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<ul><li>Supreme Court has passed landmark judgment that will have a major impact on reservation benefits for members of the <keyword id="45041" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="dalit">Dalit</keyword> and <keyword id="188858" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Adivasi">Adivasi</keyword> communities. </li><li>Indian states will no longer be required to furnish data proving backwardness while providing reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) during job promotions. </li><li>The principle of '<keyword id="125815" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="creamy-layer">creamy layer</keyword>' has been extended to include SC/ST members.</li></ul> The Supreme Court has made it easier to grant caste-based reservations to members of the Dalit community (Scheduled Castes) and Adivasis (Scheduled Tribes) during job promotions. But, the apex court has also potentially made it harder for economically advanced SCs and STs to reap reservation benefits by extending the 'creamy layer' exclusion to those members. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court said that Indian states would no longer be required to furnish data proving backwardness while providing reservations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes during job promotions in the public sector. That had been a requirement since the 2006 Supreme Court judgment in the M Nagaraj Vs Union of <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> case, which made it mandatory for states to furnish 'quantifiable data' on backwardness of SCs and STs, showing insufficient representation in the government jobs in question. The <keyword id="387162" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-collection">data collection</keyword> requirement had been a huge hurdle for granting promotions to the reserved castes and promotion cases often wound up in courts, which pronounced judgments denying promotions to SC and ST candidates because of the lack of data. A five-member bench led by Chief Justice <keyword id="6355251" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="dipak-misra">Dipak Misra</keyword> <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/supreme-court-refuses-to-refer-to-7-judge-bench-its-2006-verdict-on-sc/st-job-promotion/articleshow/65960548.cms">ruled </a>that the 2006 judgment went against the 1992 judgment made by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney verdict, observing that SCs and STs are the "most backward or the weakest of the weaker sections of society" and should be presumed to be backward. What is ‘creamy layer’? However, the court also ruled that the ‘creamy layer’ exclusion will also now include members of the SC and ST community, reversing all previous Supreme Court judgments that had made an exemption for the creamy layer to be applicable to SC and ST castes. The ‘creamy layer’ principle essentially restricts the benefits of caste-based reservation to reach members of other backward castes only who are deemed to have an annual family income above ₹800,000 ($11,000) per annum for a period of three consecutive years as of 2017. The reservation benefits for the SC and ST community had thus far been based on the spirit of reversing centuries of social discrimination including 'untouchability' and many have argued that reservations shouldn’t be seen from the prism of poverty alleviation. The Supreme Court bench noted - “The whole object of reservation is to see that backward classes of citizens move forward so that they may march hand in hand with other citizens of India on an equal basis. This will not be possible if only the creamy layer within that class bag all the coveted jobs in the public sector and perpetuate themselves, leaving the rest of the class as backward as they always were.” It added, the principle “does not in any manner tinker with the Presidential List under Articles 341 or 342 of the <keyword id="441445" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Constitution-of-India">Constitution of India</keyword>.” And only “those persons within that group or sub-group, who have come out of untouchability or backwardness by virtue of belonging to the creamy layer, who are excluded from the benefit of reservation.”

All you need to know about the landmark Supreme Court verdict on reservation quotas for job promotions

