So far this month the major topic of discussion in virtual India was the world cup cricket match in the West Indies. Now that India was unceremoniously bowled out of the world cup, bloggers have turned their attention to other issues.
Yesterday the Indian Supreme Court temporarily stopped the implementation of Other Backward Classes (OBC) quota or affirmative action in higher educational institutions. The Supreme Court basically said that there was insufficient data available about the OBC demographics.
Bloggers have been busy writing about this hot button topic.
Rahul Gaitonde of 2 Paisa worth writes that the celebration about the SC verdict is premature and writes:
They say the Communists have the best brains in Parliament. Well, Prakash Karat made a very valid point today when he opposed the Supreme Court's judgment staying the 27% reservation in institutes of higher education.
The Communist Party of India-Marxist also had strong words on the judgment with party general secretary Prakash Karat calling it ‘ unfortunate and uncalled for.’
He said that already several states had implemented reservation on the basis of OBC lists even in Central services and wondered what the problem in extending it to educational institutions was.
Karat's right.
Over at a legal blog called Law and Other Things they write:
Its still a bit early to comment on what the Court has said – we may have to wait a while before informed analysis of the Court's decision starts pouring in, after people have had a chance to read the actual text of the order issued by the Court.
Nipon at BongBuzz is skeptical of the Supreme Court's order and writes:
So much for the Supreme Court! So much for India! Living in India, how can we expect justice? This is the land where caste-based reservation will continue and Lalu Prasads and all will continue to rip political benefits out of that. There is only one way out – leave the country!
From an action packed Supreme Court blogs, we move to Bollywood and Bombay and how does one make sense of it all? Maybe Mark Emmert, President, University of Washington has the answer. He is currently visiting India and writes:
I now have a better sense of why Bollywood movies are so immensely popular. They fit the pace, the rhythms, even the melodrama of Mumbai. One factoid puts the bustle and scurry into perspective: Seven million people ride the train into Mumbai daily. Think of moving all of greater Chicago by train each morning and evening. New York is actually calming compared to the constant movement of Mumbai.
Have you ever heard of Communist peanuts and Congress peanuts? Well, there is a store in Bangalore that sells peanuts named after the Communist and Congress (India's oldest political party) that sells them. Watch the video clip and find out how they got their names.
