-The Hindu   The National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes has issued summons to Leela Samson, chairpersons of the Central Board of Film CERTification, to appear before it on August 8 in connection with the upcoming Bollywood movie ‘ Aarakshan ' (Reservations). Commission has called Ms. Samson to examine whether the movie violated any provision of the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act, Sameer Bhujbal, MP and son of prominent Maharashtra...

None of Mathew Peedikayil’s three children go to school. The Dahisar resident and his wife chose to home-school their children seven years ago, a decision under threat since the Right To Education (RTE) Act that came into force last year.   The Act, which came into force on April 1 2010, makes it mandatory for every child in the 6 to 14-year age group to be enrolled at a formal school. A petition...

-The Deccan Herald   Agriculture Minister Umesh Katti has declared that the Government will not allow trials of genetically modified (GM) crops in the State. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday in Bangalore, the Minister said Karnataka had opposed Bt brinjal, and if media reports on Bt maize and Bt paddy trials in Bijapur and Koppal were true, the Government would oppose them as well. Katti said the State is firmly opposed to testing, research...

-The Telegraph   The upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections and its importance for Rahul Gandhi have prompted the Centre to try and speed up the land acquisition bill’s introduction and passage. The government is keen to introduce the bill in the current session of Parliament, which ends on September 8, though rural development minister Jairam Ramesh had earlier indicated that the consultation process would take some time. The bill will go to the standing...

Tribal affairs minister K.C. Deo feels the draft land acquisition bill does not adequately protect the Scheduled Tribes’ rights in case they have to be displaced to a non-scheduled area. Deo told The Telegraph he would write to rural development minister Jairam Ramesh about this. “Tribal people enjoy constitutional protection in the scheduled areas. If they are displaced for a CERTain project and resettled outside the scheduled area, the question is whether...