New Delhi, Feb 1 () Expressing disappointment over the budget, the India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) on Saturday said it will hold a nation-wide protest on February 13 against the pro-corporate proposals and failure to address the problems of the farming community.
 The AIKSCC, which is a nationwide platform of more than 200 farmer organisations across the country, said the budget 2020 offers no boost to the rural sector.
 "We are very disappointed. This is clearly a Budget that has no space for farmers of this country. The Modi government is yet again communicating to farmers that it is the companies and not the farmers who matter to this government," AIKSCC said in a statement.
 There should have been measures for relief from debts, for compensation for crop loss, protection from stray animals and crop insurance. But these have not been touched, it said.
 AIKSCC has called for a nation-wide protest on February 13 against the pro-corporate proposals in the budget, failure to address the problems of rising peasant debts and secure remunerative prices from sale of crops, it added.
 According to the farmers body, total budget allocation for agriculture, irrigation and rural development was Rs 2.68 lakh crore in the 2019-20 fiscal, which has been nominally increased to Rs 2.83 lakh crore. In real terms, taking inflation into account, this amounts to zero increase.
 On raising the farm credit target to Rs 15 lakh crore for next fiscal, AIKSCC said much of this credit will go to big agri-businesses, promote sale of costly inputs and machinery of the companies. There is no support to peasants or measure to prevent their land from being mortgaged.
 No structural changes were announced to ensure that the credit goes to small and marginal farmers, tenant farmers and adivasi farmers, who are left out of institutional financing, pushing them to indebtedness and suicides, it said. LUX ANS
ANS

Farmers' body to stage protest on Feb 13 against pro-corporate Budget

<ul><li>Angry <keyword id="8308705" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="twitter-users-are-leaving">Twitter users are leaving</keyword> the platform for alleged caste-based biases. </li><li>They are instead joining the open source social media platform <keyword id="1541215" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mastodon">Mastodon</keyword>.</li><li>The platform was created by German coder Eugen Rochko in 2016 and has a tagline – Social networking, back in your hands. </li></ul><keyword id="749437" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Twitter-India">Twitter India</keyword> is in trouble again. This time around, its Indian users are leaving the platform join Mastodon – an open source social media platform. A large number of users are suspending their accounts and accusing Twitter of discrimination. A much lesser known Mastodon is gaining from the anger. The open source platform allows users to create their own communities through their own servers. Mastodon is a decentralised platform, not owned by anyone. As it doesn’t allow advertising, monetizing, or venture capital, the platform accepts donations. The platform was created by German coder Eugen Rochko in 2016 and has a tagline – Social networking, back in your hands. It allows users to publish text, images, links, videos etc. It also promises a safer social media environment. “Twitter forces you to choose between two extremes, a protected account and a fully public account. If you have a public account, all your tweets are visible to everyone and infinitely shareable. Mastodon realizes that it’s not something you might always want though,” the <a href="https://blog.joinmastodon.org/2018/07/cage-the-mastodon/">website quotes Rochko.</a> So Mastodon has four options instead – fully public, unlisted (appearing to your followers and anyone looking at your profile, but not on public timelines), private (appearing only to your followers and people mentioned in it) and direct (appearing only to people mentioned in it). What went wrong with Twitter Twitter India is alleged of showing bias based on caste. Multiple prominent accounts of <a href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/what-mastodon-and-why-scores-twitter-users-are-migrating-it-111951">Dalit, Bahujan, and Adivasi (DBA) communities have suspended their accounts. </a> The movement started after the account of a senior columnist Dilip C Mandal was restricted by the social media giant. Though he got his account back, <keyword id="68160" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="twitter-users">Twitter users</keyword> began pointing out the disparity on the social media platform. "There's been a lot of discussion this week about Twitter's perceived bias in India. To be clear, whether it's the development of policies, product features, or enforcement of our rules, we are impartial and do not take action based upon any ideology or political viewpoint," Twitter India said in a statement. The social media giant further added that in its training, they extensively cover topics such as religion and caste to provide teams with necessary local context they need to evaluate content. Regarding the verification process, Twitter India said their public verification process is closed. “While we are reviewing the entire program, on a limited case-by-case basis we do verify public figures who are active in the public conversation,” the company said. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/twitter-accused-of-discriminating-sc-st-and-obcs/articleshow/71917669.cms">Twitter accused of discriminating against SC, ST and OBCs</a>

Twitter India users are leaving to ‘create their own social media’ platform on Mastodon

