Reservation for Muslims comes into effect in Andhra ; Left unions to launch two-month long agitation against UPA Govt; Renowned scholar Dr Rafiq Zakaria passes away; Mexico relaxes visa norms for Indian businessmen; India not too happy with G-8 outcome: Manmohan Singh; Manmohan Singh gets Oxford doctorate; Al Qaeda linked group claims responsibility for London blasts; Pak interrogating suspect for links with London carnage; Stress of split takes heavy toll on Jennifer Aniston; Zeta Jones' stalker gets three year sentence; Kidman speak costs corporate honchos 10,000 pounds a minute; Sharon Stone tops list of Ageless stars; Pak camel kids' nightmare comes to an end; Ringo Starr's bithplace saved from bulldozing; Jolie's parrot goes ballastic; India Travel Times, Indian News, Tourism, Hotels, Airlines, Tour, Travel, Ayurveda, Yoga, Festival, Hindu, Taj Mahal, Kathakali, Dance,

Home Contact Us Dateline New Delhi, Saturday, July 9, 2005

Reservation for Muslims comes into effect in Andhra

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Government's order including Muslims under the category of "backward class" has come into effect from today. Around 69-lakh Muslims will benefit by the five per cent reservation for the community in government jobs and educational institutions. The State Government faced many legal and political hurdles in implementing the decision. Critics say that the Congress Government is trying to use Muslims , who constitute 9.2 per cent of the state's total population of 7.5 crore, as its vote bank. . However, Muslims, with an annual income above Rs 2.5 lakh, will be considered as the " creamy layer" and will be excluded from the purview of reservations. The Backward Classes Commission had presented a report on the issue of Muslim reservation, which was approved by the state cabinet last month. On the recommendation of the report, a separate categorty for Muslim - BCE, has been created in the list of Backward Classes providing them five per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions. . With this additional reservation, the total percentage of reservations in the state has gone up to 51, exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling suggested by the Supreme Court. The move has triggered a political storm with the opposition BJP and other Sangh Parivar organizations raising objection to "religion-based reservations" and warning that it could lead to "communal tensions".

BJP termed the decision as "yet another reflection of vote bank politics and appeasement of minorities". The ruling Congress said it has fulfilled one of its key poll promises and the move would go a long way in addressing the socio-economic problems faced by the minorities. Defending the Government's decision, Chief Minister Rajshekar Reddy said:"It is clear that Muslims are lagging behind socially, economically and educationally. Providing reservations is the surest way to ensure justice." The Congress government justified the quota exceeding 50 per cent on the ground that scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and Muslims together accounted for 77 per cent of the state's population and deserved affirmative action by way of 51 per cent reservation. "The apex court had allowed reservations beyond 50 per cent ceiling in case of extraordinary circumstances which exist in the state," the Chief Minister said. The quota move has set off fears of possible dilution of existing reservations for Backward Classes. The Chief Minister, however, said the existing 25 per cent reservation for Backward Classes, who constitute 45 per cent of the state's population, would not be reduced.

Left unions to launch two-month long agitation against UPA Govt (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Left-backed trade unions today announced the launch of a two-month long agitation starting on July 20 against what they allege the failure of the UPA Government tosolve the problems of the common man. The decision was announced following a National Convention of Trade Unions here. The agitation would culminate in a countrywide general strike on September 29 by nearly six crore factory workers and employees of Central and State government departments. The Congress-supported INTUC and RSS-affiliated BMS, however, will not be participating in the agitation. The Convention was attended by AITUC, CITU, AICCTU, UTUC, HMS, TUCC and UTUC-LS besides all India federations of employees in bank, insurance, railways, telecom, postal, defence, petroleum and other sectors.

Renowned scholar Dr Rafiq Zakaria passes away (Go To Top)

New Delhi/Mumbai: Veteran Congress leader and noted Islamic scholar and writer Dr Rafiq Zakaria today passed away at his residence in Mumbai. Family sources said that Dr Zakaria, had complained of acute back pain shortly before he expired. They said that the body of the 79-year-old veteran leader would be later shifted to a city hospital. Dr Zakaria's son, the noted journalist Farid Zakaria is also expected to arrive in Mumbai from the United States by Sunday. Dr Zakaria was an outstanding academic achiever and had won the many laurels including the Chancellor's Gold Medal from Bombay University for coming first in the MA examinations. He also has the distinction of receiving his PhD from the University of London, following which he qualified at for the bar from Lincoln's Inn. A scholar on Indian politics, Islam and British Colonial Imperialism, Zakaria authored many books on varied subjects. He was personally known to stalwarts of the Freedom Struggle in the country. His well known works include, 'A Study of Nehru', 'Rise of Muslims in Indian Politics', 'Struggles Within Islam', 'Conflict Between Religion and Politics', 'Iqbal, The Poet and The Politican', 'The Price of Partition', 'Gandhi and The Break-up of India', 'Indian Muslims: Where Have They Gone Wrong?' and 'Sardar Patel and Indian Muslims'. His interest in literature and journalism can be gauged from the fact that he worked for the 'News Chronicle' and the 'The Observer' during his student days in London. He also ran a regular bi-weekly column in the Times of India. Zakaria was also associated with the freedom movement and spent over 25 years in public service, representing India in many countries and at the UN in 1965,1990 and 1996.

Mexico relaxes visa norms for Indian businessmen (Go To Top)

New Delhi: Mexico has relaxed its visa norms for Indian businessmen and has decided to issue multiple visas for a tenure of three years to Indian businessmen, who are interested in establishing Joint Ventures there. Disclosing this Luis Gerardo Hernandez Madrigal, Economical Affairs Counsellor, Embassy of Mexico, who was in Jalandhar to preside over a National Seminar on Business opportunities in Latin American Countries (LACS) organised by Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) said," To encourage Indian businessmen to tap Mexican market, we have recently decided to issue three- year multiple entry visas for them." R. Viswanathan, Joint Secretary in charge of the Latin America and Caribbean division in the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier indicated that the new system of visas was getting into place.

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