnephew to all of us present here – had helped to...

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance finds the UID project to be “conceptualised with no clarity” and “directionless”. THE Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance has dealt a body blow to the Unique Identification (UID) project. The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) was set up under the Planning Commission by an executive order on January 28, 2009. The scheme involves the collection of demographic and biometric information to issue ID numbers to...