The BJP crossed the halfway mark in Rajasthan with its candidates leading in over 100 seats while the Congress was ahead in 77, according to Election Commission trends available on Sunday for the assembly polls in Rajasthan. The Bharat Adivasi Party (BAP) is leading on five seats while the CPI (M) and BSP on two each. The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party (RLP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) were leading on one seat each. Independent candidates are leading in nine constituencies. Chief Minister <keyword id="49103" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ashok-gehlot" source="Orion">Ashok Gehlot</keyword>, ministers Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, Tikaram Jully, Shakuntala Rawat, Brijendra Ola, Vishvendra Singh, Mahendra Jeet Singh Malvia are among the Congress candidates who are leading whereas parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal and assembly speaker CP Joshi are trailing. Congress candidate Sachin Pilot is leading on Tonk seat with a margin of 943 votes while BJP leader and former chief minister <keyword id="6361795" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vasundhara-raje" source="Orion">Vasundhara Raje</keyword> is leading in Jhalrapatan assembly seat with 7,025 votes. BJP rebels Yoonus Khan (Deedwana), Chandrabhan Singh Aakya (Chittorgarh), Ravindra Singh Bhati (Sheo) are among the nine independent candidates who are leading in initial trends. As the trends poured in, BJP candidate from Kota north Prahlad Gunjal said that the BJP is going to form the government. "Rajasthan has given the mandate and the picture will become clear in sometime," he said. When asked who will be the CM, he said, "This will be decided by the party high command. We have big leaders like Vasundhara Raje and we need not bring from outside." Gunjal is contesting against parliamentary affairs minister Shanti Dhariwal. Elated over the initial trends, Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said people have voted to oust Congress from the government. "People have failed the guarantees of Congress. They have voted to throw corrupt Congress out," Shekhawat told reporters here. He said that the BJP will be forming the state government with a huge mandate. Polling in 199 out of 200 assembly constituencies was held on November 25. The election in Sriganganagar's Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar. Counting of votes polled in the November 25 assembly elections in Rajasthan got underway at 8 am amid tight security arrangements. A total of 36 counting centres have been set up 199 of the state's 200 assembly constituencies which went to poll. Election to the Sriganganagar's Karanpur seat was postponed due to the death of Congress candidate Gurmeet Singh Koonar. As many as 1,862 candidates are in the fray for 199 seats. While 30 election districts have one counting centre, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Nagaur have two centres each. "All District Election Officers, Police Commissioners and Superintendents of Police have been instructed to strictly follow the security protocol at the counting centre," CEO Gupta said. He said that three-tier security arrangements have been ensured at the counting venue and only those with authorised passes would be able to enter. "Separate counting halls have been made for each assembly seat at the counting centre, where as per the instructions of the Commission, tables have been arranged for counting of postal ballots and EVMs," he said. Incumbent Congress and its rival Congress conducted intense poll campaign and are both hopeful of forming a government. While most of pollsters predicted an edge for the BJP, three exit polls in their upper limit forecast a Congress win in the desert state.

