Congress MP Dharma Pal Sabharwal made an interesting proposal in the Rajya Sabha for turning the no man’s land between India and Pakistan into arenas of friendship. Sabharwal, who hails from Punjab, proposed that India and Pakistan should turn the no man’s land on the border into meeting places where relatives from both countries could meet on designated days without having to go through the formalities of visas, passports and security verification. Reddy promises law to tackle obscenityResponding to the call in Parliament against ‘‘unchecked obscenity’’ on TV, the government on Monday said it would set up a regulatory body which would look into complaints. Information and Broadcasting Minister Jaipal Reddy told Rajya Sabha that a bill would be brought in the next Parliament session for creating such an autonomous regulatory authority. He also agreed with members that ‘‘obscenity being passed off as entertainment was a disturbing trend.’’Referring to a member’s concern that some channels were doing ‘sting’ operations for allegedly showing pornographic clips in the garb of news, Reddy said his ministry would soon start action against these channels. Now, Telugu bid for classical statusAfter Tamil was declared a classical language, it’s now Telugu that’s seeking the glory. Rama Muni Reddy, TDP MP in Rajya Sabha, on Monday made a case for Telugu, which he claimed is the second most spoken language after Hindi in India and is as ancient as Tamil. Also, a fight broke out between Tamil Nadu and Kerala MPs after Thanga Tamil Selvan of the AIADMK suggested that the Kannagi Kottam temple located in Kerala be handed over to Tamil Nadu for better management. Kids at home, parents may be punishedParents who don’t send children to schools could be punished if a proposal being considered by the government to check school dropout rates gets through.Rajya Sabha Chairman Bhairon Singh Shekhawat repeatedly asked Minister of State for HRD F.A.A Fatmi to clarify whether such a drastic decision has already been taken or was it just under consideration. Fatmi said it was being considered. A committee in the ministry looking into dropout rates is studying the penalty clause for parents.
