The Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party last week amended the constitution to make into law a proposal to allow a 10% quota, or reservation, in jobs and higher education to economically backward sections among the upper/dominant castes. India’s new education quota will cover non-Dalits, non-other Backward Classes and non-tribals — essentially, the upper castes or ‘forwards’.
Renowned Indian lawmaker Shashi Tharoor has said that successive Indian governments failed to spend adequately on education and health sectors in the country, with budget allocations having been low.
As many as 1,200 Kashmiri students enrolled in India’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) threatened to quit the university if charges of sedition against two students others were not dropped.
Former Prime Minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, 94, breathed his last on Thursday. He was a towering figure in Indian politics and came real close to settling the Kashmir issue with Pakistan for good. Besides numerous others feats during his illustrious political career that spanned several decades, Vajpayee also helped the Indian education system improve considerably.