Rajasthan assembly polls: BJP surges ahead of Congress to take lead

<ul class="summary-list"><li>"<keyword id="2627105" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Betaal">Betaal</keyword>" is a new horror series on <keyword id="128682" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Netflix">Netflix</keyword> about a group of Indian soldiers and indigenous civilians trying to defeat British colonial zombies. </li><li>The show premiered in late May and contains timely messages about gender and imperialism, though it's gotten mixed reviews. </li><li>Director and co-writer <keyword id="455115" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Patrick-Graham">Patrick Graham</keyword> told Insider that he envisioned the show as a tongue-in-cheek "hate letter to England" and their colonizing past. </li><li>And co-writer <keyword id="1431621" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Suhani-Kanwar">Suhani Kanwar</keyword> said that the show's strong and relatable female characters came from her own experiences with sexism in the Indian film and <keyword id="6355065" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="TV">TV</keyword> industry. </li></ul>With bloodthirsty zombies, an ancient curse, and gruesome deaths, Netflix's new horror series "Betaal" is a must-watch for horror fans. But the show isn't just about vicious reanimated corpses and the struggles of the fictional Counter-Insurgency Police Department (CIPD) to defeat them. There are also messages about colonialism, gender roles, and police brutality hidden beneath the bloody plot points. Even though it premiered in late May, here's why you shouldn't sleep on the quietly revolutionary new Netflix series "Betaal."<div type="image" title="betaal 2 netflix" height="2016" width="2688" msid="76520751" hostid="261"></div><h2>'Betaal' focuses on a group of Indian soldiers and civilians as they try to escape from colonial-era British zombies</h2>The central conflict of the show starts between the soldiers from CIPD and the villagers of Adivasi. The corrupt CIPD has been sent to Adivasi to excavate a tunnel dating back to colonial India that runs through the nearby mountain Betaal. Not only would this displace the villagers, but the villagers also warn that doing so would release an evil spirit called Betaal. Of course, because this is a horror show, the villagers are ignored. Things quickly take a turn for the worse for the CIPD officers when they discover the construction has released British colonial zombies who are out for blood.The villagers and CIPD squad must face off against the reanimated colonizers and defeat Betaal over the show's four episodes. <div type="image" title="patrick graham BTS betaal" height="2331" width="3108" msid="76520755" hostid="261"></div><h2>Writer and director Patrick Graham called the show a tongue-in-cheek 'hate letter to England' and the memory of the British empire</h2>The references to colonialism in "Betaal" are pretty obvious from the start. A British lieutenant in the East India Trading Company is revealed to have sacrificed his son and the remains of his regiment in order to harness the powers of the Betaal and become emperor of India.And in fighting the Betaal and his zombie army, the CIPD and other survivors are, in a way, recreating the battles between Indians and British soldiers hundreds of years before. According to Graham, himself a white British man, he wanted the show's portrayal of colonialism to be a stern rebuke to those in Britain who might be nostalgic for the days of empire while also centering the Indian experience. "Even in the most liberal English person, you often find this kind of glimmer of nostalgia, even though it was just a series of terrible atrocities," he told Insider. "And you can see in British fiction, a lot of the time they're still making stuff which glorifies the empire." "I like the idea of making 'Betaal' my hate letter to England because Britain might be in their false delusion that they have a glorious past, but no one else thinks so — and particularly not the Indian population," Graham said. "I was kind of hoping — I'm not sure if I quite managed it — that the show would be almost like a cathartic experience," he continued. "With people experiencing this band of Indian soldiers just decimating these undead British troops in the same way that it might be fun to watch the Nazis getting shot in 'Inglourious Basterds.'" <div type="image" title="betaal 3" height="2331" width="3108" msid="76520757" hostid="261"></div><h2>Co-writer Suhani Kanwar used the show to give voices to female and indigenous characters, in addition to touching on issues like colonialism</h2>Kanwar told Insider she was interested in exploring India's "postcolonial identity" in the show and said her collaboration with Graham allowed her to re-examine the decades-old story of the Betaal. "Of course I'm aware of the fact that he's literally a foreign gaze, but he brought me this myth of the Betaal, which we grew up with over here," Kanwar said. "It's just part of our childhoods, it's everywhere. But what Patrick made me do is relook at it.""And now in my adulthood, when I've revisited the story, it's actually a story of moral and ethical conundrums," she added. According to Kanwar, a key part of the story for her was the role the indigenous villagers play, especially as they're confronted and murdered by law enforcement. "I was thinking about police brutality, about this obsession that we have with ideas of national security. Who are we attacking? What are we defending?" Kanwar said of her mindset during writing the interactions between the CIPD and the villagers. "We give those armed forces special powers. We give them immunity and we hope that what will happen will develop the nation, but tribal people are paying for it," she said.<div type="image" title="suhani kanwar betaal_edited 1" height="900" width="1200" msid="76520760" hostid="261"></div><h2>The strong female characters in 'Betaal' were a result of Kanwar's experience with sexism</h2>While some horror movies feature women as mere victims, there are unforgettable female characters in "Betaal," including Ahlu, the CIPD lieutenant; Puniya, a ruthless and resilient villager; and little Saanvi, a young girl who proves to be the key to defeating the Betaal. Kanwar told Insider that her experiences as a woman in the film and TV industry led her to create such memorable women characters. "It's coming from a very conscious place. I wish I could say it's organic, but it's been an adrenaline rush and kind of wish fulfillment to write these characters, Puniya especially," Kanwar said of her mindset while writing the show's female characters.According to the screenwriter, when she attended film school in Bombay, things were much different for women than they are today. "You come in with your youthful optimism, of joining the workforce in film," Kanwar explained. "But the odds are stacked against you. The system is designed to keep you out and you feel that discrimination every step of the way." "The only way to be a writer a few years ago was to be able to 'write like a man' in Bombay. But that is changing, I am very happy to report," Kanwar said. "The playing field is much wider. It's much more level. And I can actually write characters like Puniya, like Saanvi, like Ahlu." <div type="image" title="betaal trailer" height="1436" width="1915" msid="76520762" hostid="261"></div><h2>Despite the engaging plot and timely undertones, most Indian critics weren't fans of 'Betaal'</h2>"'Betaal' routinely undermines its own timely themes with an over-reliance on needless gore, cheap jump scares, and plot contrivances," Rohan Naahar <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/tv/betaal-review-shah-rukh-khan-s-netflix-zombie-show-is-dead-on-arrival/story-7utjRc9n4OwqOGlk0O93rJ.html">wrote in his review for the Hindustan Times</a>, while reviewer Poulomi Das <a href="https://silverscreenindia.com/streaming/reviews/betaal-review-an-awful-netflix-zombie-horror-that-has-nothing-to-say/">said the show</a> "somehow manages to be too long, repetitive and needlessly convoluted, stretching its one-line plot, glaringly under-written, way too thin." Naahar and Das weren't alone in their dislike for the show — numerous other critics from India also <a href="https://www.filmcompanion.in/streaming/betaal-netflix-review-deafening-and-dead-foray-into-zombie-horror-shah-rukh-khan/">slammed "Betaal" in their reviews</a>. Graham and Kanwar had their own thoughts on why the show was received negatively in India. "They might not be familiar with this kind of genre, but I think there's so much more stuff at play," Graham told Insider. "I think that they might have an issue with Netflix, because it's seen as like an American entity that's coming in and trying Westernize certain things. They probably see the show isn't as a kind of Western show."But Graham was adamant that "Betaal" isn't a Western show, despite what critics might say. "I'm the only Westerner working with a crew of hundreds of Indian people. And I had an Indian co-director and an Indian co-writer Suhani — we both came up with the story together," Graham said. "So it's very much an Indian story for an Indian audience, and it's an Indian show first and foremost." Kanwar, for her part, didn't have a clear explanation as to why critics had such an intense dislike for show. "I wish I had an answer to that question," she said when asked by Insider about the critical response. "I guess all I can do is write about things that I care about and that interest me. I want to keep writing stories about interesting women because I've been waiting so long to do this, and I finally can." <h2>Overall, if you're a fan of horror, 'Betaal' is worth a watch</h2>Whether you're a hardcore horror fan or just in need of a new show to binge, the compelling plot and social commentary of "Betaal" make it worth a watch. All four episodes of "Betaal" are currently streaming on Netflix, and you can watch the trailer below.

You Searched For "Adivasi" and got 5 results

All you need to know about the landmark Supreme Court verdict on reservation quotas for job promotions

Rimin Dutt

Farmers' body to stage protest on Feb 13 against pro-corporate Budget

PTI

Twitter India users are leaving to ‘create their own social media’ platform on Mastodon

Sanchita Dash

Rajasthan assembly polls: BJP surges ahead of Congress to take lead

PTI

Why horror fans shouldn't sleep on 'Betaal,' Netflix's quietly revolutionary new series

Libby Torres

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